Country, Southeast Asia. Area: 91,429 sq mi (236,800 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 5,924,000. Capital: Vientiane. Major ethnic groups include the Lao-Lum (valley Lao), who make up about half of the population; the Lao-Tai, a highland tribal people; the Lao-Theung (Mon-Khmer), descendants of the region's earliest inhabitants; and the Lao-Soung group, including the Hmong and Man. Languages: Lao (official), English, Vietnamese, French. Religions: Buddhism, traditional beliefs. Currency: kip. Laos is largely mountainous, especially in the north; its highest point is Mount Bia (9,245 ft [2,818 m]). Tropical forests cover more than half of the country's total land area; only a tiny portion of its total area is suitable for agriculture. The floodplains of the Mekong River provide the country's only lowlands and its major wet-rice fields. Laos has a centrally planned economy based primarily on agriculture (including rice, sweet potatoes, sugarcane, cassava, and opium poppies) and international aid.
It is a people's republic with one legislative house; its chief of state is the president, and its head of government is the prime minister. The Lao people migrated into Laos from southern China after the 8th century &AD;, displacing indigenous peoples. In the 14th century Fa Ngum founded the first Laotian state, Lan Xang. Except for a period of rule by Myanmar (Burma; 1574–1637), the Lan Xang kingdom ruled Laos until 1713, when it split into three kingdoms—Vien Chan, Champassak, and Luang Prabang. During the 18th century the rulers of the three Laotian kingdoms became vassals of Siam (Thailand). France gained control of the region in 1893, and Laos became a French protectorate. In 1945 Japan seized control and declared Laos independent. The area reverted to French rule after World War II. By the end of the First Indochina War, the leftist Pathet Lao movement controlled two provinces of the country. The Geneva Conference of 1954 unified and granted independence to Laos. Pathet Lao forces fought the Laotian government and took control in 1975, establishing the Lao People's Democratic Republic; about one-tenth of the population fled into neighbouring Thailand. Laos held its first election in 1989 and promulgated a new constitution in 1991. Although its economy was adversely affected by the regional economic recession beginning in the mid-1990s, it realized a longtime goal in 1997 when it joined ASEAN.
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