Country Gees

Yearbook 2006

Laos. According to CountryAAH, major public holidays in Laos include Independence Day (May 11) and New Year (January 1). A number of personal transfers were made in L’s political leadership during the year, but these were not expected to bring about any changes in the Communist-controlled country’s political course. When elections were held for the National Assembly on April 30, the Communist Party took home 113 of the 115 seats. The remaining two seats were won by independent, pre-approved candidates. When the National Assembly in June appointed a new Laotian president, the election awaited the Secretary-General of the Communist Party, Vice President Choummaly Sayasone, 70, who was close to former President Khamtay Siphandone, 82, close. The new Prime Minister of the country was elected as tipped Deputy Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh. The new government he formed had as its primary objective to fight the corruption that characterizes society and to ensure that the good economic development in the country continues.

In March, it was found that a new species of rodent, which scientists discovered in a market in L. 2005, was a waste of a mammal previously believed to be extinct. The survivor, christened Laonaste’s monogamous mouse, showed great resemblance to a rodent family that until now is believed to have been extirpated about eleven million years ago. The discovery attracted considerable attention in scientific circles.

Laos received continued international criticism for his way of treating the minority people, among whom a small-scale armed guerrilla resistance has been fought against the communists since the 1970s. In March, information came out that 26 women and children from Hmong would have been killed in a massacre by government soldiers.

Economy

Laos Overview

Laos is a mountainous inland state cut between deep valleys between Thailand and Vietnam. The Mekong with its tributaries and wooded mountain slopes dominate the landscape of sparsely populated Laos. Founded in the 14th century, Lan Chang, a land of millions of elephants, disintegrated in the 18th century into three principalities from which Siam gained supremacy a hundred years later. After the occupation of Japan and France, Laos became a limited union of the French Union in 1949 and became fully independent in 1953. Since Laos opened its gates to tourism, it has quickly become a new favorite destination for many travelers in Southeast Asia.

• According to abbreviationfinder, LA is the abbreviation code for Laos.

Area: 236,000 km²

Population: 7,447,396 (estimate 7/2020)

Capital: Viantiane

Population: 50% Lao loum, 30% Lao theung, 10-20% Lao Sung, 10-20% Thai

Religion: 58% Buddhists, 34% supporters of tribal religions

Language: Lao

Currency: Kip (LAK 2)

Form of government: Democratic People’s Republic

Economic conditions. – Agriculture and the exploitation of forest resources are the basis of the Lao economy. The fundamental cultivation is that of rice, in irrigated paddy fields, even on the slopes where the tiered paddy field is floodable, but the dry paddy field is more frequent, due to the mountainous nature of the country, where the mountain rice is sown directly on the rây (land cleared by fire) at the end of the dry season and where the summer monsoon brings the humidity necessary for the development of the plant. The harvest (around 5 million q) is not sufficient for the needs of the population and it is imported from Thailand and Vietnam. The cultivation of maize is also developed, especially in the higher regions, where it often replaces rice, as a staple food, at the Meo family. Crops of legumes, yams, yams and other minor products serve to complete the food needs of the residents. Among the industrial crops, generally underdeveloped, are tobacco, in the Mekong plain; coffee, in the south of the country (M. Boloven); opium poppy, cultivated in the northern mountains by the Meo, shellac, in the Sam Neua region and finally styrax, which however also grows spontaneously, from which almost all (about 400 q per year) of the most valuable benzoin called “del Siam” is obtained. The textile plants are numerous (cotton, ramie, hemp, jute, kapok), but grown only for the needs of the family, which also provides home weaving. The forests are very extensive (3/5 of the territory), the use of which serves local needs and also feeds a modest export of the finest woods (teak, rosewood, sandalwood). Breeding is fair, practiced almost everywhere, especially for working cattle (about 350,000 cattle and 400,000 buffaloes). Several minerals are present in modest quantities. Iron, lead and sulfur are exploited with artisanal methods in the Sam Neua region. The pond (about 300 t) is partially extracted and processed at Phon Tiou, from the only industry of some importance. Economic development is limited by the scarcity of communications. Of the approximately 3,500 km of roads, only half have artificial ground. The Mekong, despite the numerous rapids, still remains the vital artery of the country.