WELCOME

TO LAOS

FAST FACTS• THE OFFICIAL NAME IS … Lao People's Democratic Republic• THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT IS… Communist• THE CAPITAL IS …Viangchan• THE POPULATION IS …6,677,534• THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE IS... Lao• THE MONEY IS… Kip• THE AREA IS … 91,429 square miles• THE MAJOR MOUNTAIN RANGES ARE… Annamite Range,

Luang Prabang Range• THE MAJOR RIVER IS …Mekong•

GEOGRAPHY• Laos is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. Travel over

the land is hard.• There are three plateaus between

the mountains and the Mekong River the Xiangkhiang, the Khammouan, and the Bolovens Plateaus.• The Xiangkhiang is the largest, while the Bolovens Plateau

near Cambodia provides more fertile farmland where coffee,

tea, rice, strawberries, and pineapples are grown. The lowland region is the most vital to the Lao. Most of the country's

population lives along the river, which winds more than 2,600 miles from China through Laos to the ocean in south Vietnam.

NATURE• Monsoon winds blow through the country twice a year. From May to October, monsoon winds from the Indian Ocean bring heavy rains that wash over the warm, tropical country. Then

the wind changes direction and brings a hot, dry wind from China to Laos from November to April• The humid tropical provide an undisturbed habitat for many animals. The

red panda, which is related to raccoons and not giant pandas, lives in the forests of northern Laos.• Several species, such as the Asian elephant, red panda, giant Mekong catfish, tiger, and clouded leopard …• One of the world's most dangerous snakes, the 14-foot-long (4.2-meter-long) king cobra lives in Laos.

HISTORY• People have lived in the lower Mekong basin for at least 10,000 years. The

first settlers were related to the Khmer people who still live in Cambodia. In 1353, a Lao prince named Fa Ngum returned to the country and made

himself king of a new country called Lan Xang, "the Kingdom of a Million Elephants."

• In 1779, most of Laos was taken over by the Siamese people (Siam is now known as Thailand). French colonists took control and

forced the Siamese to withdraw from the western part of the Mekong River in 1893, and the country was reunited and named Laos by the French.

• The French maintained control of Laos until 1945, when the Japanese took over for a brief period. In 1953, the French made Laos fully independent and eventually French businesses were forced out. Many countries continued to influence Laos.

PEOPLE AND CULTURE• The whole family works hard to grow enough food. Many

people do not have running water and must carry water from the river to their small wooden houses for cooking, drinking, and washing.• In Laos and other Southeast Asian countries people play a sport called kataw. The game is a bit like volleyball, but players cannot use their hands and instead must kick or force a small hollow ball made of woven bamboo over a high net. The Lao also like the sport of rhinoceros-beetle wrestling. People bet on which beetle will stay standing the longest.

Capitals of asia

Amman, Ankara,Bangkok,Beijing, Colombo,• Damascus,Hanoi, New Delhi, Seoul, Tokyo,• Jerusalem, Pyongyang, Islamabad, Taipei, Kabul,

Doha,Manama, Malé, Sukhumi, Singapore

LENGUAGES

• Afghanistan: Persian, Laos: Lao• Bangladesh: Bengali Mongolia: Mongolian

Mongolia: Mongolian Nepal: Nepali• China: Mandarin Pakistan: Urdu, English

Philippines: Filipino, Syria: Arabic • Taiwan: Mandarin Thailand: Thai• Qatar: Arabic Yemen: Arabic• India: Hindi, English, Vietnam: Vietnamese• Iran: Persian Turkmenistan: Turkmen•

BY: IRENE, PAULA AND RAQUEL.