50 Fun Facts About Laos

What is the capital and most populous city of Laos?

It sits on the Mekong close to the Thai border and had 840,000 people at the 2023 census.

Laos holds what distinction among the countries of Southeast Asia?

It borders Myanmar, China, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand but has no coastline.

Who added the final "s" to the name Laos, in 1893?

It pluralised the name across the three former kingdoms of Luang Prabang, Vientiane and Champasak.

What does the name of the historic Lao kingdom Lan Xang mean?

Prince Fa Ngum founded it in 1353 with 10,000 Khmer troops and made Theravada Buddhism the state religion.

In which year did Lan Xang split into three kingdoms, including Luang Prabang and Champasak?

The three were reunited only under French rule in 1893.

Which 16th-century king moved the capital away from Luang Prabang and commissioned That Luang?

He vanished during a campaign in Cambodia, ushering in 70 years of civil war and Burmese invasions.

Which vassal king rebelled unsuccessfully against Siam in 1826 and died a captive in Bangkok?

Vientiane was ransacked in reprisal; a later Siamese campaign was described by a Briton as "slave-hunting raids on a large scale".

Laos was unified under Paris's rule in 1893 as part of which colonial federation?

It never supplied more than 1% of Indochina's exports, and by 1940 only about 600 French citizens lived there.

Laos gained full independence from France as a constitutional monarchy in which year?

King Sisavang Vong of Luang Prabang ruled the unified kingdom, with Vientiane as capital.

Which communist movement fought the Royal Lao government in the 1959–1975 civil war?

It was backed by China, North Vietnam and the Soviet Union, while the United States supported the royalists.

Roughly how many tons of bombs did the United States drop on Laos between 1964 and 1973?

That is nearly as much as all the bombs dropped in World War II, making Laos the most bombed country per capita in history.

About how many US bombs dropped on Laos failed to explode and still litter the country?

Unexploded ordnance still kills or maims about 50 people a year.

US bombing of Laos aimed to deny the North Vietnamese the use of which supply route through the country?

The route ran through Laos and Cambodia to attack US forces in South Vietnam.

On what date in 1975 was the Lao People's Democratic Republic proclaimed?

The new government gave Vietnam the right to station troops and appoint advisers.

Who led the Lao People's Revolutionary Party from 1955 and became the country's de facto leader in 1975?

He was the first prime minister of the Lao PDR, from 1975 to 1991.

Up to 200,000 members of which ethnic minority fled Laos to Thailand after 1975, having fought with the Americans?

Some remnant fighters hid in the mountains of Xiangkhouang for decades, with a group emerging from the jungle only in 2003.

Which river forms much of Laos's western border with Thailand?

The Annamite Range forms most of the eastern border with Vietnam.

What is the highest mountain in Laos, at 2,818 m?

The country's two major plateaus are the Xiangkhoang in the north and the Bolaven in the south.

The Khone Falls in southern Laos hold which world record?

Their multiple channels stretch 10,783 m across, and they are the main reason the Mekong cannot be navigated into China.

How many UNESCO World Heritage Sites does Laos have?

They are the town of Luang Prabang, the temple complex of Vat Phou and the Plain of Jars.

The name Luang Prabang means what?

It comes from the Phra Bang statue that symbolises Lao sovereignty; the town became a World Heritage Site in 1995.

Wat Xieng Thong, built in 1559–1560 in Luang Prabang, has a name meaning what?

King Setthathirath built it, and it remains one of the most important Lao monasteries.

Madeleine Colani concluded in 1930 that the stone vessels of the Plain of Jars were linked to what?

Later Lao and Japanese digs found human remains and grave goods around the jars on the Xiangkhoang Plateau.

Pha That Luang, the gold-covered stupa in the capital, was ordered built in 1566 by which king?

Legend traces the site to missionaries sent by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka; the stupa stands about 45 m tall.

What does the white disc on the flag of Laos represent?

The blue stripe stands for the Mekong itself and the red stripes for blood shed on both its banks; the flag is nicknamed the Moon flag.

The middle stripe of the Lao flag is which colour?

It is twice the height of the red stripes above and below; the flag was first adopted in 1945 by the Lao Issara.

What is the currency of Laos?

It has been the currency since 1953 and takes its name from a Lao word meaning "ingot".

What share of Laotians were Theravada Buddhist according to census figures?

Fa Ngum made Theravada Buddhism the state religion in the 14th century.

The Lao language is closely related to and mutually intelligible with which neighbouring language?

It is also spoken in northeastern Thailand, where it is called Isan.

Laos is a member of La Francophonie; roughly how many French speakers did it have in 2010?

French is still used in government and commerce, a legacy of colonial rule.

Into how many provinces, plus one prefecture, is Laos divided?

The prefecture is Vientiane itself.

Laab, the Lao minced-meat salad, is traditionally seasoned with lime, fish sauce, herbs and what?

It is usually eaten with sticky rice and green papaya salad and has spread into neighbouring cuisines.

Beerlao, the country's largest beer brand, is brewed from which locally grown grain?

The Economist called it "probably the most important lager in the world"; exports to 20-plus countries began in 2017.

Muay Lao, the national sport of Laos, is a form of what?

It resembles Thailand's muay Thai, Burma's lethwei and Cambodia's pradal serey.

The 422-km Belt and Road railway from Vientiane to Boten reaches the border of which country?

Laos's first railway, a 3-km link to Thailand, had opened only in 2009.

Laos is one of three countries in the opium-growing region known as what?

Its national parks shelter the saola and the northern white-cheeked gibbon.

The capital's Patuxai monument is nicknamed the local version of which Paris landmark?

It was built with American cement meant for an airbase runway, earning it the nickname "the vertical runway".

The capital's Haw Phra Kaew temple once housed which famous statue, now in Bangkok?

The temple sits alongside Pha That Luang, the icon of Lao Buddhism.

Under French rule, what share of the capital's population was Vietnamese by 1943?

The French encouraged Vietnamese migration to fill labour shortages; only Luang Prabang stayed mainly Lao.

Vang Vieng, the backpacker town north of the capital, is famous for what kind of landscape?

It sits on the Nam Song River and was first settled around 1353 as a staging post between Luang Prabang and Vientiane.

In 2017 Laos submitted a film for the Oscars for the first time; what was it?

Director Mattie Do had earlier made Chanthaly; the country had just three cinemas as of 2018.

Which country was Laos's biggest foreign investor by 2016?

The Obama administration had declared in 2009 that Laos was no longer a communist state for financing purposes.

The Lao people belong to which linguistic group that migrated south from China?

Together with other lowland groups they form the Lao Loum; the Khmu speak an Austroasiatic language.

Fa Ngum, founder of Lan Xang, traced his lineage to which legendary ancestor of the Tai peoples?

He conquered principalities across the Mekong basin with 10,000 Khmer troops.

In which year was Laos admitted to ASEAN?

It acceded to the World Trade Organization much later, in 2016.

Which mountains form most of Laos's eastern border with Vietnam?

The Luang Prabang Range marks the north-western border with the Thai highlands.

Which king was forced to abdicate on 2 December 1975 when the Pathet Lao took power?

He later died in a re-education camp in Vietnam.

Roughly what share of employment in Laos is provided by subsistence agriculture?

Around 80% of the arable land is used for growing rice.

Which southern plateau is one of Laos's two major upland plateaus?

The other, the Xiangkhoang Plateau, lies in the north; 21% of the land was set aside for conservation in 1993.

How long was the first railway in Laos, opened in 2009 to link Vientiane with Thailand?

The metre-gauge stub was dwarfed by the 422-km Boten-Vientiane line built later under China's Belt and Road.