50 free Laos trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Laos is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia, the heir of the Kingdom of a Million Elephants, the home of the world's widest waterfall and a plain of giant stone jars, and, per head, the most heavily bombed country in history. It is also a one-party state with a golden stupa on its money, a French "s" on its name and a beer The Economist called the most important lager in the world. This Laos trivia quiz covers all of it. Forty-four questions run from geography (Vientiane, Luang Prabang, the Mekong, Phou Bia, the Bolaven Plateau, Khone Falls, Vang Vieng) through history (Fa Ngum and Lan Xang, the 1707 split, Anouvong, French Indochina, 1953, the civil war, the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the bombing, the Pathet Lao and 1975, Kaysone Phomvihane) to culture and economy (Theravada Buddhism, Pha That Luang, the flag, the kip, sticky rice and laab, Beerlao, muay Lao, the Plain of Jars, the Boten–Vientiane railway). Roughly a third are easy, a third medium, and the rest are for people who really know the Mekong region. Every answer has been checked against encyclopaedia and official pages, so the dates, numbers and names are ones you can rely on.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What is the capital and most populous city of Laos?
Vientiane
It sits on the Mekong close to the Thai border and had 840,000 people at the 2023 census.
Q 02Laos holds what distinction among the countries of Southeast Asia?
The only landlocked one
It borders Myanmar, China, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand but has no coastline.
Q 03Who added the final "s" to the name Laos, in 1893?
French colonial administrators
It pluralised the name across the three former kingdoms of Luang Prabang, Vientiane and Champasak.
Q 04What does the name of the historic Lao kingdom Lan Xang mean?
A million elephants
Prince Fa Ngum founded it in 1353 with 10,000 Khmer troops and made Theravada Buddhism the state religion.
Q 05In which year did Lan Xang split into three kingdoms, including Luang Prabang and Champasak?
1707
The three were reunited only under French rule in 1893.
Q 06Which 16th-century king moved the capital away from Luang Prabang and commissioned That Luang?
Setthathirath
He vanished during a campaign in Cambodia, ushering in 70 years of civil war and Burmese invasions.
Q 07Which vassal king rebelled unsuccessfully against Siam in 1826 and died a captive in Bangkok?
Anouvong
Vientiane was ransacked in reprisal; a later Siamese campaign was described by a Briton as "slave-hunting raids on a large scale".
Q 08Laos was unified under Paris's rule in 1893 as part of which colonial federation?
French Indochina
It never supplied more than 1% of Indochina's exports, and by 1940 only about 600 French citizens lived there.
Q 09Laos gained full independence from France as a constitutional monarchy in which year?
1953
King Sisavang Vong of Luang Prabang ruled the unified kingdom, with Vientiane as capital.
Q 10Which communist movement fought the Royal Lao government in the 1959–1975 civil war?
Pathet Lao
It was backed by China, North Vietnam and the Soviet Union, while the United States supported the royalists.
Q 11Roughly how many tons of bombs did the United States drop on Laos between 1964 and 1973?
More than 2 million
That is nearly as much as all the bombs dropped in World War II, making Laos the most bombed country per capita in history.
Q 12About how many US bombs dropped on Laos failed to explode and still litter the country?
80 million
Unexploded ordnance still kills or maims about 50 people a year.
Q 13US bombing of Laos aimed to deny the North Vietnamese the use of which supply route through the country?
The Ho Chi Minh Trail
The route ran through Laos and Cambodia to attack US forces in South Vietnam.
Q 21The name Luang Prabang means what?
Royal Buddha Image
It comes from the Phra Bang statue that symbolises Lao sovereignty; the town became a World Heritage Site in 1995.
Q 22Wat Xieng Thong, built in 1559–1560 in Luang Prabang, has a name meaning what?
Temple of the Golden City
King Setthathirath built it, and it remains one of the most important Lao monasteries.
Q 23Madeleine Colani concluded in 1930 that the stone vessels of the Plain of Jars were linked to what?
Burial practices
Later Lao and Japanese digs found human remains and grave goods around the jars on the Xiangkhoang Plateau.
Q 14On what date in 1975 was the Lao People's Democratic Republic proclaimed?
2 December
The new government gave Vietnam the right to station troops and appoint advisers.
Q 15Who led the Lao People's Revolutionary Party from 1955 and became the country's de facto leader in 1975?
Kaysone Phomvihane
He was the first prime minister of the Lao PDR, from 1975 to 1991.
Q 16Up to 200,000 members of which ethnic minority fled Laos to Thailand after 1975, having fought with the Americans?
Hmong
Some remnant fighters hid in the mountains of Xiangkhouang for decades, with a group emerging from the jungle only in 2003.
Q 17Which river forms much of Laos's western border with Thailand?
Mekong
The Annamite Range forms most of the eastern border with Vietnam.
Q 18What is the highest mountain in Laos, at 2,818 m?
Phou Bia
The country's two major plateaus are the Xiangkhoang in the north and the Bolaven in the south.
Q 19The Khone Falls in southern Laos hold which world record?
Widest waterfall
Their multiple channels stretch 10,783 m across, and they are the main reason the Mekong cannot be navigated into China.
Q 20How many UNESCO World Heritage Sites does Laos have?
Three
They are the town of Luang Prabang, the temple complex of Vat Phou and the Plain of Jars.
Q 24Pha That Luang, the gold-covered stupa in the capital, was ordered built in 1566 by which king?
Setthathirat
Legend traces the site to missionaries sent by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka; the stupa stands about 45 m tall.
Q 25What does the white disc on the flag of Laos represent?
A full moon over the Mekong
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.
Q 26The middle stripe of the Lao flag is which colour?
Blue
It is twice the height of the red stripes above and below; the flag was first adopted in 1945 by the Lao Issara.
Q 27What is the currency of Laos?
Kip
It has been the currency since 1953 and takes its name from a Lao word meaning "ingot".
Q 28What share of Laotians were Theravada Buddhist according to census figures?
66%
Fa Ngum made Theravada Buddhism the state religion in the 14th century.
Q 29The Lao language is closely related to and mutually intelligible with which neighbouring language?
Thai
It is also spoken in northeastern Thailand, where it is called Isan.
Q 30Laos is a member of La Francophonie; roughly how many French speakers did it have in 2010?
173,800
French is still used in government and commerce, a legacy of colonial rule.