Q 01/05

What is the capital and most populous city of Laos?

A) Luang Prabang

B) Savannakhet

C) Vientiane

D) Pakse

Answer · why

C) Vientiane

Vientiane. A Siamese army destroyed the city in 1827-28, and it recovered its standing only when the French made it their administrative capital in 18...

Q 02/05

Laos holds what distinction among the countries of Southeast Asia?

A) The largest by area

B) The only monarchy

C) The most populous

D) The only landlocked one

Answer · why

D) The only landlocked one

The only landlocked one. Five countries enclose it, and for centuries its stronger neighbours fought over it, leaving Laos a buffer between them.

Q 03/05

In the Lao baci ceremony, held for weddings, births and farewells, what is tied around each guest's wrists?

A) Marigold garlands

B) Silver bells

C) Cotton strings

D) Palm-leaf bands

Answer · why

C) Cotton strings

Cotton strings. Each knot is meant to hold the body's 32 guardian spirits in place, and the rite matters so much in Laos that it is performed at state...

Q 04/05

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

A) A million elephants

B) Kingdom of the rivers

C) Country of a thousand hills

D) Land of the golden Buddha

Answer · why

A) A million elephants

A million elephants. Its founder Fa Ngum, said to have grown up in exile at the Khmer court, marched home at the head of a Khmer army and took the thr...

Q 05/05

What happened to the kingdom of Lan Xang in the early 1700s?

A) Burmese conquest

B) Dynastic break-up

C) French colonisation

D) Vietnamese annexation

Answer · why

B) Dynastic break-up

Dynastic break-up. Pretenders fought over the throne until the realm split into rival kingdoms, and within a few generations the weakened successor st...