LAOS:

Geography, History and

Problems
President: Bounnhang Vorachith
Government: Communist state, Unitary state, Socialist state, One-party
state
Land area: 89,112 sq mi (230,800 sq km); total area: 91,428 sq mi
(236,800 sq km)
Population (2014 est.): 6,803,699 (growth rate: 1.59%); birth rate:
24.76/1000; infant mortality rate: 54.53/1000; life expectancy: 63.51
Capital and largest city (2011 est.): Vientiane, 810,000
Monetary unit: New Kip/ Lao kip
Official Language: Lao
GEOGRAPHY
 GOVERNMENT

The government of Laos is a COMMUNIST state.

HISTORY

The Lao people migrated into Laos from southern China from the 8th
century onward. In the 14th century, the first Laotian state was founded,
the Lan Xang kingdom, which ruled Laos until it split into three separate
kingdoms in 1713.
3 KINGDOMS
Luang Phabang

Vientiane and

Champasak
HISTORY
During the 18th century,
the three kingdoms came
under Siamese (Thai) rule
and, in 1893, became a
French protectorate. With
its territory incorporated
into Indochina.
HISTORY
A strong nationalist
movement developed
during World War II, but
France reestablished
control in 1946 and made
the king of Luang Prabang
constitutional monarch of
all Laos. France granted
semi-autonomy in 1949 and
then, spurred by the Viet
Minh rebellion in Vietnam,
full independence within
the French Union in 1950.
HISTORY
In 1951, Prince
Souphanouvong organized
the Pathet Lao, a
Communist independence
movement, in North
Vietnam. Viet Minh and
Pathet Lao forces invaded
central Laos, resulting in
civil war. By the Geneva
Agreements of 1954 and an
armistice of 1955, two
northern provinces were
given to the Pathet Lao; the
rest went to the royal
regime.
HISTORY
Full sovereignty was given to
the kingdom by the Paris
Agreements of Dec. 29, 1954. In
1957, Prince Souvanna
Phouma, the royal prime
minister, and Pathet Lao
leader Prince Souphanouvong,
the prime minister's half-
brother, agreed to
reestablishment of a unified
government, with Pathet Lao
participation and integration of
Pathet Lao forces into the royal
army. The agreement broke
down in 1959, and armed
conflict began anew.
 ONE-PARTY RULE CONTINUES AS
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS IMPROVE
In 1995, the U.S. announced a lifting of its ban on
aid to the nation. By most international estimates,
Laos is one of the 10 poorest countries in the world.
The subsistence farmers who make up more than
80% of the population have been plagued with bad
agricultural conditions—alternately floods and
drought—since 1993.
• The anti-Communist rebel group has been protesting the government's
reluctance to embrace democratic reforms. Others attribute the bombs
to rival factions in the government or military.
• In Feb. 2002 parliamentary elections, 165 out of 166 candidates were
members of the governing Lao People's Revolutionary Party. In 2006,
Choummaly Sayasone became party secretary-general and president
of Laos. First Deputy Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh became
prime minister.
MILITARY
The Lao People's Armed Forces (LPAF) are small, poorly funded, and
ineffectively resourced; its mission focus is border and internal security,
primarily in countering ethnic Hmong insurgent and opposition groups;
with the Lao People's Revolutionary Party and the government, the Lao
People's Army (LPA) is the third pillar of state machinery and, as such, is
expected to suppress political and civil unrest and similar national
emergencies.
MILITARY

The army of 130,000 is equipped with 25 main battle tanks. The army
marine section, equipped with 16 patrol crafts, has 600 personnel. The air
force, with 3,500 personnel, is equipped with anti-aircraft missiles and 24
combat aircraft. Militia self-defence forces number approximately 100,000
organised for local defence. The small arms used by the army include the
Soviet AKM assault rifle, PKM machine gun, Makarov PM pistol, and RPD
light machine gun.
AKM assault rifle,
PKM machine gun,
Makarov PM pistol,
and
RPD light machine
gun.
 HMONG
CONFLICT
The government of Laos has
been accused of committing
genocide, and human rights
and religious freedom
violations against the Hmong
ethnic minority within its own
borders
HMONG CONFLICT

Some Hmong groups fought as CIA-backed units on the Royalist side in the
Laotian Civil War. After the Pathet Lao took over the country in 1975, the
conflict continued in isolated pockets. In 1977, a communist newspaper
promised the party would hunt down the “American collaborators” and their
families “to the last root”
HMONG CONFLICT

As many as 200,000 Hmong went into exile in Thailand, with many ending
up in the U.S.A. A number of Hmong fighters hid out in mountains in
Xiangkhouang Province for many years, with a remnant emerging from the
jungle in 2003.
In 1989, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),
with the support of the United States government, instituted the
Comprehensive Plan of Action, a programme to stem the tide of
Indochinese refugees from Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia. Under the
plan, the status of the refugees was to be evaluated through a screening
process. Recognized asylum seekers were to be given resettlement
opportunities, while the remaining refugees were to be repatriated under
guarantee of safety.
ENVIRONMENT -
CURRENT ISSUES:
Laos suffers from a number
of environmental problems,
the most important of
which are related to
deforestation. Expanding
commercial exploitation of
the forests, plans for
additional hydroelectric
facilities, foreign demand
for wild animals and
nonwood forest products for
food and traditional
medicines, and a growing
population put increasing
pressure on the forests.
SOIL
EROSION
The causes of soil
erosion can be broken
down into two main
categories: Erosion by
Water and Erosion by
Wind. Although soil
erosion is a natural
occurrence on all land,
there are certain factors
that call accelerate the
erosion making it more
noticeable and
problematic.
ACIDIFICATION
the lowering of soil
and water pH due to
acid precipitation and
deposition usually
through precipitation;
this process disrupts
ecosystem nutrient
flows and may kill
freshwater fish and
plants dependent on
more neutral or
alkaline conditions.
AEROSOL

a collection of
airborne particles
dispersed in a gas,
smoke, or fog.
DREDGING
the practice of deepening an
existing waterway; also, a
technique used for collecting
bottom-dwelling marine
organisms (e.g., shellfish) or
harvesting coral, often causing
significant destruction of reef
and ocean-floor ecosystems.
DRIFT-NET
FISHING
done with a net, miles
in extent, that is
generally anchored to a
boat and left to float
with the tide; often
results in an over
harvesting and waste of
large populations of
non-commercial marine
species (by-catch) by its
effect of "sweeping the
ocean clean."
 EFFLUENTS
waste materials, such
as smoke, sewage, or
industrial waste
which are released
into the environment,
subsequently
polluting it.
OVERGRAZING
the grazing of animals
on plant material
faster than it can
naturally regrow
leading to the
permanent loss of
plant cover, a
common effect of too
many animals grazing
limited range land.
WATER-BORNE
DISEASES

those in which bacteria

survive in, and are
transmitted through,
water; always a serious
threat in areas with an
untreated water supply.
POVERTY
CHILD LABOR
PROSTITUTION

Prostitution in Laos is regarded as a criminal activity and is much less

common than it is in neighbouring Thailand. The capital city Vientiane was
once famous for its brothels and ping pong show bars during the 1960s and
1970s as a result of the country's involvement in the Vietnam War.[1]
However, the brothels have since disappeared and are now prohibited by
Lao law.
PROSTITUTION

The country's Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone in Bokeo Province has
been called "a mecca of gambling, prostitution and illicit trade".Many of the
sex workers in Laos are Vietnamese, while some Laotian women go to
Thailand to work as sex workers. Laos has been identified as a source
country for women and girls trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation in
Thailand
UNEXPLODED BOMBS

Some 288 million cluster munitions and about 75 million unexploded

bombs were left across Laos after the war ended. From 1996–2009, more
than 1 million items of UXO were destroyed, freeing up 23,000 hectares of
land. Between 1999 and 2008, there were 2,184 casualties (including 834
deaths) from UXO incidents.
MINING

The Mining industry of Laos which has received prominent attention with
foreign direct investments (FDI) has, since 2003–04, made significant
contributions to the economic condition of Laos. More than 540 mineral
deposits of gold, copper, zinc, lead and other minerals have been identified,
explored and mined.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH