ASIA
LAOS
Laos
Laos is a country in souh east Asia.
It is the country next to vietnam.
It's capital city and largest city is Vientiane.
this is the laos flag and map.
geography (climate)
tropical moonsoon;the rainy season is between May and November and the dry season is between December and April.
people
The language is lao but they do also speake English and French.
Within Laos approximately 60-70% of the population are said to be Theravada Buddhists, with the remaining population largely following Animism in the form of spirit (phii) worship. Less than 2% of the population are Christians and there are small communities of Moslems mostly in Vientiane.
The population of Laos is 6.646 million.
Laotation festivals are usually based on Theravada Buddhism.
History
Laos traces its first recorded history and its origins as a unified state to the emergence of the Kingdom of Lan Xang (literally, 'million elephants') in 1353. Under the rule of King Fa Ngum, this powerful and wealthy kingdom covered much of what today is Thailand and Laos. His successors, especially King Setthathirat in the 16th century, helped establish Buddhism as the predominant religion of the country
Economy
The government of Laos, one of the few remaining one-party communist states, began decentralizing control and encouraging private enterprise in 1986. The results, starting from an extremely low base, were striking - growth averaged 6% per year from 1988-2008 except during the short-lived drop caused by the Asian financial crisis that began in 1997. Laos' growth exceeded 7% per year during 2008-12. Despite this high growth rate, Laos remains a country with an underdeveloped infrastructure, particularly in rural areas. It has a basic, but improving, road system, and limited external and internal land-line telecommunications. Electricity is available in urban areas and in many rural districts. Laos' economy continues to rely on subsistence agriculture, dominated by rice cultivation in lowland areas, which accounts for about 30% of GDP and 75% of total employment. Economic growth has reduced official poverty rates from 46% in 1992 to 26% in 2010. The economy also has benefited from high-profile foreign direct investment in hydropower, copper and gold mining, and construction though some projects have drawn criticism for their environmental impacts. Laos gained Normal Trade Relations status with the US in 2004. On the fiscal side, Laos initiated a VAT tax system in 2010. Simplified investment procedures and expanded bank credits for small farmers and small entrepreneurs will improve Laos' economic prospects. The government appears committed to raising the country's profile among investors, opening the country's first stock exchange in 2011 and participating in regional economic cooperation initiatives. Laos was admitted to the WTO in 2012. The World Bank has declared that Laos' goal of graduating from the UN Development Program's list of least-developed countries by 2020 is achievable.
Primary Education
The Laotian government has universal education in mind for all its citizens, and has embarked on a national program for building primary schools where pupils learn for 6 years. The quality of the facilities (and of the teachers too) may still leave much to be desired in certain rural areas though, which is encouraging the continuance of a two-tier society.
Secondary Education
Cultural and language minorities are under-represented at secondary schools, as are girls too. This is perpetuating a self-fulfilling prophesy of structural discrimination. The secondary education program comprises two periods of 3 years each, with an additional year added in 2010. Generally speaking, only students going on to tertiary education complete the second phase.
Health
Laos has initiated four different social health protection schemes aimed at different sections of the population, and is now proposing to unify these schemes in a single national health insurance authority with a view to moving towards universal coverage.
Providing access to quality health care is a major challenge.
Living Conditions
There are
some Hmong in Laos who live better than most of the Hmong in the U.S.
even though most of the Hmong in Laos are still at subsistence level.
I wonder what are the characteritics of those Hmong that doing so well?
Those individuals who have education, whether
educated domestically or from abroad, manage to get job and make a
living. Also, business people are doing well.
Natural reasources
Timber, hydropower, gypsum, tin, gold, gemstones
Environment - current issues
Unexploded ordnance; deforestation; soil erosion; most of the population does not have access to potable water
this is a picture looks like elephant racing