Laos/Lan Xang/LPDR (1353-present)

A Laos/Lan Xang/LPDR (1353-present) is a Southeast Asian landlocked state located between 14° N and 23° N latitude.

• Context:
  • It can (typically) have a Lao Population (with languages including Lao, Hmong, Khmu, Phu Thai, French, and English).
  • It can (typically) be influenced by the Mekong River system.
  • It can (often) maintain Traditional Lao Architecture in its temples, stupas, and other historic structures.
  • It can (often) showcase Lao Buddhist Culture through its institutions and traditions.
  • It can (often) include Lao Regions such as Luang Prabang, Vientiane, and Champasak.
  • It can (often) experience Development Challenges including infrastructure, poverty, and rural access.
  • ...
  • It can serve as a Socialist State with one-party system (after 1975).
  • It can feature Economic Development including hydropower, land-linked strategy, and railway connections (after 1986).
  • It can function as a Regional Partner with ASEAN membership, cross-border trade, and transit routes (after 1997).
  • It can serve as a connection between Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, China, and Myanmar.
  • ...
• Example(s):
  • Lan Xang (1353), founding of Kingdom of Lan Xang by Fa Ngum.
  • Lan Xang (1695), division into three kingdoms.
  • Laos (1893), becoming French protectorate.
  • Laos (1945), brief Japanese control during World War II.
  • Laos (1953), gaining independence as constitutional monarchy.
  • Laos (1959-1975), period of civil war and Vietnam War.
  • Laos (1975), establishment of socialist republic.
  • Laos (1986), beginning economic reforms.
  • Laos (1997), joining ASEAN.
  • Laos (2021), opening China-Laos Railway.
  • ...
• Counter-Example(s):
  • Thailand, neighboring state with different political system.
  • Vietnam, communist state with different economic scale.
  • Cambodia, Buddhist state with different development path.
  • Myanmar, mainland state with different ethnic dynamics.
  • Mongolia, landlocked state with different cultural heritage.
• See: World Trade Organization, Pheng Xat Lao, ASEAN, Vientiane, Lao People, Buddhist Culture, Mekong Development.

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References

2024

• (Wikipedia, 2024) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laos Retrieved:2024-10-28.
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    Laos,officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR),is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and southwest. Its capital and most populous city is Vientiane. Laos traces its historic and cultural identity to Lan Xang, a kingdom which existed from the 13th century to the 18th century. Because of its geographical location, the kingdom became a hub for overland trade. After a period of internal conflict, Lan Xang broke into the Kingdom of Luang Phrabang, the Kingdom of Vientiane and the Kingdom of Champasak. In 1893, the 3 kingdoms were united under a French protectorate. Laos was occupied by Japan during World War II and regained independence in 1945 as a Japanese puppet state and was re-colonised by France, until it won autonomy in 1949. It gained independence in 1953 as the Kingdom of Laos, with a constitutional monarchy under Sisavang Vong. A civil war began in 1959, which saw the communist Pathet Lao, supported by North Vietnam and the Soviet Union, fight against the Royal Lao Armed Forces, supported by the United States. After the Vietnam War ended in 1975, the Lao People's Revolutionary Party established a one-party socialist republic espousing Marxism-Leninism, ending the civil war and monarchy, and beginning a period of alignment with the Soviet Union until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Laos's strategies for development are based on generating electricity from rivers and selling the power to its neighbours, namely Thailand, China and Vietnam, and its initiative to become a "land-linked" nation, as evidenced by the construction of 4 railways connecting Laos and neighbours. Laos has been referred to as 1 of Southeast Asia and Pacific's fastest growing economies by the World Bank with annual GDP growth averaging 7.4% since 2009, while being classified as a least developed country by the United Nations. Laos is a member of the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement, the ASEAN, East Asia Summit, La Francophonie, and the World Trade Organization.

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