Laos

Southeast Asia
Southeastern Asia, northeast of Thailand, west of Vietnam.

18 00 N, 105 00 E

"Peace, Independence, Democracy, Unity and Prosperity"
Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavon

Capital
Vientiane

Government
Socialist republic,Communist single-party state

Religion
Buddhist 67%, Christian 1.5%, other and unspecified 31.5%.

Population
6,368,162

Ethnic group
Lao 55%, Khmou 11%, Hmong 8%, other (over 100 minor ethnic groups) 26%.

National Language                    
Lao
           
National Day
19 July 1949 (from France)

Anthem
Pheng Xat Lao

Currency
Kip (LAK)

Attractions
Luang Prabang, Plain of Jars, That Luang 

 

Website         

Art & Cultural

The ICON

The Plain of Jars           The Plain of Jars  is a megalithic archaeological landscape in Laos. Scattered in the landscape of the Xieng Khouang plateau Xieng Khouang, Lao PDR are thousands of megalithic jars. These stone jars appear in clusters, ranging from a single or a few to several hundred jars at lower foothills surrounding the central plain and upland valleys. The Xieng Khouang Plateau is located at the northern end of the Annamese Cordillera, the principal mountain range of Indochina. Initial research of the Plain of Jars in the early 1930s suggested that the stone jars are associated with prehistoric burial practices. Excavation by Lao and Japanese archaeologists in the intervening years has supported this interpretation with the discovery of human remains, burial goods and ceramics around the stone jars. The Plain of Jars is dated to the Iron Age (500 BCE to 500 CE) and is one of the most fascinating and important sites for studying Southeast Asian prehistory. The Plain of Jars has the potential to shed light on the relationship between increasingly complex societies and megalithic structures and provide insight into social organisation of Iron Age Southeast Asia’s communities. To visit the jar sites one would typically stay in Phonsavan.