This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions.(February 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
Traditional house in Sekong Province LaosSchool children in Savannakhet
Laotian society is a society characterized by semi-independent rural villages engaged in subsistence agricultural production. Ethnic, geographic, and ecological differences create variations in the pattern of village life from one part of the country to another, but the common threads of village self reliance, limited regional trade and communication, and identification with one's village and ethnic group persist regardless of the setting. Rural trade networks, however, have been a part of life since the 1950s. Except near the larger towns and in the rich agricultural plains of Vientiane and Savannakhét, villages are spaced at least several kilometers apart and the intervening land variously developed as rice paddy and swidden fields or maintained as buffer forest for gathering wild plants and animals, fuelwood, and occasional timber harvest.[1]
Ethnicity differentiates the villages but is usually not a source of conflict or antagonism.[citation needed] Nearly all villages are ethnically homogeneous, although a few[quantify] include two or more distinct groups.[citation needed] Ethnic mixing often has resulted from different groups migrating to a new settlement site at about the same time, or a larger village at a crossroads or river transit point developing into a minor trading center. Ethnic identity is never absolutely immutable. Some minority Laotian individuals have adopted lowland Lao behavior and dress patterns, or intermarried with lowland Lao, and have effectively acculturated to lowland society. In some units, military service has also brought together Laotians of different ethnic groups, both before and after 1975.[1]
Since 1975, there has been more sense of national unity among most rural villagers. Precolonial governments depended more on a system of control at the district level with the chao muang (district chief) maintaining his own allegiance and tribute to the state. Administrative practices under the French and during the post-World War II period were confined primarily to provincial and a few district centers. The government was able to extract taxes with some facility but had little impact on the daily lives or thoughts of most villagers. However, since 1975, the government has expended considerable energy and resources on national unification, so that even isolated villages recognize the role of local government and consider themselves at some level to be part of a Laotian state.[1]
Laotiansociety is a society characterized by semi-independent rural villages engaged in subsistence agricultural production. Ethnic, geographic, and ecological...
Laotian Americans (Lao: ຄົນລາວອາເມລິກາ, romanized: Khonlav Amelika) are Americans who trace their ancestry to Laos. Laotian Americans are included in...
at some level to be part of a Laotian state. Ireson, W. Randall (1995). "Rural Life". In Savada, Andrea Matles (ed.). Laos: a country study (3rd ed.). Washington...
the non-ethnic Lao groups within Laos and identifies them as "Laotian" because of their political citizenship. Laos has the youngest population of any...
Laotian women have long been active participants in their nation's society, involved in politics, driving social transformation and development, becoming...
CIA activities in Laos started in the 1950s. In 1959, U.S. Special Operations Forces (Military and CIA) began to train some Laotian soldiers in unconventional...
The Laotian rock rat or kha-nyou (Laonastes aenigmamus, Lao: ຂະຍຸ), sometimes called the "rat-squirrel", is a species of rodent found in the Khammouan...
The Laotian Chinese (Lao: ຄົນລາວຈີນ) are Laotian citizens of Han Chinese ancestry. They constitute one of the many Overseas Chinese residing in Southeast...
became President when the former Kingdom of Laos was overthrow by the Pathet Lao in 1975, at the end of the Laotian Civil War. The president is elected by...
insurgency in Laos is a low-intensity conflict between the Laotian government on one side and former members of the Secret Army, Laotian royalists, and...
emigrants from Laos, as well as more recent refugees who escaped the country following its communist takeover as a result of the Laotian Civil War. The...
kingdom was expanded to encompass all Laotian regions and given self-rule within the French Union as the Kingdom of Laos. It achieved full independence after...
The politics of the Lao People's Democratic Republic (commonly known as Laos) takes place in the framework of a one-party parliamentary socialist republic...
conditions in rural Laos had resulted in Laotian women from the Khmu ethnic minority becoming predominant at the lower end of the Laotian sex industry. The...
1975. It operated notably during the North Vietnamese invasion of Laos and the Laotian Civil War from 1960 to 1975. The foundations of the Royal Lao Armed...
television documentary about the wildlife of Laos. The giant Laotian harvestman dwells inside the caves of Laos, and has a leg span stretching just over 330...
centuries. Also, many Laotians living in the Mekong Valley have relatives and friends in Thailand. Prior to the twentieth century, Laotian kingdoms and principalities...
highlands of Indochina, which constitute the territories of the modern Laotian nation-state, dates back to the Lower Paleolithic. These earliest human...
Australian filmmaker Kim Mordount's first feature film was made in Laos and features a Laotian cast speaking their native language. Entitled The Rocket, the...
religious freedom violations in Laos and to officially designated Laos as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC). In 2003, Laotian- and Hmong-Americans lauded...
Luang Phrabang was the first Laotian state to establish the office of prime minister. The Constitution of the Kingdom of Laos, ratified in 1947, established...
A society (/səˈsaɪəti/) is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social...
organizations. The Laotian leadership does place much value on transparency or dialogue with civil society." Nevertheless, "Proud To Be Us Laos" (Lao: ພູມໃຈທີ່ເປັນເຮົາ)...
of 2019 is estimated to be 200,000. The Laotian community in France forms the most established overseas Laotian population outside of Southeast Asia, with...
Global Information
