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Laos
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This article is about the country. For other uses, see Laos (disambiguation).

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challenged and removed. (December 2013)
Lao People's Democratic Republic


Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao


Flag Emblem

Motto:


"Peace, independence, democracy, unity and
prosperity"
Anthem: Pheng Xat Lao
Lao National Anthem

MENU
0:00

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Location of Laos (green)
in ASEAN (dark grey) [Legend]

Capital
and largest city
Vientiane
1758N 10236E
Official languages Lao
Recognised
national languages
French
Spoken languages Thai
Hmong
Khmu
Ethnic groups(2005
[1]
) 55% Lao
11% Khmu
8% Hmong
26% others
a

Demonym Laotian
Lao
Government Single-
party Marxist-
Leninist-
Dengist socialist
3

3

republic
- President Choummaly
Sayasone
- Prime Minister Thongsing
Thammavong
- President of the
National Assembly
Pany Yathotu
- President of
Construction
Sisavath
Keobounphanh
Legislature National Assembly
Independence from France
- Autonomy 19 July 1949
- Declared 22 October 1953
Area
- Total 236,800 km
2
(84th)
91,428.991 sq mi
- Water (%) 2
Population
- 2013 estimate 6,695,166
[2]
(104th)
- 1995 census 4,574,848
- Density 26.7/km
2
(177th)
69.2/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2013 estimate
- Total $20.78 billion
[3]

- Per capita $3,100
[3]

GDP (nominal) 2013 estimate
- Total $10.1 billion
[3]

- Per capita $1,509
[3]

Gini (2008) 36.7
[4]

medium
HDI (2013) 0.569
[5]

4

4

medium 139th
Currency Kip (LAK)
Time zone (UTC+7)
Drives on the right
Calling code +856
ISO 3166 code LA
Internet TLD .la
a.
Including over 100 smaller ethnic groups.

You may
need rendering
support to display
the Lao text in this
article correctly.
Laos ((
i
/las/, /l.s/, /l.os/, or /le.s/)
[6][7][8]
Lao Language:

, pronounced [s.t.la.na.lat
p.s.ti.p.tj p.s.sn.lw] Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao),
officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked
country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and People's Republic of
China to the northwest,Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south,
and Thailand to the west. Its population was estimated to be around
6.5 million in 2012.
[2]

A third of the population of Laos live below the international poverty
line which means living on less than US$1.25 per day.
[9]
Laos is a low income
economy, with one of the lowest annual incomes in the world. In 2013, Laos
ranked the 138th place (tied with Cambodia) on the Human Development
Index (HDI), indicating that Laos currently only has lower medium to low
development.
[10]
According to the Global Hunger Index, Laos currently ranks
as the 25th hungriest nation in the world out of the list of the 56 nations with
the worst hunger situation(s) in the world.
[11]
Laos has had a poor human
rights record most particularly dealing with the nation's acts of genocide
being committed towards its Hmong population.
5

5

Laos traces its history to the kingdom of Lan Xang, which existed from the
14th to the 18th century when it split into three separate kingdoms. In 1893,
it became a French protectorate, with the three kingdoms, Luang
Phrabang, Vientiane and Champasak, uniting to form what is now known as
Laos. It briefly gained independence in 1945 after Japanese occupation, but
returned to French rule until it was granted autonomy in 1949. Laos became
independent in 1953, with aconstitutional monarchy under Sisavang Vong.
Shortly after independence, a long civil war ended the monarchy, when
the Communist Pathet Lao movement came to power in 1975.
Laos is a single-party socialist republic. It espouses Marxism and is governed
by a single party communist politburo dominated by military generals.
The Socialist Republic of Vietnam and theVietnam People's Army continue to
have significant influence in Laos. The capital city isVientiane. Other large
cities include Luang Prabang, Savannakhet, and Pakse. The official language
is Lao. Laos is a multi-ethnic country with the politically and culturally
dominant Lao people making up approximately 60% of the population, mostly
in the lowlands. Various Mon-Khmer groups, the Hmong, and other
indigenous hill tribes, accounting for 40% of the population, live in the
foothills and mountains. Laos' strategy for development is based on
generating electricity from its rivers and selling the power to its neighbors,
namely Thailand, China, and Vietnam.
[12]
Its economy is accelerating rapidly
with the demands for its metals.
[13]

It is a member of the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), East Asia Summit and La Francophonie.
Laos applied for membership of theWorld Trade Organization (WTO) in 1997,
and on 2 February 2013, it was granted full membership.
[14]

Contents
[hide]
1 Etymology
2 History
o 2.1 Early history
o 2.2 Lan Xang
o 2.3 French Laos
o 2.4 Independence
3 Geography
o 3.1 Administrative divisions
6

6

o 3.2 Environmental problems
4 Government and politics
o 4.1 Infrastructure
o 4.2 Military
o 4.3 Hmong conflict
o 4.4 Human rights
5 Economy
o 5.1 Tourism
6 Demographics
o 6.1 Ethnicity
6.1.1 Lao Loum (lowland people)
6.1.2 Lao Theung (midland people)
6.1.3 Lao Soung (highland people)
6.1.4 Leaders of ethnic minorities in Laos
o 6.2 Languages
o 6.3 Health
o 6.4 Religion
o 6.5 Education
7 Culture
o 7.1 Marriage
o 7.2 Media
o 7.3 Sport
8 See also
9 Notes and references
10 External links
Etymology[edit]
In the Lao language, the country's name is "Muang Lao" (

) or "Pathet
Lao" (), both of which literally mean "Lao Country".
[15]
The French,
who united the three separate Lao kingdoms in French Indochina in 1893,
named the country as the plural of the dominant and most common ethnic
group (in French, the final "s" at the end of a word is usually silent, thus it
would also be pronounced "Lao").
[16]

History[edit]
Main article: History of Laos
Early history[edit]
7

7

In 2009 an ancient human skull was recovered from the Tam Pa Ling cave in
the Annamite Mountains in northern Laos; the skull is at least 46,000 years
old, making it the oldest modern human fossil found to date in Southeast
Asia.
[17]
Archaeological evidence suggests agriculturist society developed
during the 4th millennium BC. Burial jars and other kinds of sepulchers
suggest a complex society in which bronze objects appeared around 1500 BC,
and iron tools were known from 700 BC. The proto-historic period is
characterized by contact with Chinese and Indian civilizations. From the
fourth to the eighth century, communities along the Mekong River began to
form into townships called muang.
[18]

Lan Xang[edit]
Main article: Lan Xang


Pha That Luang in Vientiane is the national symbol of Laos.


Statue of Fa Ngum, founder of the Lan Xang kingdom
8

8

Laos traces its history to the kingdom of Lan Xang (Million Elephants),
founded in the 14th century, by a Lao prince Fa Ngum, who with
10,000 Khmer troops, took over Vientiane. Ngum was descended from a long
line of Lao kings, tracing back to Khoun Boulom. He made Theravada
Buddhism the state religion and Lan Xang prospered. Within 20 years of its
formation, the kingdom expanded eastward to Champa and along the
Annamite mountains in Vietnam. His ministers, unable to tolerate his
ruthlessness, forced him into exile to the present-day Thai province of Nan in
1373,
[19]
where he died. Fa Ngum's eldest son, Oun Heuan, came to the throne
under the name Samsenthai and reigned for 43 years. During his reign, Lan
Xang became an important trade centre. After his death in 1421, Lan Xang
collapsed into warring factions for the next 100 years.
In 1520, Photisarath came to the throne and moved the capital from Luang
Prabang to Vientiane to avoid a Burmese invasion. Setthathirat became king in
1548, after his father was killed, and ordered the construction of what would
become the symbol of Laos, That Luang. Setthathirat disappeared in the
mountains on his way back from a military expedition into Cambodia and Lan
Xang began to rapidly decline. It was not until 1637, when Sourigna
Vongsa ascended the throne, that Lan Xang would further expand its frontiers.
His reign is often regarded as Laos's golden age. When he died, leaving Lan
Xang without an heir, the kingdom divided into three principalities. Between
1763 and 1769, Burmese armies overran northern Laos and annexed Luang
Phrabang, while Champasak eventually came under Siamesesuzerainty.
Chao Anouvong was installed as a vassal king of Vientiane by the Siamese. He
encouraged a renaissance of Lao fine arts and literature and improved
relations with Luang Phrabang. Under Vietnamese pressure, he rebelled
against the Siamese. The rebellion failed and Vientiane was
ransacked.
[20]
Anouvong was taken to Bangkok as a prisoner, where he died.
A Siamese military campaign in Laos in 1876 was described by a British
observer as having been "transformed into slave-hunting raids on a large
scale".
[21]

French Laos[edit]
French Laos
Protectorat franais du Laos
Monarchy, Protectorate of France, constituent
9

9

of French Indochina





18931953


Flag Royal Arms


Capital Vientiane (official),Luang
Prabang(ceremonial)
Languages French (official), Lao
Religion Theravada Buddhism,Roman
Catholicism
Political
structure
Monarchy, Protectorateof France,
constituent of French Indochina
King
-

1868-1895 Oun Kham (first)
10

10

-

1904-1954 Sisavang Vong (last)
Historical era New Imperialism
-

Protectorate
established 1893
-

Kingdom of
Laosproclaimed 11 May 1947
-

Independence
9 November 1953
-

Geneva
Conference 21 July 1954
Main article: History of Laos to 1945
In the late 19th century, Luang Prabang was ransacked by the Chinese Black
Flag Army.
[22]
France rescued King Oun Kham and added Luang Phrabang to
the 'Protectorate' of French Indochina. Shortly after, the Kingdom of
Champasak and the territory of Vientiane were also added to the protectorate.
King Sisavang Vong of Luang Phrabang became ruler of a unified Laos and
Vientiane once again became the capital. Laos never had any importance for
France
[23]
other than as a buffer state between British-influenced Thailand
and the more economically important Annam and Tonkin. During their rule,
the French introduced the corvee, a system that forced every male Lao to
contribute 10 days of manual labour per year to the colonial government. Laos
produced tin, rubber, and coffee, but never accounted for more than 1% of
French Indochina's exports. By 1940, around 600 French citizens lived in
Laos.
[24]
Most of the French who came to Laos as officials, settlers or
missionaries developed a strong affection for the country and its people, and
many devoted decades to what they saw as bettering the lives of the Lao.
Some took Lao wives, learned the language, became Buddhists and "went
native" - something more acceptable in the French Empire than in the British.
With the racial attitudes typical of Europeans at this time, however, they
tended to classify the Lao as gentle, amiable, childlike, naive and lazy,
regarding them with what one writer called "a mixture of affection and
exasperation."
11

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The country declared its independence on 12 October 1945, but the French
under Charles de Gaulle re-asserted control. In 1950 Laos was granted semi-
autonomy as an "associated state" within the French Union. France remained
in de facto control until 22 October 1953, when Laos gained full independence
as a constitutional monarchy.
Independence[edit]


King Sisavang Vong of Laos
Main articles: Kingdom of Laos and Laotian Civil War


Pathet Lao soldiers in Vientiane
In 1955, the U.S. Department of Defense created a special Programs
Evaluation Office to replace French support of the Royal Lao Army against
the communist Pathet Lao as part of the U.S. containment policy.
In 1960, amidst a series of rebellions, fighting broke out between the Royal
Lao Army and the Pathet Lao. A second Provisional Government of National
Unity formed by Prince Souvanna Phouma in 1962 proved to be unsuccessful,
and the situation steadily deteriorated into large scale civil war between the
12

12

Royal Laotian government and the Pathet Lao. The Pathet Lao were backed
militarily by the NVA and Vietcong.
Laos was also dragged into the Vietnam War since parts of Laos were invaded
and occupied by North Vietnam for use as a supply route for its war against
the South. In response, the United States initiated a bombing campaign against
the North Vietnamese positions, supported regular and irregular
anticommunist forces in Laos and supported South Vietnamese incursions
into Laos.
In 1968 the North Vietnamese Army launched a multi-division attack to help
the Pathet Lao to fight the Royal Lao Army. The attack resulted in the army
largely demobilizing, leaving the conflict to irregular forces raised by the
United States and Thailand.
Massive aerial bombardment against Pathet Lao and invading
NVAcommunist forces was carried out by the United States to prevent the
collapse of Laos' central government, the Royal Kingdom of Laos, and to
prevent the use of the Ho Chi Minh Trail to attack U.S. forces in South Vietnam
and the Republic of Vietnam. As of 2008, Laos is the most heavily bombed
country, per capita, in the world. An average of one B-52 bomb-load was
dropped on Laos every eight minutes, 24 hours a day, between 1964 and
1973.
[25]
Due to the particularly heavily impact of cluster bombs during this
war, Laos was a strong advocate of the Convention on Cluster Munitions to
ban the weapons and assist victims, and hosted the First Meeting of States
Parties to the convention in November 2010.
[26]

In 1975 the Pathet Lao, along with the Vietnam People's Army and backed by
the Soviet Union, overthrew the royalist Lao government, forcing King Savang
Vatthana to abdicate on 2 December 1975. He later died in captivity. Between
20,000 and 70,000 Laotians died during the Civil War.
[27][28][29][30]

On 2 December 1975, after taking control of the country, the Pathet Lao
government under Kaysone Phomvihane renamed the country as theLao
People's Democratic Republic and signed agreements giving Vietnam the right
to station armed forces and to appoint advisers to assist in overseeing the
country. Laos was requested in 1979 by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to
end relations with the People's Republic of China, leading to isolation in trade
by China, the United States, and other countries.
The conflict between Hmong rebels and the Vietnam People's Army of
the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), as well as the SRV-backed Pathet
Lao continued in various pockets in key areas of Laos, including in Saysaboune
13

13

Closed Military Zone, Xaisamboune Closed Military Zone near Vientiane
Province and Xieng Khouang Province. The government of Laos has been
accused of committing genocide, human rightsand religious
freedom violations against the Hmong in collaboration with the Vietnamese
army,
[31][32][33]
with up to 100,000 killed out of a population of
400,000.
[34][35]
From 1975 to 1996, the United States resettled some 250,000
Lao refugees from Thailand, including 130,000 Hmong.
[36]
(See: Indochina
refugee crisis)
Geography[edit]
Main article: Geography of Laos


Mekong River flowing through Luang Prabang


Rice fields in Laos
Laos is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia, and it lies mostly
between latitudes 14 and 23N(a small area is south of 14), and
longitudes 100 and 108E. Its thickly forested landscape consists mostly of
rugged mountains, the highest of which is Phou Bia at 2,818 metres (9,245 ft),
with some plains and plateaus. The Mekong River forms a large part of the
western boundary with Thailand, whereas the mountains of the Annamite
Range form most of the eastern border with Vietnam and theLuang Prabang
Range the northwestern border with the Thai highlands. There are two
plateaux, theXiangkhoang in the north and the Bolaven Plateau at the
southern end. The climate is tropical and influenced by
the monsoon pattern.
[37]

14

14

There is a distinct rainy season from May to November, followed by a dry
season from December to April. Local tradition holds that there are three
seasons (rainy, cold and hot) as the latter two months of the climatologically
defined dry season are noticeably hotter than the earlier four months. The
capital and largest city of Laos is Vientiane and other major cities
include Luang Prabang, Savannakhet, andPakse.
[citation needed]

In 1993 the Laos government set aside 21% of the nation's land area for
habitat conservation preservation.
[38]
The country is one of four in the opium
poppy growing region known as the "Golden Triangle". According to the
October 2007 UNODC fact book Opium Poppy Cultivation in South East Asia,
the poppy cultivation area was 15 square kilometres (5.8 sq mi), down from
18 square kilometres (6.9 sq mi) in 2006.
Laos can be considered to consist of three geographical areas: north, central,
and south.
[39]

Administrative divisions[edit]
Main article: Administrative divisions of Laos
Laos is divided into 17 provinces (khoueng) and one prefecture (kampheng
nakhon) which includes the capital city Vientiane (Nakhon Louang Viangchan).
Provinces are further divided into districts (muang) and then villages (ban).
An 'urban' village is essentially a town.
[39]


Subdiv
isions
Capital
Ar
ea
(k
m
)
Popul
ation
1 Attapeu
Attapeu (Samak
khixay District)
10,32
0
114,300
2 Bokeo
Ban
Houayxay (Houa
yxay District)
6,196 149,700
A clickable map of Laos
exhibiting its provinces
and prefecture.
15

15

3
Bolikham
sai
Paksan (Paksane
District)
14,86
3
214,900
4
Champas
ak
Pakse (Pakse
District)
15,41
5
575,600
5 Hua Phan
Xam
Neua (Xamneua
District)
16,50
0
322,200
6
Khammo
uane
Thakhek (Thakh
ek District)
16,31
5
358,800
7
Luang
Namtha
Luang
Namtha (Namth
a District)
9,325 150,100
8
Luang
Prabang
Luang
Prabang (Louan
gprabang
District)
16,87
5
408,800
9
Oudomxa
y
Muang Xay (Xay
District)
15,37
0
275,300
10 Phongsali
Phongsali (Phon
gsaly District)
16,27
0
199,900
11
Sayaboul
y
Sayabouly (Xaya
bury District)
16,38
9
382,200


16

16

12 Salavan
Salavan (Salavan
District)
10,69
1
336,600
13
Savannak
het
Savannakhet (K
hanthabouly
District)
21,77
4
721,500
14 Sekong
Sekong (Lamar
m District)
7,665 83,600
15
Vientiane
Capi.
Vientiane City 3,920 726,000
16
Vientiane
Prov.
Phonhong (Phon
hong District)
15,92
7
373,700
17
Xieng
Khouang
Phonsavan (Pek
District)
15,88
0
229,521



Environmental problems[edit]
Laos is increasingly suffering from environmental problems, with
deforestation a particularly significant issue,
[40]
as 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 all create increasing
pressure.
The United Nations Development Programme warns that: "Protecting the
environment and sustainable use of natural resources in Lao PDR is vital for
poverty reduction and economic growth."
[41]

17

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In April 2011, The Independent newspaper reported that Laos had started
work on the controversial Xayaburi Dam on the Mekong River without getting
formal approval. Environmentalists say the dam will adversely affect 60
million people and Cambodia and Vietnamconcerned about the flow of
water further downstreamare officially opposed to the project. The Mekong
River Commission, a regional intergovernmental body designed to promote
the "sustainable management" of the river, famed for its giant catfish, carried
out a study that warned if Xayaburi and subsequent schemes went ahead, it
would "fundamentally undermine the abundance, productivity and diversity
of the Mekong fish resources".
[42]
Neighbouring Vietnam warned that the dam
would harm the Mekong Delta, which is the home to nearly 20 million people
and supplies around 50% of Vietnam's rice output and over 70% of both its
seafood and fruit outputs.
[43]

Milton Osborne, Visiting Fellow at the Lowy Institute for International
Policy who has written widely on the Mekong, warns: "The future scenario is
of the Mekong ceasing to be a bounteous source of fish and guarantor of
agricultural richness, with the great river below China becoming little more
than a series of unproductive lakes."
[44]

Illegal logging is also a major problem. Environmental groups estimate that
500,000 cubic metres (18,000,000 cu ft) of logs find their way from Laos to
Vietnam every year, with most of the furniture eventually exported to western
countries.
[45]

A 1992 government survey indicated that forests occupied about 48% of Laos'
land area. Forest coverage decreased to 41% in a 2002 survey. Lao authorities
have said that, in reality, forest coverage might be no more than 35% because
of various development projects such as dams, on top of the losses to illegal
logging.
[46]

Government and politics[edit]
Main articles: Politics of Laos and Foreign relations of Laos
18

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Thongsing Thammavong
The Lao People's Democratic Republic, along with China, Cuba, Vietnam,
and North Korea is one of the world's five remaining socialist states. The only
legal political party is the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP). The head
of state is President Choummaly Sayasone, who is also the General Secretary
of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party. The head of government is Prime
Minister Thongsing Thammavong, who is also a senior member of the
Politburo. Government policies are determined by the party through the all-
powerful eleven-member Politburo of the Lao People's Revolutionary
Party and the 61-member Central Committee of the Lao People's
Revolutionary Party. Important government decisions are vetted by the
Council of Ministers. The Socialist Republic of Vietnam maintains significant
influence over the Politburo of Laos and the one-party communist state
apparatus and military
[citation needed]
.
Laos's first, French-written and monarchical constitution was promulgated on
11 May 1947, and declared Laos to be an independent state within the French
Union. The revised constitution of 11 May 1957 omitted reference to the
French Union, though close educational, health and technical ties with the
former colonial power persisted. The 1957 document was abrogated on 3
December 1975, when a communist People's Republic was proclaimed. A new
constitution was adopted in 1991 and enshrined a "leading role" for the LPRP.
In 1990, deputy minister for science & technology Thongsouk
19

19

Saysangkhiresigned from the government and party, calling for political
reform. He died in captivity in 1998.
[47]

In 1992 elections were held for a new 85-seat National Assembly with
members, nominated by the one-party communist government, elected by
secret ballot to five-year terms. The elections were widely disputed and
questioned by Lao and Hmong opposition and dissident groups abroad and in
Laos and Thailand. This National Assembly, which essentially acts as a rubber
stamp for the LPRP, approves all new laws, although the executive branch
retains authority to issue binding decrees. The most recent elections took
place in April 2011. The assembly was expanded to 99 members in 1997, to
115 members in 2006 and finally to 132 members during the 2011
elections.
[citation needed]

Infrastructure[edit]


Rivers are an important means of transport in Laos
Main articles: Transport in Laos and Telecommunications in Laos
The main international airports are Vientiane's Wattay International
Airport and Luang Prabang International Airport with Pakse International
Airport also having a few international flights. The national airline is Lao
Airlines. Other carriers serving the country include Bangkok Airways, Vietnam
Airlines,AirAsia, Thai Airways International, and China Eastern Airlines.
Much of the country lacks adequate infrastructure. Laos has no railways,
except a short link to connect Vientiane with Thailand over the ThaiLao
Friendship Bridge. A short portage railway, the Don DetDon Khon narrow
gauge railway was built by the French in Champasak Province but has been
closed since the 1940s. In the late 1920s, work began on the ThakhekTan Ap
railway that would have run between Thakhek, Khammouane
Province and Tn p Railway Station, Qung Bnh Province, Vietnam through
the M Gi Pass. However, the scheme was aborted in the 1930s. The major
roads connecting the major urban centres, in particularRoute 13, have been
20

20

significantly upgraded in recent years, but villages far from major roads can
be reached only through unpaved roads that may not be accessible year-
round.
There is limited external and internal telecommunication, but mobile phones
have become widespread in urban centres. In many rural areas electricity is at
least partly available. Songthaews (pick-up trucks with benches) are used in
the country for long-distance and local public transport.


Wattay International Airport inVientiane
Laos has made particularly noteworthy progress increasing access
to sanitation and has already met its 2015 Millennium Development
Goal (MDG) target.
[48]
Laos' predominantly rural (68%, source: Department of
Statistics, Ministry of Planning and Investment, 2009) population makes
investing in sanitation difficult. In 1990 only 8% of the rural population had
access to improved sanitation.
[48]
Access rose rapidly from 10% in 1995 to
38% in 2008. Between 1995 and 2008 approximately 1,232,900 more people
had access to improved sanitation in rural areas.
[48]
Laos' progress is notable
in comparison to similar developing countries.
[48]
This success is in part due to
small-scale independent providers emerging in a spontaneous manner or
having been promoted by public authorities. The authorities in Laos have
recently developed an innovative regulatory framework for PublicPrivate
partnership contracts signed with small enterprises, in parallel with more
conventional regulation of State-owned water enterprises.
[49]

Military[edit]
Main article: Lao People's Army
The Lao People's Armed Forces (LPAF) is 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
21

21

suppress political and civil unrest and similar national emergencies. The LPA
also has upgraded skills to respond to avian influenza outbreaks; there is no
perceived external threat to the state and the LPA maintains strong ties with
the neighbouring Vietnamese military (2008)
[citation needed]
.
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 organized
for local defence. The small arms used by the army include the
Soviet AKM assault rifle, PKM machine gun, Makarov PMpistol, and RPD light
machine gun.
From its founding, until the present, the LPA receives significant support,
training, advisers, troop support and assistance from the Socialist Republic
of Vietnam and the Vietnam People's Army.
On 17 May 2014 the Defense Minister, who was also Deputy Prime Minister,
Major General Douangchay Phichit, along with other top ranking officials was
killed in a plane crash in the north of the country. The officials were to
participate in a ceremony to mark the liberation of the Plain of Jars from the
former Royal Lao government forces. Their Russian-built Antonov AN 74-300
with 20 people on board crashed in Xiengkhouang province.
[50]

Hmong conflict[edit]
The government of Laos has been accused of committing human
rights violations and genocide against that countrys Hmong ethnic
minority.
[32]

Some Hmong groups fought as CIA-backed units on the Royalist side in the
Laos 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.
[51]

As many as 200,000 Hmong went into exile in Thailand, with many ending up
in the USA. A number of Hmong fighters hid out in mountains inXiangkhouang
Province for many years, with a remnant emerging from the jungle in 2003.
[51]

In 1989, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), with
the support of the United States government, instituted theComprehensive
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
22

22

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.


Hmong girls in Laos in 1973
After talks with the UNHCR and the Thai government, Laos agreed to
repatriate the 60,000 Lao refugees living in Thailand, including several
thousand Hmong people. Very few of the Lao refugees, however, were willing
to return voluntarily.
[52]
Pressure to resettle the refugees grew as the Thai
government worked to close its remaining refugee camps. While some Hmong
people returned to Laos voluntarily, with development assistance from
UNHCR, allegations of forced repatriation surfaced.
[53]
Of those Hmong who
did return to Laos, some quickly escaped back to Thailand, describing
discrimination and brutal treatment at the hands of Lao authorities.
[54]

In 1993, Vue Mai, a former Hmong soldier who had been recruited by the
U.S. Embassy in Bangkok to return to Laos as proof of the repatriation
programme's success, disappeared in Vientiane. According to the
U.S. Committee for Refugees, he was arrested by Lao security forces and was
never seen again.
Following the Vue Mai incident, debate over the Hmong's planned repatriation
to Laos intensified greatly, especially in the United States, where it drew
strong opposition from many American conservatives and some human
rights advocates. In a 23 October 1995 National Review article, Michael Johns,
the formerHeritage Foundation foreign policy expert and Republican White
23

23

House aide, labelled the Hmong's repatriation a Clinton
administration "betrayal", describing the Hmong as a people "who have
spilled their blood in defense of American geopolitical interests."
[55]
Debate on
the issue escalated quickly. In an effort to halt the planned repatriation, the
Republican-led U.S. Senate and House of Representatives both appropriated
funds for the remaining Thailand-based Hmong to be immediately resettled in
the United States; Clinton, however, responded by promising a veto of the
legislation.
In their opposition of the repatriation plans, both Democrat and Republican
Members of Congress also challenged the Clinton administration's position
that the government of Laos was not systematically violating Hmong human
rights. U.S. Representative Steve Gunderson (R-WI), for instance, told a
Hmong gathering: "I do not enjoy standing up and saying to my government
that you are not telling the truth, but if that is necessary to defend truth and
justice, I will do that."
[55]
Republicans also called several Congressional
hearings on alleged persecution of the Hmong in Laos in an apparent attempt
to generate further support for their opposition to the Hmong's repatriation
to Laos. Democratic Congressman Bruce Vento, Senator Paul Wellstone, Dana
Rohrabacher and others also raised concerns.
Although some accusations of forced repatriation were denied,
[56]
thousands
of Hmong people refused to return to Laos. In 1996 as the deadline for the
closure of Thai refugee camps approached, and under mounting political
pressure, the United States agreed to resettle Hmong refugees who passed a
new screening process.
[57]
Around 5,000 Hmong people who were not
resettled at the time of the camp closures sought asylum at Wat Tham Krabok,
a Buddhist monastery in central Thailand where more than 10,000 Hmong
refugees had already been living. The Thai government attempted to
repatriate these refugees, but the Wat Tham Krabok Hmong refused to leave
and the Lao government refused to accept them, claiming they were involved
in the illegal drug trade and were of non-Lao origin.
[58]

Following threats of forcible removal by the Thai government, the United
States, in a significant victory for the Hmong, agreed to accept 15,000 of the
refugees in 2003.
[59]
Several thousand Hmong people, fearing forced
repatriation to Laos if they were not accepted for resettlement in the United
States, fled the camp to live elsewhere within Thailand where a sizable Hmong
population has been present since the 19th century.
[60]

In 2004 and 2005, thousands of Hmong fled from the jungles of Laos to a
temporary refugee camp in the Thai province of Phetchabun.
[61]
These Hmong
24

24

refugees, many of whom are descendants of the former-CIA Secret Army and
their relatives, claim that they have been attacked by both the Lao and
Vietnamese military forces operating inside Laos as recently as June 2006.
The refugees claim that attacks against them have continued almost unabated
since the war officially ended in 1975, and have become more intense in
recent years.
Lending further support to earlier claims that the government of Laos was
persecuting the Hmong, filmmaker Rebecca Sommer documented first-hand
accounts in her documentary, Hunted Like Animals,
[62]
and in a comprehensive
report which includes summaries of claims made by the refugees and was
submitted to the UN in May 2006.
[63]

The European Union,
[64]
UNHCHR, and international groups have since spoken
out about the forced repatriation.
[64][65][66][67]
The Thai foreign ministry has
said that it will halt deportation of Hmong refugees held in Detention Centres
Nong Khai, while talks are underway to resettle them in Australia, Canada,
the Netherlands and the United States.
[68]

For the time being, countries willing to resettle the refugees are hindered to
proceed with immigration and settlement procedures because the Thai
administration does not grant them access to the refugees. Plans to resettle
additional Hmong refugees in the United States have been complicated by
provisions of President George W. Bush's Patriot Act and Real ID Act, under
which Hmong veterans of the Secret War, who fought on the side of the United
States, are classified as terrorists because of their historical involvement in
armed conflict.
On 27 December 2009, the New York Times reported that the Thai military
was preparing to forcibly return 4,000 Hmong asylum seekers to Laos by the
end of the year:
[69]
the BBC later reported that repatriations had
started.
[70]
Both United States and United Nations officials have protested this
action. Outside government representatives have not been allowed to
interview this group over the last three years. Mdecins Sans Frontires has
refused to assist the Hmong refugees because of what they have called
"increasingly restrictive measures" taken by the Thai military.
[71]
The Thai
military jammed all cellular phone reception and disallowed any foreign
journalists from the Hmong camps.
[70]

Human rights[edit]
Main article: Human rights in Laos
25

25

The Constitution that was promulgated in 1991 and amended in 2003
contains most key safeguards for human rights. For example, Article 8 makes
it clear that Laos is a multiethnic state and is committed to equality between
ethnic groups. The Constitution also has provisions forgender
equality and freedom of religion, for freedom of speech, press and assembly.
On 25 September 2009, Laos ratified the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, nine years after signing the treaty. The stated policy
objectives of both the Lao government and international donors remain
focused toward achieving sustainable economic growth and poverty
reduction.
[72][73]
The government of Laos, however, frequently does not abide
by its own constitution and the rule of law, since the judiciary and judges are
appointed by the communistparty in Laos, and there is no
independent judicial branch. Human rights violations remain serious
according to Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, The Centre for
Public Policy Analysis and other independent human rights organizations and
non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
However, Amnesty International has raised concerns about the ratification
record of the Laos Government on human rights standards and its lack of
cooperation with the UN human rights mechanisms and legislative measures
which impact negatively on human rights. It has also raised concerns in
relation to freedom of expression, poor prison conditions, restrictions on
freedom of religions, protection of refugees and asylum-seekers and the death
penalty.
[74]

In October 1999, 30 young people were arrested for attempting to display
posters calling for peaceful economic, political and social change in Laos. Five
of them were arrested and subsequently sentenced to up to 10 years
imprisonment on charges of treason. One has since died due to his treatment
by prison guards, while one has been released. The surviving three men
should have been released by October 2009, but their whereabouts remains
unknown.
[74]

Laos and Vietnamese (SRV) troops were reported to have raped and killed
four Christian Hmong women in Xieng Khouang province in 2011, according
to the US and Southeast-based non-governmental public policy research
organization The Centre for Public Policy Analysis. CPPA also said other
Christian and independent Buddhist and animist believers were being
persecuted.
[75][76]

The Centre for Public Policy Analysis, Amnesty International, Human Rights
Watch, U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, theLao Veterans
26

26

of America, Inc. and other non-governmental organizations (NGO)s have
reported egregious human rights violations, religious persecution, the arrest
and imprisonment of political and religious dissidents as well as extrajudicial
killings, in Laos by government military and security forces.
[31]
Human rights
advocates including Vang Pobzeb, Kerry and Kay Danes and others have also
raised concerns about human rights violations, torture, the arrest and
detention of political prisoners as well as the detention of foreign prisoners in
Laos including at the infamous Phonthong Prison in Vientiane. Concerns have
also been raised about the high-profile abduction of Laotian civic
activist Sombath Somphone in Laos by Lao security forces and police in
December 2012.
Economy[edit]
Main article: Economy of Laos


About 80% of Laos population practices subsistence agriculture.
The Lao economy depends heavily on investment and trade with its
neighbours, Thailand, Vietnam, and, especially in the north, China. Pakxe has
also experienced growth based on cross-border trade with Thailand and
Vietnam. In 2009, despite the fact that the government is still officially
communist, the Obama administration in the US declared Laos was no longer
a marxist-leninist state and lifted bans on Laotian companies receiving
financing from the U.S. Export Import Bank.
[77]
In 2011, the Lao Securities
Exchange began trading. In 2012, the government initiated the creation of
the Laos Trade Portal, a website incorporating all information traders need to
import and export goods into the country.
Subsistence agriculture still accounts for half of the GDP and provides 80% of
employment. Only 4.01% of the country is arable land, and a mere 0.34% used
as permanent crop land,
[78]
the lowest percentage in the Greater Mekong
Subregion.
[79]
Rice dominates agriculture, with about 80% of the arable land
27

27

area used for growing rice.
[80]
Approximately 77% of Lao farm households are
self-sufficient in rice.
[81]

Through the development, release and widespread adoption of improved rice
varieties, and through economic reforms, production has increased by an
annual rate of 5% between 1990 and 2005,
[82]
and Lao PDR achieved a net
balance of rice imports and exports for the first time in 1999.
[83]
Lao PDR may
have the greatest number of rice varieties in the Greater Mekong Subregion.
Since 1995 the Lao government has been working with the International Rice
Research Institute of the Philippines to collect seed samples of each of the
thousands of rice varieties found in Laos.
[84]



Morning market in Vientiane
The economy receives development aid from the IMF, ADB, and other
international sources; and alsoforeign direct investment for development of
the society, industry, hydropower and mining (most notably of copper and
gold). Tourism is the fastest-growing industry in the country. Economic
development in Laos has been hampered by brain drain, with a skilled
emigration rate of 37.4% in 2000.
[85]

Laos is rich in mineral resources and imports petroleum and gas. Metallurgy is
an important industry, and the government hopes to attract foreign
investment to develop the substantial deposits of coal, gold,bauxite, tin,
copper, and other valuable metals. In addition, the country's plentiful water
resources and mountainous terrain enable it to produce and export large
quantities of hydroelectric energy. Of the potential capacity of approximately
18,000 megawatts, around 8,000 megawatts have been committed for
exporting to Thailand and Vietnam.
[86]

The country's most widely recognised product may well be Beerlao which is
exported to a number of countries including
neighbours Cambodiaand Vietnam. It is produced by the Lao Brewery
Company.
28

28

Tourism[edit]
Main article: Tourism in Laos


View from near the sanctuary on the main upper level of Wat Phu, looking
back towards the Mekong River
The tourism sector has grown rapidly, from 80,000 international visitors in
1990, to 1.876 million in 2010.
[87]
Tourism is expected to contribute US$679.1
million to gross national product in 2010, rising to US$1.5857 billion by 2020.
In 2010, one in every 10.9 jobs was in the tourism sector. Export earnings
from international visitors and tourism goods are expected to generate 15.5%
of total exports or US$270.3 million in 2010, growing in nominal terms to
US$484.2 million (12.5% of total) in 2020.
[88]



Hmong girls on the Plain of Jars
Laos has become popular with tourists for its relaxed style of living and for
retaining elements of the "original Asia" lost elsewhere. The official tourism
slogan is "Simply Beautiful". The main attractions for tourists include
Buddhist culture and colonial architecture in Luang Prabang; gastronomy and
ancient temples in the capital of Vientiane; backpacking in Muang Ngoi
Neua and Vang Vieng; ancient and modern culture and history in The Plain of
Jars region (main article: Phonsavan); Laos Civil War history in Sam Neua;
29

29

trekking and visiting hill tribes in a number of areas
including Phongsaly and Luang Namtha; spotting tigers and other wildlife
in Nam Et-Phou Louey; caves and waterfalls near Thakhek; relaxation,
the Irrawaddy dolphin and Khone Phapheng Falls at Si Phan Don or, as they
are known in English, the Four Thousand Islands; Wat Phu, an
ancient Khmer temple complex; and the Bolaven Plateau for waterfalls and
coffee.
Luang Prabang and Wat Phu are both UNESCO World Heritage sites, with
the Plain of Jars expected to join them once more work to clear UXO has been
completed. Major festivals include Laos New Year which is celebrated around
1315 April and involves a water festival similar but more subdued than that
of Thailand and other South-East Asian countries.
The Lao National Tourism Administration, related government agencies and
the private sector are working together to realise the vision put forth in the
country's National Ecotourism Strategy and Action Plan. This includes
decreasing the environmental and cultural impact of tourism; increasing
awareness in the importance of ethnic groups and biological diversity;
providing a source of income to conserve, sustain and manage the Lao
protected area network and cultural heritage sites; and emphasising the need
for tourism zoning and management plans for sites that will be developed
as ecotourism destinations.
[89]

Laos is known for its silk and local handicraft product, both of which are on
display in Luang Prabang's night market, among other places. Another
speciality is mulberry tea.
Demographics[edit]
Main article: Demographics of Laos


Buddhist monks collecting alms at dawn in Luang Prabang
The term "Laotian" does not necessarily refer to the Lao language, ethnic Lao
people, language or customs, but is a political term that also includes the non-
30

30

ethnic Lao groups within Laos and identifies them as "Laotian" because of
their political citizenship. Laos has the youngest population of any country in
Asia with a median age of 21.6 years.
Laos' population was estimated at 6.5 million in 2012, dispersed unevenly
across the country. Most people live in valleys of the Mekong River and its
tributaries. Vientiane prefecture, the capital and largest city, had about
740,010 residents in 2008. The country's population density was 27/km
2
.
[2]

Ethnicity[edit]
Main article: Demographics of Laos
The people of Laos are often considered by their altitudinal distribution
(lowlands, midlands and upper high lands) as this approximates ethnic
groups.
Lao Loum (lowland people)[edit]

This section does not cite any references or
sources. Please help improve this section by adding
citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be
challenged and removed. (December 2013)
More than half of the nation's population, 60%, is ethnic Laothe principal
lowland inhabitants, and the politically and culturally dominant people of
Laos. The Lao belong to the Tai linguistic group who began migrating
southward from China in the first millennium AD. 10% belong to other
"lowland" groups, which together with the Lao people make up the Lao Loum.
Lao Theung (midland people)[edit]


A Ho (Hani) woman and her child, Phongsaly Province
31

31

In the central and southern mountains, Mon-Khmer tribes, known as Lao
Theung or mid-slope Laotians, predominate. Other terms are Khmu, Khamu
(Kammu) or Kha as the Lao Loum refer to them as indicating
theirAustroasiatic origins. However, the latter is considered pejorative,
meaning 'slave'. They were the indigenous inhabitants of northern Laos.
Some Vietnamese, Chinese and Thai minorities remain, particularly in the
towns, but many left after independence in the late 1940s, many of whom
relocated either to Vietnam, Hong Kong, or to France. Lao Theung constitute
about 30% of the population.
[90]

Lao Soung (highland people)[edit]
Hill people and minority cultures of Laos such as the Hmong, Yao
(Mien), Dao, Shan, and several Tibeto-Burman speaking peoples have lived in
isolated regions of Laos for many years. Mountain/hill tribes of mixed
ethno/cultural-linguistic heritage are found in northern Laos which include
the Lua and Khmu people who are indigenous to Laos. Today, the Lua people
are considered endangered. Collectively, they are known as Lao Soung or
highland Laotians. Lao Soung account for only about 10% of the population.
[91]

Leaders of ethnic minorities in Laos[edit]
Ong Keo
Ong Kommadam
Pa Chay Vue
Languages[edit]


Buddhist Monks in front of Wat Sen, Luang Prabang
32

32



Buddhist shrine in Vientiane
The official and dominant language is Lao, a tonal language of the Tai linguistic
group. However, only slightly more than half of the population can speak Lao,
the remainder speaking various ethnic minority languages, particularly in
rural areas. The written language is based on Khmer writing script. Languages
like Khmu and Hmong are spoken by minorities, particularly in the midland
and highland areas. A number of Laotian sign languages are used in areas with
high rates of congenital deafness.
French is still commonly used in government and commerce and over a third
of Laos' students are educated through the medium of French with French
being compulsory for all other students. Throughout the country signage is
bilingual in Laotian and French, with French being predominant.English, the
language of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), has become
increasingly studied in recent years.
[92]

Health[edit]
Main article: Health in Laos
Male life expectancy at birth was at 60.85 and female life expectancy was at
64.76 in 2012.
[1]
Healthy life expectancy was at 54 in 2007.
[93]
In 2008, 43% of
the population did not have access to an improved water resource, by 2010
this had been reduced to 33% of the population.
[1]
Government expenditure
on health is at about 4% of the GDP.
[93]
Its amount was at US$ 18 (PPP) in
2006.
[93]

Religion[edit]
33

33

Main article: Religion in Laos
Of the people of Laos 67% are Theravada Buddhist, 1.5% are Christian, and
31.5% are other or unspecified (mostly practitioners of Satsana
Phi)
[94]
according to the 2005 census.
[1]
Buddhism has long been one of the
most important social forces in Laos. Theravada Buddhism has coexisted
peacefully since its introduction to the country with the local polytheism.
Education[edit]
Main article: Education in Laos
The adult literacy rate exceeds two thirds.
[95]
The male literacy rate exceeds
the female literacy rate.
[93]
In 2004 the net primary enrollment rate was at
84%.
[93]
The National University of Laos is the Laos state's public university.
The total literacy rate is 73% (2010 estimate).
Culture[edit]
Main article: Culture of Laos
See also: Lao art, Lao cuisine, Dance and theatre of Laos, List of festivals in
Laos and Music of Laos


An example of Lao cuisine
34

34



Lao women wearing sinhs.


Lao dancers during New Year
Theravada Buddhism is a dominant influence in Lao culture. It is reflected
throughout the country from language to the temple and in art, literature,
performing arts, etc. Many elements of Lao culture predate Buddhism,
however. For example, Laotian music is dominated by its national instrument,
the khaen, a type of bamboo pipe that has prehistoric origins. The khaen
traditionally accompanied the singer in lam, the dominant style of folk music.
Among the various lam styles, the lam saravane is probably the most popular.
Sticky Rice is a characteristic staple food and has cultural and religious
significance to the Lao people. Sticky rice is generally preferred over jasmine
rice, and sticky rice cultivation and production is thought to have originated in
Laos. There are many traditions and rituals associated with rice production in
different environments, and among many ethnic groups. For example,
35

35

Khammu farmers in Luang Prabang plant the rice variety Khao Kam in small
quantities near the hut in memory of dead parents, or at the edge of the rice
field to indicate that parents are still alive.
[96]

Sinh is a traditional garment worn by Laotian women in daily life. It is a hand-
woven silk skirt which can identify the woman who wears it in a variety of
ways. In particular, it can indicate which region the wearer is from.
Marriage[edit]
Polygamy is officially a crime in Laos, though the penalty is minor. The
constitution and Family Code bars the legal recognition of polygamous
marriages, stipulating that monogamy is to be the principal way to contract a
marriage in the country. Polygamy, however, is still customary among
some Hmong people.
[97]

Media[edit]
All newspapers are published by the government, including two foreign
language papers: the English-language daily Vientiane Times and the French-
language weekly Le Rnovateur. Additionally, the Khao San Pathet Lao, the
country's official news agency, publishes English and French versions of its
eponymous paper. Laos currently has nine daily newspapers, 90 magazines,
43 radio stations, and 32 TV stations operating throughout the country.
[98]
As
of 2011, Nhn Dn (The People) and the Xinhua News Agency are the only
foreign media organisations permitted to open offices in Laosboth opened
bureaus in Vientiane in 2011.
[99]

The Lao government heavily controls all media channels in order to prevent
critique of its actions. Lao citizens who have criticized the government have
been subjected to enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and
torture.
[100][101]
Internet cafes are now common in the major urban centres
and are especially popular with the younger generation.
Since the founding of the Lao PDR only very few films have been made in Laos.
One of the first commercial feature length films was the 2008 Sabaidee Luang
Prabang.
[102]
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 film appeared at the 2013 Melbourne International
Film Festival (MIFF) and won three awards at the Berlin International Film
Festival.
[103]
Recently a few local production companies have succeeded to
produce Lao feature films and gain international recognition. Among them are
Lao New Wave Cinema's "At The Horizon" directed by Anysay Keola, that was
36

36

screened at the OzAsia Film Festival
[104]
and Lao Art
Media's Chanthaly directed by Mattie Do, which was screened at the
2013 Fantastic Fest.
[105]

[106]

Sport[edit]


The largest Stadium in Laos, New Laos National Stadium.
The martial art of Muay Lao, the national sport,
[citation needed]
is a form of
kickboxing similar to other styles of Southeast Asia such as Thai Muay Thai,
Burmese Lethwei, Malaysian Tomoi, and CambodianPradal Serey.
Association football has grown to be the most popular sport in Laos. The Lao
League is now the top professional league for association football clubs in the
country. Since the start of the League, Lao Army FC has been the most
successful club with 8 titles, the highest number of championship wins.
[citation
needed]

See also[edit]
Laos portal

Geography portal

Asia portal
Outline of Laos
Index of Laos-related articles
Emblem of Laos
French colonial empire
Drug policy in Laos
Indochina refugee crisis
Lao People's Army
37

37

List of freedom indices
List of Laos-related topics
North Vietnamese invasion of Laos
Scouts Lao
French colonial empire
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
French Colonial Empire
Empire colonial franais
Colonial empire

15341980


Flag
Anthem
La Marseillaise

MENU
0:00

French conquests and territories over the centuries
Capital Paris
Political structure Colonial empire
History
-Established 1534
38

38


-

Cartier planted the
French flag at Gasp
Bay 24 July 1534
-

Louisiana
Purchaseby Napoleon
Bonaparte 30 April 1803
-

Independence
ofVanuatu 30 July 1980
-

Disestablished
1980
Area 12,347,000 km(4,767,203
sq mi)
Currency Franc and various other
currencies
Today part of Countries today[show]
Warning: Value not
specified for
"continent"

The French colonial empire was constituted of the overseas colonies,
protectorates and mandate territories that came under French rule from the
17th century onward. A distinction is generally made between the "First
colonial empire", that existed until 1814, by which time most of it had been
lost, and the "Second colonial empire", which began with the conquest
of Algiersin 1830 and came for the most part to an end with the granting of
independence to Algeria in 1962 (the last territory to reach independence
was Vanuatu in 1980).
In the 19th and 20th centuries, it was the second-largest colonial empire in
the world behind theBritish Empire, extending over 12,347,000 km
(4,767,000 sq. miles) of land at its height in the 1920s and 1930s.
Including metropolitan France, the total amount of land under French
sovereignty reached 12,898,000 km (4,980,000 sq. miles) between both
world wars, that is nearly 1/10th of the Earth's land area, with a population of
110 million people on the eve of World War II (5% of the world's population
at the time).
39

39

Competing with Spain, Portugal, the United Provinces, and later England,
France began to establish colonies in North America, the Caribbean,
and India in the 17th century. A series of wars with Great Britain during the
18th century and early 19th century resulted in both countries losing most of
their colonial empires: France lost New France and most of French India,
while Great Britain lost its Thirteen American colonies which became
the United States of Americawith the help of France.
France took control of Algeria in 1830 but began in earnest to rebuild its
worldwide empire after 1850, concentrating chiefly in North and West Africa,
as well as South-East Asia, with other conquests in Central and East Africa, as
well as the South Pacific. Republicans, at first hostile to empire, only became
supportive when Germany started to build her own colonial empire. As it
developed the new empire took on roles of trade with France, especially
supplying raw materials and purchasing manufactured items, as well as
lending prestige to the motherland and spreading French civilization and
language, and the Catholic religion. It also provided manpower in the World
Wars.
[1]

It became a moral mission to lift the world up to French standards by bringing
Christianity and French culture. In 1884 the leading exponent of
colonialism, Jules Ferry declared; "The higher races have a right over the
lower races, they have a duty to civilize the inferior races." Full citizenship
rights assimilation were offered, although in reality "assimilation was
always receding [and] the colonial populations treated like subjects not
citizens."
[2]
France sent small numbers of settlers to its empire, contrary to
Great Britain, and previously Spain and Portugal, with the only notable
exception of Algeria, where the French settlers nonetheless always remained a
small minority.
In World War II, Charles de Gaulle and the Free French used the overseas
colonies as bases from which they fought to liberate France. However after
1945 anti-colonial movements began to challenge European authority. France
fought and lost bitter wars in Vietnam and Algeria in the 1950s. Its settlers
and many local supporters relocated to France. Nearly all of France's colonies
gained independence by 1960, but France retained great financial and
diplomatic influence. The remnants of the colonial empire (mostly smaller
islands) were integrated into France as overseas departments and territories.
These now total altogether 119,394 km (46,098 sq. miles), which amounts to
only 1% of the pre-1939 French colonial empire's area, with 2.7 million
people living in them in 2013. Their location in all oceans of the world,
40

40

however, give France the second-largest exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the
world after that of the United States.
Contents
[hide]
1 First French colonial empire
o 1.1 The Americas
o 1.2 Africa and Asia
o 1.3 Colonial conflict with Britain
2 Second French colonial empire (after 1830)
3 World War II
4 Civilising mission
5 Decolonization (20th century)
6 Demographics
o 6.1 Population between 1919 and 1940
o 6.2 French settlers
7 See also
8 Notes and references
9 Further reading
o 9.1 Policies and colonies
o 9.2 Images and impact on France
o 9.3 Historiography and memoir
10 External links
First French colonial empire[edit]
During the 16th century, the French colonization of the Americas began.
The Americas[edit]
Main article: New France
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The French colonial empire in the Americascomprised New
France (including Canada andLouisiana), French West
Indies (includingSaint-Domingue, Guadeloupe, Martinique, St.
Lucia, Tobago and other islands) and French Guyana.


French Northern America was known as 'Nouvelle France' or New France
Excursions of Giovanni da Verrazzano and Jacques Cartier in the early 16th
century, as well as the frequent voyages of French boats and fishermen to
the Grand Banks off Newfoundland throughout that century, were the
precursors to the story of France's colonial expansion.
[3]
But Spain's jealous
protection of its foreign monopoly, and the further distractions caused in
France itself in the later 16th century by the French Wars of Religion,
prevented any constant efforts by France to settle colonies. Early French
attempts to found colonies in 1612 at So Lus ("France quinoxiale"), and
inBrazil, in 1555 at Rio de Janeiro ("France Antarctique") and in Florida
(including Fort Caroline in 1562) were not successful, due to a lack of official
interest and to Portuguese and Spanish vigilance.
[citation needed]

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The story of France's colonial empire truly began on 27 July 1605, with the
foundation of Port Royalin the colony of Acadia in North America, in what is
now Nova Scotia, Canada. A few years later, in 1608, Samuel De
Champlain founded Quebec, which was to become the capital of the enormous,
but sparsely settled, fur-trading colony of New France (also called
Canada).
[citation needed]

New France had a rather small population, which resulted from more
emphasis being placed on the fur trade rather than agricultural settlements.
Due to this emphasis, the French relied heavily on creating friendly contacts
with the local First Nations community. Without the appetite of New England
for land, and by relying solely on Aboriginals to supply them with fur at the
trading posts, the French composed a complex series of military, commercial,
and diplomatic connections. These became the most enduring alliances
between the French and the First Nation community. The French were,
however, under pressure from religious orders to convert them to
Catholicism.
[citation needed]

Although, through alliances with various Native American tribes, the French
were able to exert a loose control over much of the North American continent,
areas of French settlement were generally limited to the St. Lawrence
River Valley. Prior to the establishment of the 1663 Sovereign Council, the
territories of New France were developed as mercantile colonies. It is only
after the arrival of intendant Jean Talon in 1665 that France gave its American
colonies the proper means to develop population colonies comparable to that
of the British. But there was relatively little interest in colonialism in France,
which concentrated rather on dominance within Europe, and for most of its
history, New France was far behind the British North American colonies in
both population and economic development. Acadia itself was lost to the
British in the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713.
[citation needed]

In 1699, French territorial claims in North America expanded still further,
with the foundation of Louisiana in the basin of the Mississippi River. The
extensive trading network throughout the region connected to Canada
through the Great Lakes, was maintained through a vast system of
fortifications, many of them centred in the Illinois Country and in present-
day Arkansas.
[citation needed]

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1767 Louis XV Colonies Franoises (West Indies) 12 Diniers copper Sous
(w/1793 "RF" counterstamp)
As the French empire in North America grew, the French also began to build a
smaller but more profitable empire in the West Indies. Settlement along the
South American coast in what is todayFrench Guiana began in 1624, and a
colony was founded on Saint Kitts in 1625 (the island had to be shared with
the English until the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, when it was ceded outright).
TheCompagnie des les de l'Amrique founded colonies
in Guadeloupe and Martinique in 1635, and a colony was later founded
on Saint Lucia by (1650). The food-producing plantations of these colonies
were built and sustained through slavery, with the supply of slaves dependent
on theAfrican slave trade. Local resistance by the indigenous peoples resulted
in the Carib Expulsion of 1660.
[citation needed]

France's most important Caribbean colonial possession was established in
1664, when the colony of Saint-Domingue (today's Haiti) was founded on the
western half of the Spanish island ofHispaniola. In the 18th century, Saint-
Domingue grew to be the richest sugar colony in the Caribbean. The eastern
half of Hispaniola (today's Dominican Republic) also came under French rule
for a short period, after being given to France by Spain in 1795.
[citation needed]

Africa and Asia[edit]
See also Category:French colonisation in Africa.
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Arrival of Marshal Randon in Algiers in 1857
French colonial expansion wasn't limited to the New World. In Senegal in
West Africa, the French began to establish trading posts along the coast in
1624. In 1664, the French East India Companywas established to compete for
trade in the east. With the decay of the Ottoman Empire, in 1830 the French
seized Algiers, thus beginning the colonization of French North Africa.
During the First World War, after France had suffered heavy casualties on the
Western Front, they began to recruit soldiers from their African empire. By
1917, France had recruited 270,000 African soldiers.
[4]
Their most decorated
regiments came from Morocco, but due to the pacification going on at the time
they were only able to recruit 23,000 Moroccans. African soldiers had success
in the battle of Verdun and failure in the offensive of Nivelle, but in general
regardless of their usefulness French generals did not think highly of their
African troops.
[4]

After the First World War, France's African war aims were not being decided
by her cabinet or the official mind of the colonial ministry, but rather the
leaders of the colonial movement in French Africa. The first occasion of this
occurring happened in 1915-1916, when Francois Georges-Picot (both a
diplomat and part of a colonial dynasty) met with the British to discuss the
division of Cameroon.
[4]
Picot proceeded with negotiations with neither the
oversight of the French president nor the cabinet. What resulted was Britain
giving nine tenths of Cameroon to the French in where Picot emphasized the
demands of the French colonist over the French cabinet. This policy of French
colonial leaders determining France's African war aims can be seen
throughout much of France's empire.
[5]

Colonies were established in India in Chandernagore (1673)
and Pondichry in the south east (1674), and later
at Yanam (1723), Mahe (1725), and Karikal (1739) (see French India).
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Colonies were also founded in the Indian Ocean, on the le de Bourbon
(Runion, 1664), Isle de France(Mauritius, 1718), and the Seychelles (1756).
Colonial conflict with Britain[edit]
Further information: France in the Seven Years' War and France in the
American Revolutionary War


Carte de L'Indoustan. Bellin, 1770.
In the middle of the 18th century, a series of colonial conflicts began between
France and Britain, which ultimately resulted in the destruction of most of the
first French colonial empire and the near complete expulsion of France from
the Americas. These wars were the War of the Austrian Succession (1744
1748), the Seven Years' War (17561763), the War of the American
Revolution(17781783), the French Revolutionary Wars (17931802) and
the Napoleonic Wars (18031815). It may even be seen further back in time
to the first of the French and Indian Wars. This cyclic conflict is known as
the Second Hundred Years' War.
Although the War of the Austrian Succession was indecisive despite French
successes in India under the French Governor-General Joseph Franois
Dupleix and Europe under Marshal Saxe the Seven Years' War, after early
French successes in Minorca and North America, saw a French defeat, with the
numerically superior British (over one million to about 50 thousand French
settlers) conquering not only New France (excluding the small islands of Saint
Pierre and Miquelon), but also most of France's West Indian (Caribbean)
colonies, and all of the French Indian outposts.
While the peace treaty saw France's Indian outposts, and the Caribbean
islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe restored to France, the competition for
influence in India had been won by the British, and North America was
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entirely lost most of New France was taken by Britain (also referred to
as British North America, except Louisiana, which France ceded to Spain as
payment for Spain's late entrance into the war (and as compensation for
Britain's annexation of Spanish Florida). Also ceded to the British
were Grenada and Saint Lucia in the West Indies. Although the loss of Canada
would cause much regret in future generations, it excited little unhappiness at
the time; colonialism was widely regarded as both unimportant to France, and
immoral.
[citation needed]



Ratification of the treaty of Paris, 1783. The British delegation refused to
pose for the picture.
Some recovery of the French colonial empire was made during the French
intervention in the American Revolution, with Saint Lucia being returned to
France by the Treaty of Paris in 1783, but not nearly as much as had been
hoped for at the time of French intervention. True disaster came to what
remained of France's colonial empire in 1791 when Saint Domingue (the
Western third of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola), France's richest and
most important colony, was riven by a massive slave revolt, caused partly by
the divisions among the island's elite, which had resulted from the French
Revolution of 1789.
The slaves, led eventually by Toussaint Louverture and then, following his
capture by the French in 1801, by Jean-Jacques Dessalines, held their own
against French, Spanish, and British opponents, and ultimately achieved
independence as Empire of Haiti in 1804 (Haiti became the first black republic
in the world,
[citation needed]
much earlier than any of the future African nations
although it was not until the 19th century that Europeans began establishing
colonies in Africa).
In the meanwhile, the newly resumed war with Britain by the French, resulted
in the British capture of practically all remaining French colonies. These were
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restored at the Treaty of Amiens in 1802, but when war resumed in 1803, the
British soon recaptured them. France's repurchase of Louisiana in 1800 came
to nothing, as the final success of the Haitian revolt convinced Napoleon that
holding Louisiana would not be worth the cost, leading to its sale to the United
States in 1803. The French attempt to establish a colony in Egypt in 1798
1801 was not successful.
Second French colonial empire (after 1830)[edit]


Animated map showing the growth and decline of the First and Second
French colonial empires.
At the close of the Napoleonic Wars, most of France's colonies were restored
to it by Britain, notably Guadeloupe and Martinique in the West Indies, French
Guiana on the coast of South America, various trading posts in Senegal, the le
Bourbon (Runion) in the Indian Ocean, and France's tiny Indian possessions;
however, Britain finally annexed Saint Lucia, Tobago, theSeychelles, and
the Isle de France (now Mauritius).
In 1825 Charles X sent an expedition to Hati, resulting in the Haiti indemnity
controversy.
[6]

The true beginnings of the second French colonial empire were laid in 1830
with the French invasion of Algeria, which was conquered over the next 17
years.
During the Second Empire (18521870), Emperor Napoleon III tried to create
a puppet state in Mexico, but the French intervention in Mexicowas a disaster.
The French were able to create the Second Mexican Empire, but faced Mexican
resistance. After the United States won its Civil War in 1865, it sent a large
army to the border and France had to withdraw its support for the Second
Mexican Empire. France's puppet emperor was eventually overthrown and
executed and Mexico's republican government was restored.
[7]

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In 1892, the Senegalese Tirailleurs, led by Colonel Alfred-Amde Dodds,
invaded Dahomey (present-day Benin).
In southeast Asia Napoleon III was more successful in establishing control one
slice at a time. He took over Cochinchina (the southernmost part of
modern Vietnam, including Saigon) in 1862, as well as
aprotectorate over Cambodia in 1863. Additionally, France had a sphere of
influence during the 19th century and early 20th century in southern China,
including a naval base at Kuangchow Bay (Guangzhouwan).
[8]



Execution of Malagasy officials for having resisted French annexation
It was only after the Franco-Prussian War of 18701871 and the founding of
the Third Republic (18711940) that most of France's later colonial
possessions were acquired. From their base in Cochinchina, the French took
over Tonkin (in modern northern Vietnam) and Annam (in modern central
Vietnam) in 18841885. These, together with Cambodia and Cochinchina,
formed French Indochina in 1887 (to which Laos was added in
1893 and Guangzhouwan
[9]
in 1900). In 1849, the French
concession inShanghai was established, lasting until 1946.
[10]
The French also
had concessions in Guangzhou andHankou (now part of Wuhan).
[11]

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French colonies in 1891 (from Le Monde illustr).
1. Panorama of Lac-Ka, French outpost in China.
2. Yun-nan, in the quay of Hanoi.
3. Flooded street of Hanoi.
4. Landing stage of Hanoi
Influence was also expanded in North Africa, establishing a protectorate
in Tunisia in 1881 with theBardo Treaty. Gradually, French control was
established over much of North, West, and Central Africaaround the start of
the 20th century (including the modern nations
of Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea, Mali,Ivory Coast, Benin, Niger, Chad, Central
African Republic, Republic of the Congo), the east Africancoastal enclave
of Djibouti (French Somaliland) and the island of Madagascar.
The explorer Colonel Parfait-Louis Monteil traveled from Senegal to Lake
Chad in 18901892, signing treaties of friendship and protection with the
rulers of several of the countries he passed through, and gaining much
knowledge of the geography and politics of the region.
[12]

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The VouletChanoine Mission, a military expedition, was sent out from
Senegal in 1898 to conquer theChad Basin and unify all French territories in
West Africa. This expedition operated jointly with two other expeditions,
the Foureau-Lamy and Gentil Missions, which advanced
from Algeria and Middle Congorespectively. With the death of the Muslim
warlord Rabih az-Zubayr, the greatest ruler in the region, and the creation of
the Military Territory of Chad in 1900, the Voulet-Chanoine Mission had
accomplished all its goals. The ruthlessness of the mission provoked a scandal
in Paris.
As a part of the Scramble for Africa, France had the establishment of a
continuous west-east axis of the continent as an objective, in contrast with the
British north-south axis. This resulted in the Fashoda Incident, where an
expedition led by Jean-Baptiste Marchand was opposed by forces under Lord
Kitchener's command. The resolution of the crisis had a part in the bringing
forth of the Entente Cordiale. During the Agadir Crisis in 1911 Britain
supported France againstGermany, and Morocco became a French
protectorate.
[13][14]

At this time, the French also established colonies in the South Pacific,
including New Caledonia, the various island groups which make up French
Polynesia (including the Society Islands, theMarquesas, and the Tuamotus),
and established joint control of the New Hebrides with Britain.
[citation needed]

The French made their last major colonial gains after World War I, when they
gained mandates over the former territories of the Ottoman Empire that make
up what is now Syria and Lebanon, as well as most of the former German
colonies of Togo and Cameroon.
World War II[edit]
[show]
V
T
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Free Frenchmilitary campaigns
of World War II

This section
requires expansion.(July
2014)
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The gradual loss of all Vichy territory to Free France and the Axis by
1943. Legend.
[show]
V
T
E
Military actions ofVichy
Franceduring World War II
During World War II, allied Free France, often with British support, and Axis-
aligned Vichy France struggled for control of the colonies, sometimes with
outright military combat. By 1943, all of the colonies, except for Indochina
under Japanese control, had joined the Free French cause.
[15]









Civilising mission[edit]
A hallmark of the French colonial project in the late 19th century and early
20th century was the civilising mission (mission civilisatrice), the principle
that it was Europe's duty to bring civilisation to benighted peoples.
[16]
As such,
colonial officials undertook a policy of Franco-Europeanisation in French
colonies, most notably French West Africa andMadagascar. During the 19th.
century, French citizenship along with the right to elect a deputy to the French
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Chamber of Deputies was granted to the four old colonies of Guadeloupe,
Martinique, Guyanne and Runion as well as to the residents of the "Four
Communes" in Senegal. In most cases, the elected deputies were white
Frenchmen, although there were some blacks, such as the SenegaleseBlaise
Diagne, who was elected in 1914.
[17]
Elsewhere, in the largest and most
populous colonies, a strict separation between "sujets franais" (all the
natives) and "citoyens franais" (all males of European extraction) with
different rights and duties was maintained until 1946. As was pointed out in a
1927 treatise on French colonial law, the granting of French citizenship to
natives "was not a right, but rather a privilege".
[18]
Two 1912 decrees dealing
with French West Africa and French Equatorial Africa enumerated the
conditions that a native had to meet in order to be granted French citizenship
(they included speaking and writing French, earning a decent living and
displaying good moral standards). From 1830 to 1946, anywhere from 3,000
to 6,000 natives Algerians only were granted French citizenship. In French
West Africa, outside of the Four Communes, there were 2,500 "citoyens
indignes" out of a total population of 15 million.
[19]

French conservatives had been denouncing the assimilationist policies as
products of a dangerous liberal fantasy. In the Protectorate of Morocco, the
French administration attempted to use urban planning and colonial
education to prevent cultural mixing and to uphold the traditional society
upon which the French depended for collaboration, with mixed results. After
World War II, the segregationist approach modeled in Morocco had been
discredited by its connections to Vichyism, and assimilationism enjoyed a
brief renaissance.
[17]

In 1905, the French abolished slavery in most of French West Africa.
[20]
David
P. Forsythe wrote: "From Senegal and Mauritania in the west to Niger in the
east (what became French Africa), there was a parallel series of ruinous wars,
resulting in tremendous numbers of people being violently enslaved. At the
beginning of the twentieth century there may have been between 3 and 3.5
million slaves, representing over 30 percent of the total population, within
this sparsely populated region."
[21]

Critics of French colonialism gained an international audience in the 1920s,
and often used documentary reportage and access to agencies such as
the League of Nations and the International Labor Organisation to make their
protests heard. The main criticism was the high level of violence and suffering
among the natives. Major critics included Albert Londres, Flicien Challaye,
and Paul Monet, whose books and articles were widely read.
[22]

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While the first stages of a takeover often involved the destruction of historic
buildings in order to use the site for French headquarters, archaeologists and
art historians soon engaged in systematic effort to identify, map and preserve
historic sites, especially temples such as Angkor Wat, Champa ruins and the
temples of Luang Prabang.
[23]
Many French museums have collections of
colonial materials. Since the 1980s the French government has opened new
museums of colonial artifacts including the Muse du Quai Branly and the Cit
Nationale de lHistoire de lImmigration, in Paris; the Centre Culturel Tjibaou
in New Caledonia; and the Maison des Civilisations et de lUnit Runionnaise
in Runion.
[24]

Decolonization (20th century)[edit]
The French colonial empire began to fall during the Second World War, when
various parts were occupied by foreign powers (Japan in Indochina, Britain
in Syria, Lebanon, and Madagascar, the United States and Britain
in Morocco and Algeria, and Germany and Italy in Tunisia). However, control
was gradually reestablished by Charles de Gaulle. The French Union, included
in the Constitution of 1946, replaced the former colonial Empire.
France was immediately confronted with the beginnings of
the decolonisation movement. Paul Ramadier's (SFIO) cabinet repressed
theMalagasy Uprising in 1947. In Asia, Ho Chi
Minh's Vietminh declared Vietnam's independence, starting the First
Indochina War. In Cameroun, the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon's
insurrection, started in 1955 and headed by Ruben Um Nyob, was violently
repressed.
When the Indochina War ended with defeat and withdrawal in 1954, France
became almost immediately involved in a new, and even harsher conflict
in Algeria, the oldest major colony. Ferhat Abbas and Messali Hadj's
movements had marked the period between the two wars, but both sides
radicalised after the Second World War. In 1945, the Stif massacre was
carried out by the French army.
The Algerian War started in 1954. Algeria was particularly problematic, due to
the large number of European settlers (or pieds-noirs) who had settled there
in the 125 years of French rule. Charles de Gaulle's accession to power in 1958
in the middle of the crisis ultimately led to theindependence of Algeria with
the 1962 Evian Accords. The Suez crisis in 1956 also displayed the limitations
of French power, as its attempt to retake the canal along with the British was
stymied when the United States did not back the plan.
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The French Union was replaced in the new 1958 Constitution of 1958 by
the French Community. Only Guinea refused by referendum to take part in the
new colonial organisation. However, the French Community dissolved itself in
the midst of the Algerian War; almost all of the other African colonies were
granted independence in 1960, following local referendums. Some few
colonies chose instead to remain part of France, under the status
of overseas dpartements (territories). Critics of neocolonialism claimed that
the Franafrique had replaced formal direct rule. They argued that while de
Gaulle was granting independence on one hand, he was creating new ties with
the help of Jacques Foccart, his counsellor for African matters. Foccart
supported in particular the Nigerian Civil War during the late 1960s.
The Indian Ocean island of Mayotte voted in referendum in 1974 to retain its
link with France and forgo independence.
[25]

Demographics[edit]
Population between 1919 and 1940[edit]

Population of the French Empire between 1919 and 1939

1921 1926 1931 1936
Metropolitan France 39,140,000 40,710,000 41,550,000 41,500,000
Colonies,
protectorates, and
mandates
55,556,000 59,474,000 64,293,000 69,131,000
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Total 94,696,000 100,184,000 105,843,000 110,631,000
Percentage of the
world population
5.02% 5.01% 5.11% 5.15%
Sources: INSEE,
[26]
SGF
[27]

French settlers[edit]


The deportation order is read to a group of Acadians in 1755.
Unlike elsewhere in Europe, France experienced relatively low levels of
emigration to the Americas, with the exception of the Huguenots in British or
Dutch colonies. France generally had close to the slowest natural population
growth in Europe, and emigration pressures were therefore quite small. A
small but significant emigration, numbering only in the tens of thousands, of
mainly Roman Catholic French populations led to the settlement of the
provinces of Acadia, Canada and Louisiana, both (at the time) French
possessions, as well as colonies in the West Indies, Mascarene islands and
Africa. In New France, Huguenots were banned from settling in the territory,
and Quebec was one of the most staunchly Catholic areas in the world until
the Quiet Revolution. The current French Canadian population, which
numbers in the millions, is descended almost entirely from New France's
small settler population.
On 31 December 1687 a community of French Huguenots settled in South
Africa. Most of these originally settled in the Cape Colony, but have since been
quickly absorbed into the Afrikaner population. After Champlain's founding of
Quebec City in 1608, it became the capital of New France. Encouraging
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settlement was difficult, and while some immigration did occur, by 1763 New
France only had a population of some 65,000.
[28]

In 1787, there were 30,000 white colonists on France's colony of Saint-
Domingue. In 1804 Dessalines, the first ruler of an independent Haiti (St.
Domingue), ordered the massacre of whites remaining on the island.
[29]
Out of
the 40,000 inhabitants onGuadeloupe, at the end of the 17th century, there
were more than 26,000 blacks and 9,000 whites.
[30]
Bill Marshall wrote, "The
first French effort to colonize Guiana, in 1763, failed utterly when tropical
diseases and climate killed all but 2,000 of the initial 12,000 settlers."
[31]

French law made it easy for thousands of colons, ethnic or national French
from former colonies of North and West Africa, India and Indochinato live in
mainland France. It is estimated that 20,000 colons were living in Saigon in
1945. 1.6 million European pieds noirs migrated fromAlgeria, Tunisia
and Morocco.
[32]
In just a few months in 1962, 900,000 French
Algerians left Algeria in the largest relocation of population in Europe
since World War II.
[citation needed]
In the 1970s, over 30,000
French colons left Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge regime as the Pol
Potgovernment confiscated their farms and land properties. In November
2004, several thousand of the estimated 14,000 French nationals in Ivory
Coast left country after days of anti-white violence.
[33]

Apart from French-Canadians (Qubcois and Acadians), Cajuns,
and Mtis other populations of French ancestry outside metropolitan France
include the Caldoches of New Caledonia, the so-called Zoreilles, Petits-
blancs with the Franco-Mauritian of various Indian Ocean islands and
the Beke people of the French West Indies.
See also[edit]

History portal

France portal
Decolonization
Evolution of the French Empire
Francization
French colonisation of the Americas
French law on colonialism - (2005)
History of France
Index:-Former colonies of France
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Index:-French colonial empire
International relations (18141919)
List of French possessions and colonies
Organisation internationale de la Francophonie
Overseas departments and territories of France
Postage stamps of the French colonies
Scramble for Africa
North Vietnamese invasion of Laos
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
North Vietnamese invasion of Laos
Part of Vietnam War and Laotian Civil
War
Date 19581959
Location Kingdom of Laos
Result North Vietnamese victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Laos North
Vietnam
Pathet Lao

[show]
V
T
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Military engagements
of the Vietnam War


Part of a series on the
History of Laos
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Early history

Lan Xang
13531707
Rival Kingdoms Period
Luang Phrabang Kingdom
17071949
Vientiane Kingdom
17071828
Principality of Phuan
17071949
Champasak Kingdom
17131946
Colonial era
French
rule and administration
18931953
Lao Issara
19451949
Modern era
Pathet Lao

Post-independence
19531975
N. Vietnamese invasion
19581959
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Civil War
19531975
Insurgency
19752007
Communist rule
1975present
See also
History of Isan
Peopling of Laos
V
T
E
The North Vietnamese invaded Laos between 19581959.
Contents
[hide]
1 Prelude to invasion
2 Occupation of Lao villages by North Vietnam (December 1958)
3 North Vietnamese attack (1959)
4 See also
5 References
6 Further reading
Prelude to invasion[edit]
Souvanna Phouma announced that, with the holding of elections, the Royal
Lao Government had fulfilled the political obligations it had assumed
at Geneva, and the International Control Commission (ICC) adjourned sine die.
Phoui, less scrupulous about preserving Laos's neutrality than his
predecessor, angered Moscow and Hanoi by admitting diplomats
from Taipei and Saigon.
The Soviet Union and North Vietnam, already upset by the departure of the
ICC, which they had seen as a restraining influence, protested. The United
States worked out an agreement with France that reduced the role of the
French military mission and enlarged that of the Programs Evaluation Office,
which embarked on a major strengthening of its staff and functions.
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Occupation of Lao villages by North Vietnam (December 1958)[edit]
The occupation in December 1958 by North Vietnamese security forces of
several villages inTchepone District near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)
between North Vietnam and South Vietnamwas an ominous development. The
Laos government immediately protested the flying of the North Vietnamese
flag on Laotian territory. Hanoi claimed the villages had historically been part
of Vietnam.
With regard to precedent, this was a decidedly modest claim - nonetheless, it
represented a unilateral reinterpretation of the French map used by the
Truong Gia Armistice Commission in the summer of 1954 to draw the DMZ,
and, backed by force of arms, constituted nothing less than aggression. Phoui
received extraordinary powers from the National Assembly to deal with the
crisis. But the failure to regain their lost territory rankled the Laotian
nationalists, who were hoping for a greater degree of United States assistance.
One of Washington's major preoccupations was the danger that the Royal Lao
Army would integrate the Pathet Lao troops without the safeguard of
"screening and reindoctrinating" them. The embassy was instructed to tell the
government that it would be difficult to obtain congressional approval of aid
to Laos with communists in the Royal Lao Army. Before the final integration of
1,500 Pathet Lao troops (two battalions) into the Royal Lao Army could take
place as planned in May 1959, the Pathet Lao used a quibble about officer
ranks to delay the final ceremony.
As monsoon rains swept over the Plain of Jars one night, one of the two
battalions slipped away, followed soon after by the other,
near Louangphrabang. The event signaled a resumption of hostilities. In July,
Phoui's government, after protracted cabinet deliberations, ordered the arrest
of the LPF deputies in Vientiane--Souphanouvong, Nouhak, Phoumi
Vongvichit, Phoun Sipaseut, Sithon Kommadan, Singkapo, and others. Tiao
Souk Vongsak evaded arrest.
North Vietnamese attack (1959)[edit]
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The Ho Chi Minh Trail running through Laos, 1967.
Fighting broke out all along the border with North Vietnam. North Vietnamese
Armyregular units participated in attacks on July 2831, 1959. These
operations established a pattern of North Vietnamese forces leading the attack
on a strong point, then falling back and letting the Pathet Lao remain in place
once resistance to the advance had been broken. The tactic had the advantage
of concealing the North Vietnamese presence from view.
Rumors of North Vietnamese in the vicinity often had a terrifying effect.
Among the men who heard such rumors in the mountains
of Houaphan Province that summer was a young Royal Lao Army captain
named Kong Le. Kong Le had two companies of the Second Paratroop
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Battalion out on patrol almost on the North Vietnamese border. When they
returned to Xam Nua without encountering the enemy, they found that the
garrison had decamped, leaving the town undefended.
Direct North Vietnamese involvement in Laos began taking another form
wherein aggression was difficult to prove. Two months after the 1954 Geneva
Conferenceon Indochina, the North Vietnamese established a small support
group known as Group 100, on the Thanh Hoa-Houaphan border at Ban
Namo. This unit provided logistical and other support to Pathet Lao forces.
In view of the reversion to a fighting strategy, the North Vietnamese and Lao
parties decided to establish an upgraded unit. The new unit, known as Group
959, headquartered at Na Kai, just inside the Houaphan border, began
operating in September 1959. Its establishment coincided with a major effort
to expand the hitherto small Pathet Lao forces.
According to an official history published after the war, its mission was
"serving as specialists for the Military Commission and Supreme Command of
the Lao People's Liberation Army, and organizing the supplying of Vietnamese
matriel to the Laotian revolution and directly commanding the Vietnamese
volunteer units operating inSam Neua, Xiangkhouang, and Vientiane." These
actions were in violation of the obligation Ho Chi Minh's government had
assumed as a participant in the 1954 Geneva Conference to refrain from any
interference in the internal affairs of Laos.
The Vietnamese party's strategy was by now decided with regard to South
Vietnam. At the same time, the party outlined a role for the LPP that was
supportive of North Vietnam, in addition to the LPP's role as leader of the
revolution in Laos. Hanoi's southern strategy opened the first tracks through
the extremely rugged terrain of Xpn district in mid-1959 of what was to
become the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
Phetsarath and Sisavang Vong, viceroy and king, died within two weeks of
each other in October 1959. His successor, Savang Vatthana, lacked both his
father's hold on his people and Phetsarath's charisma. A deeply fatalistic man
who foresaw he would be the last king of Laos, Savang Vatthana remained
uncrowned for the rest of his reign because a propitious date for the
coronation ceremony could not be found.
Drug policy in Laos
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This article is outdated. Please update this article to reflect
recent events or newly available information. (November
2010)
In 1994, Laos was the world's third largest producer of opium, primarily in
the northern provinces. Narcotics trafficking in Laos is difficult to control
because of the remoteness of many border areas, their attendant lack of
communications, and the scarcity of resources, all of which make stationing
officials at many of the border crossings difficult. Several counternarcotics
policy initiatives have been undertaken.
Contents
[hide]
1 History
2 Crown Prince Sopsaisana's opium bust
3 See also
4 References
History[edit]
During the late 1980s, narcotics control became an important United States
concern, because Laos is a major producer of opium and marijuana. In 1987
Laos began to cooperate with the United States in drug control efforts when it
requested assistance in providing a viable crop alternative to opium farmers.
Increased efforts on counternarcotics cooperation have been evident since
January 1990 when a memorandum of understanding on the Bilateral
Cooperation of Narcotics Issues was signed. This agreement focused on ways
for the United States to provide antinarcotics programs.
The United States provided narcotics-related training to a number of Laotian
officials in June 1990 and again in August 1991. And, in 1992, United States
Customs Service officials held a training session in Vientiane for Laotian
customs officers and other officials. Since then, Laotian officials have also
traveled to Australia, Japan, and Europe for counternarcotics cooperation
training.
In late 1992, as part of the continuing counternarcotics effort, the LPDR
Customs Department set up an antismuggling unit in Vientiane. The Council of
Ministers approved the formation of this counternarcotics police unit
operationally under the Ministry of Interior but with policy controlled by the
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Lao National Committee on Drug Control and Supervision. Progress in the
configuration of the unit was negligible. As of mid-1993, however, the United
States was working with the LPDR to provide support and training for the
unit, and the site for the unit was being renovated.
Estimated opium production has declined annually since 1989, largely
through successful crop reduction and replacement programs that target
specific areas and are funded and initiated by the United States and the UN
Drug Control Program. Laos has facilitated these crop substitution programs
aimed at developing alternative crops and occupations
in Houaphan, Vientiane, and Xiangkhoang provinces.
In 1989 there were an estimated 42,130 hectares of land deemed "potentially
harvestable" for cultivating opium. By 1993 there were approximately 26,040
hectares. The potential opium yield declined from 380 tons in 1989 to 230
tons in 1992 and to 180 tons in 1993. The United States government
estimated that opium production in Laos had declined some 27 percent in
1990 over the previous year, approximately 13 percent from 1991 to 1992,
and about 22 percent from 1992 to 1993, the latter mainly as a result of
adverse weather because the estimated hectarage under cultivation did not
decrease.
Decreased opium cultivation and production are also the result of increased
law enforcement efforts, narcotics-related arrests and crop seizures, and a
greater effort to disseminate information on the disadvantages of drug
trafficking. Although the government tends to deny that it has a domestic drug
problem, a public awareness program stressing the dangers of drug use and
trafficking has been established, and, as part of the information and education
campaign, there has been increased publicity on penalties for offenses.
In April 1993, Laos was certified for narcotics cooperation in 1992 by
the United States Department of State. Certification is granted for
performance in narcotics cooperation in the previous calendar year and is
categorized by cooperation or certification, noncooperation or decertification,
and national interest waiver. Certification guarantees Laos increased United
States cooperation and funding of counternarcotics programs.
Certification (with explanation) stipulates that in order to receive full United
States support, Laos has to take visible, significant, and continuing action to
improve the enforcement of antinarcotics laws, which were first enacted in
November 1989. Other reasons for the designation certification with
explanation include the slow pace of cooperation with officials from the
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United States Drug Enforcement Administration and allegations of
involvement in drug trafficking by high-level members of the government.
In April 1994, the United States granted Laos a national interest waiver for
certification of narcotics cooperation in 1993. It was determined that the
waiver was preferable to decertification or certification and was in the United
States national interest in order to exact continued cooperation on
the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue.
Previous efforts, although modest, to curb the drug trade continue. At the
same time, however, corruption among civilian and military personnel and
their collusion in narcotics activities reportedly continue as well. In 1993 the
prime minister ordered the provinces to organize antidrug committees and
cooperate with the Lao National Committee on Drug Control and Supervision.
Cooperation is to take the form of publicizing existing laws and regulations
and educating the public on the dangers of drugs.
Crown Prince Sopsaisana's opium bust[edit]
The Laotian prince Sopsaisana was the head of the Asian Peoples Anti-
Communist League, the chief political advisor of Vang Pao, Vice President of
the Laotian National Assembly and military commander of the CIA controlled
Laotian Hmong army.
[1]
In April 1971 Prince Sopsaisana, then Laos's new
Ambassador to France, arrived in Paris.
After a tip-off,
[2]
customs at Orly airport intercepted a valise containing 123
pounds of pure heroin,
[3]
then the largest drug seizure in French history with
an estimated value of $13.5 million.
[2]
The Prince had planned to ship the
drugs to New York. CI
Emblem of Laos
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Emblem of Laos
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Details
Armiger Lao People's Democratic
Republic
Adopted 1992
Motto

"Peace, Independence,
Democracy"

"Unity and Prosperity"


The national emblem of Laos shows the national shrine Pha That Luang. A
dam is pictured which as a symbol of power generation at the reservoir Nam
Ngun, an asphalt street is also pictured, as well as a stylized watered field.
In the lower part is a section of a gear wheel. The inscription on the left reads
"Peace, Independence, Democracy" (lao script:

) and on the right, "Unity and Prosperity" (lao script:

.)
History[edit]
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The coat of arms was modified in 1991. The Communist red star and hammer
and sickle were replaced with the national shrine at Pha That Luang. The coat
of arms is specified in the Laotian constitution:
The National Emblem of the Lao People's Democratic Republic is a circle
depicting in the bottom part one-half of a cog wheel and red ribbon with
inscriptions [of the words] "Lao People's Democratic Republic", and
[flanked by] crescent-shaped stalks of fully ripened riceat both sides
and red ribbons bearing the inscription "Peace, Independence,
Democracy, Unity, Prosperity". A picture of Pha That Luang Pagoda is
located between the tips of the stalks of rice. A road, a paddy field,
a forest and a hydroelectric dam are depicted in the middle of the circle.
Constitution of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, 90
[1]

Gallery[edit]



1949-1975



1975-1991



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Arms of the Laos Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry

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