寮国(Laos)
正式名称寮国人民民主共和国（Lao People's Democratic Republic）
东南亚国家。面积236,800平方公里。人口约5,636,000（2001）。首都︰永珍。主要民族群体有︰佬鲁族（谷地老挝人），占总人口的2/3；佬傣族（高地部落人）；佬听族（孟－高棉族），为本地最早居民的後裔；佬松族，包括苗人和僈人（傜）。语言：寮语（官方语）、英语、越南语和法语。宗教：上座部佛教（大部分人口），万物有灵论。货币︰基普（KN）。寮国为多山国家，尤其是北部，全国最高点是普比亚山（2,818公尺）。热带森林覆盖国土面积的一半以上，只有约4%的土地适合农耕。湄公河的冲积平原构成寮国仅有的低地，为主要的水稻区。寮国经济属中央计画经济，主要以农业（包括稻米、甘薯、甘蔗、木薯、鸦片）和国际援助为基础。政府形式为人民共和国，一院制。国家元首为总统，政府首脑是总理。
西元8世纪以後，傣族从中国南方迁入寮国，逐渐取代如今称作卡族（Kha）的原住民部族。14世纪法昂（Fa Ngum）建立了第一个寮国国家－－澜沧王国，除1574～1637年受缅甸统治外，澜沧王国一直统治着寮国，直到1713年寮国分裂成永珍、占巴塞（Champassak）和琅勃拉邦三邦。18世纪时，寮国三邦统治者成为暹罗的属臣。1893年法国控制了该区，寮国成为法国的保护国。1945年日本人取得控制权，宣布寮国独立。第二次世界大战後，法国重获控制权，但第一次印度支那战争结束时，左翼的巴特寮（Patht Lao）控制了两个省。在1954年的日内瓦会议上，一个统一与独立的寮国成立。巴特寮军队与寮国政府军作战，并在1975年控制了寮国，成立寮国人民民主共和国，约1/10的人口逃至邻国泰国。1989年寮国举行首次大选，1991年颁布新宪法。虽然1990年代中期亚洲经济金融危机严重影响该国经济，但在1997年加入东南亚国家协会後，该国仍实现一个长期目标。
English version：
Laos
Country, S.East Asia. Area: 91,429 sq mi (236,800 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 5,117,000. Capital: Vientiane. Laos's major ethnic groups include the Lao-Lum (valley Lao), who make up two-thirds of the population; the Lao-Tai, a highland tribal people; the Lao-Theung (Mon-Khmer), descendants of the region's earliest inhabitants; and the Lao-Soung group, including the Hmong and Man. Languages: Lao (official), English, Vietnamese, French. Religions: Theravada Buddhism (much of the population), animism. Currency: kip. Laos is largely mountainous, especially in the north; its highest point is Mount Bia (9,245 ft, or 2,818 m). Tropical forests cover more than half of the country's total land area; only 4% of its total area is suitable for agriculture. The floodplains of the Mekong River provide the country's only lowlands and its major wet-rice fields. Laos has a centrally planned economy based primarily on agriculture (including rice, sweet potatoes, sugarcane, cassava, and opium) and international aid. It is a people's republic with one legislative house; its chief of state is the president and its head of government is the prime minister. The Lao people migrated into Laos from southern China after the 8th century AD, displacing indigenous tribes now known as the Kha. In the 14th century Fa Ngum founded the first Laotian state, Lan Xang. Except for a period of rule by Burma (1574-1637), the Lan Xang kingdom ruled Laos until 1713, when it split into three kingdoms—Vientiane, Champassak, and Luang Prabang. During the 18th century the rulers of the three Laotian kingdoms became vassals of Siam. France gained control of the region in 1893, and Laos became a French protectorate. In 1945 Japan seized control and declared Laos independent. The area reverted to French rule after World War II. By the end of the First Indochina War, the leftist Pathet Lao movement controlled two provinces of the country. The Geneva Conference of 1954 unified and granted independence to Laos. Pathet Lao forces fought the Laotian government and took control in 1975, establishing the Lao People's Democratic Republic; about one-tenth of the population fled into neighboring Thailand. Laos held its first election in 1989 and promulgated a new constitution in 1991. Although its economy was adversely affected by the mid-1990s Asian monetary crises, it realized a longtime goal in 1997 when it joined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.