1.
Flag of Laos
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The flag of Laos was adopted on December 2,1975. The flag had previously used by the short-lived Lao Issara government of 1945–46. The flag of Laos consists of three strips, middle blue strip is twice the height of the top and bottom red stripes. In the middle is a disc, the diameter of the disc is 4⁄5 the height of the blue stripe. The national flag of Laos was first adopted in 1945 under the Lao Issara government and then re-adopted again in 1975 and this flag replaced the 1952-1975 flag of Laos that represented the royal monarchy, which was red, with a triple-headed white elephant on a pedestal beneath a parasol. This expressed the ancient name of the country, Land of a Million Elephants, from 1953 onward the royal government waged war with the Pathet Lao, whose flag was blue with a white disk and red borders at the top and bottom. From 1973 to 1975, the Pathet Lao formed part of the government coalition, before assuming power directly and their flag was adopted as the national flag. According to the creator of the current Lao flag, Maha Sila Viravong. It is also said to represent a full moon against the Mekong River, the current Lao flag was designed in 1945 by Maha Sila Viravong, a famous Lao nationalist, intellectual, and scholar of traditional Lao literature, history, and culture. The Lao Issara, as a movement, continued to use the flag in exile until its dissolution in 1949. Its communist-led successor, the Pathet Lao, re-used Viravongs flag to represent the movement until the fall of the government in 1975 when the Pathet Lao re-adopted it as the national flag. From 1952 until the fall of the government in 1975 the country had a red flag. On top of the elephant is an umbrella, while the elephant itself stands on a five-level pedestal. The white elephant is a royal symbol in Southeast Asia, especially in Thailand. This flag was adopted by the monarchy of Luang Prabang since the beginning of the 20th century under French rule. The nine-folded umbrella is also a symbol, originating from Mount Meru in the Buddhist cosmology. The pedestal represented the law on which the country rested, Laos at Flags of the World
2.
Emblem of Laos
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The National Emblem of the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic shows the national shrine Pha That Luang. A dam is pictured which as a symbol of generation at the reservoir Nam Ngun. In the lower part is a section of a gear wheel, the inscription on the left reads Peace, Independence, Democracy and on the right, Unity and Prosperity The coat of arms was modified in August 1991 in relation to the fall of the Soviet Union. The Communist red star and hammer and sickle were replaced with the shrine at Pha That Luang. 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
3.
La Marseillaise
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La Marseillaise is the national anthem of France. The song was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg after the declaration of war by France against Austria, and was originally titled Chant de guerre pour lArmée du Rhin. The Marseillaise was a song, an anthem to freedom, a patriotic call to mobilize all the citizens. The French National Convention adopted it as the Republics anthem in 1795 and it acquired its nickname after being sung in Paris by volunteers from Marseille marching to the capital. The song is the first example of the European march anthemic style, the anthems evocative melody and lyrics have led to its widespread use as a song of revolution and its incorporation into many pieces of classical and popular music. As the French Revolution continued, the monarchies of Europe became concerned that revolutionary fervor would spread to their countries, the War of the First Coalition was an effort to stop the revolution, or at least contain it to France. Initially, the French army did not distinguish itself, and Coalition armies invaded France and that evening, Rouget de Lisle wrote Chant de guerre pour lArmée du Rhin, and dedicated the song to Marshal Nicolas Luckner, a Bavarian in French service from Cham. A plaque on the building on Place Broglie where De Dietrichs house once stood commemorates the event. The melody soon became the call to the French Revolution and was adopted as La Marseillaise after the melody was first sung on the streets by volunteers from Marseille by the end of May. A newly graduated medical doctor, Mireur later became a general under Napoléon Bonaparte, the songs lyric reflects the invasion of France by foreign armies that were under way when it was written. Strasbourg itself was attacked just a few days later, the invading forces were repulsed from France following their defeat in the Battle of Valmy. As the vast majority of Alsatians did not speak French, a German version was published in October 1792 in Colmar, the Convention accepted it as the French national anthem in a decree passed on 14 July 1795, making it Frances first anthem. It later lost this status under Napoleon I, and the song was banned outright by Louis XVIII and Charles X, only being re-instated briefly after the July Revolution of 1830. During Napoleon Is reign, Veillons au Salut de lEmpire was the anthem of the regime. Eight years later, in 1879, it was restored as Frances national anthem, several musical antecedents have been cited for the melody, Mozarts Allegro maestoso of Piano Concerto No. Only the first verse and the first chorus are sung today in France, there are some slight historical variations in the lyrics of the song, the following is the version listed at the official website of the French Presidency. Verses sung in the version of the anthem are in bold. The United States Library of Congress holds the following English translation and these verses were omitted from the national anthem
4.
Pheng Xat Lao
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Pheng Xat Lao is the national anthem of the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic. Dr. Thongdy Sounthonevichit composed the music and wrote the lyrics in 1941 and this was adopted as the national anthem of the Kingdom of Laos in 1945. The original lyrics were revised after the Pathet Lao won the Laotian Civil War, in 1893, Laos became a protectorate of France within its colonial empire. The French claimed their takeover was intended to protect Laos from its neighbours like Siam. Consequently, nationalistic sentiment did not develop as quickly as it did in Vietnam, however, the outbreak of the Second World War saw the fall of France to Nazi Germany. The new right-wing government in Siam saw this as an opportunity to reconquer Laos, to counteract this, the French actively promoted nationalism among the Lao people. As a direct result of this new liberalization, many songs were composed during this time. Pheng Xat Lao was one of them, having been composed by Dr. Thongdy Sounthonevichit in 1941, the song was chosen as the national anthem of Laos in 1945, when the king was forced by the Japanese to declare Laos independence from France. This newfound freedom was short-lived as France soon regained control of French Indochina, two years later, the French granted Laos limited autonomy within the French Union and Pheng Xat Lao once again became the national anthem. When the Pathet Lao emerged victorious in the Laotian Civil War in 1975, as a result, the anthem became all-encompassing in mentioning all ethnic groups in Laos, instead of focussing solely on the Lao race and Buddhism. However, the music from the anthem was retained. com Dookola Swiata - This travel website has an instrumental version of the Anthem
5.
Vientiane
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Vientiane is the capital and largest city of Laos, on the banks of the Mekong River near the border with Thailand. Vientiane became the capital in 1563 due to fears of a Burmese invasion, Vientiane was the administrative capital during French rule and, due to economic growth in recent times, is now the economic centre of Laos. The estimated population of the city is 760,000, the city hosted the 25th Southeast Asian Games in December 2009 celebrating the 50 years of Southeast Asian Games. The name of the city is derived from Pali, the language of Theravada Buddhism. The romanised spelling Vientiane is of French origin, and reflects the difficulty the French had in pronouncing the sound in the Lao language. A common English-based spelling is Viangchan, or occasionally Wiangchan, Thattaradtha founded a city called Maha Thani Si Phan Phao on the western banks of the Mekong River, this city was said to have later become todays Udon Thani, Thailand. One day, a seven-headed Naga told Thattaradtha to start a new city on the east bank of the river opposite Maha Thani Si Phan Phao, the prince called this city Chanthabuly Si Sattanakhanahud, which was said to be the predecessor of modern Vientiane. Contrary to the Phra Lak Phra Lam, most historians believe Vientiane was an early Khmer settlement centered around a Hindu temple, in 1354, when Fa Ngum founded the kingdom of Lan Xang. Viangchan became an important administrative city, even though it was not made the capital, King Setthathirath officially established it as the capital of Lan Xang in 1563, to avoid Burmese invasion. When Lan Xang fell apart in 1707, it became an independent Kingdom of Vientiane, in 1779, it was conquered by the Siamese general Phraya Chakri and made a vassal of Siam. When King Anouvong raised a rebellion, it was obliterated by Siamese armies in 1827. The city was burned to the ground and was looted of nearly all Laotian artifacts, including Buddha statues, Viangchan was in great disrepair, depopulated and disappearing into the forest, when the French arrived. It eventually passed to French rule in 1893 and it became the capital of the French protectorate of Laos in 1899. The French rebuilt the city and rebuilt or repaired Buddhist temples such as Pha That Luang, Haw Phra Kaew, during World War II, Viangchan fell with little resistance and was occupied by Japanese forces, under the command of Sako Masanori. On 9 March 1945 French paratroopers arrived, and reoccupied the city on 24 April 1945, as the Laotian Civil War broke out between the Royal Lao Government and the Pathet Lao, Vientiane became unstable. In August 1960, Kong Le seized the capital and insisted that Souvanna Phouma become prime minister, in mid-December, Phoumi Nosavan then seized the capital, overthrew the Phouma Government, and installed Boun Oum as prime minister. In mid-1975, Pathet Lao troops moved towards the city and Americans began evacuating the capital, on 23 August 1975, a contingent of 50 Pathet Lao women symbolically liberated the city. The next day, an Insurgency in Laos began in the jungle, with the Pathet Lao fighting factions of Hmong, Vientiane was the host of the incident-free 2009 Southeast Asian Games
6.
Luang Phabang
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The centre of the city consists of four main roads and is located on a peninsula at the confluence of the Nam Khan and Mekong River. Luang Prabang is well known for its numerous Buddhist temples and monasteries, every morning, hundreds of monks from the various monasteries walk through the streets collecting alms. The city was formerly the capital of a kingdom of the same name and it had also been known by the ancient name of Chiang Thong. It was the capital and seat of government of the Kingdom of Laos. The city is part of Luang Prabang District of Luang Prabang Province and is the capital and it lies approximately 300 km north of the capital Vientiane. Currently, the population of the city as a whole is roughly 56,000 inhabitants with the UNESCO protected site being inhabited by around 24,000, Muang Sua was the old name of Luang Prabang following its conquest in 698 CE by a Tai prince, Khun Lo. Khun Lo had been awarded the town by his father, Khun Borom, who is associated with the Lao legend of the creation of the world, Khun Lo established a dynasty whose fifteen rulers reigned over an independent Muang Sua for nearly a century. In the second half of the 8th century, Nan-chao intervened frequently in the affairs of the principalities of the middle Mekong Valley, Nan-chao princes or administrators replaced the aristocracy of Tai overlords. In the meantime, the Khmers founded an outpost at Xay Fong near Vientiane, chanthaphanit, the local ruler of Xay Fong, moved north to Muang Sua and was accepted peacefully as ruler after the departure of the Nan-chao administrators. Chanthaphanit and his son had long reigns, during which the became known by the Tai name Xieng Dong Xieng Thong. The dynasty eventually became involved in the squabbles of a number of principalities, Khun Chuang, a warlike ruler who may have been a Kammu tribesman, extended his territory as a result of the warring of these principalities and ruled from 1128 to 1170. Khun Chuang, a single family ruled over a far-flung territory, at some point, Theravada Buddhism was subsumed by Mahayana Buddhism. Xieng Dong Xieng Thong experienced a period of Khmer suzerainty under Jayavarman VII from 1185 to 1191. By 1180 the Sipsong Panna had regained their independence from the Khmers, however, Xieng Dong Xieng Thong in 1353 became the capital of the Lan Xang kingdom. The capital name was changed to Luangphabang, where it was kept, the capital was moved in 1560 by King Setthathirath I to Vientiane, which remains the capital today. In 1707, Lan Xang fell apart because of a dynastic struggle, when France annexed Laos, the French recognised Luang Prabang as the royal residence of Laos. Eventually, the ruler of Luang Prabang became synonymous with the figurehead of Laos, when Laos achieved independence, the king of Luang Prabang, Sisavang Vong, became the head of state of the Kingdom of Laos. The town was the scene of events during and in the aftermath of World War II
7.
Lao language
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Lao, also referred to as Laotian, Thai Noi, is a tonal language of the Tai–Kadai language family. It is the language of Laos, and also spoken in the northeast of Thailand. The Lao language serves as an important lingua franca as the country of Laos consists of ethnic groups. Spoken Lao is mutually intelligible with the Thai language, Lao, like many languages in Laos, is written in the Lao script, an abugida. Although there is no standard, the Vientiane dialect has become the de facto standard. Oral history of the migrations is preserved in the legends of Khun Borom, Tai speakers in what is now Laos pushed out or absorbed earlier groups of Mon–Khmer and Austronesian languages. These Tai peoples are classified by the Lao government as Lao Loum or lowland Lao, Lao and Thai are also very similar and share most of their basic vocabulary, but differences in many basic words limit inter-comprehension. The Lao language consists primarily of native Lao words, because of Buddhism, however, Pali has contributed numerous terms, especially relating to religion and in conversation with members of the Sangha. Due to their proximity, Lao has influenced the Khmer and Thai languages. Formal writing has an amount of foreign loanwords, especially Pali and Sanskrit terms, much as Latin. For politeness, pronouns are used, plus ending statements with ແດ່ or ເດີ້, negative statements are made more polite by ending with ດອກ. The following are formal register examples, many consonants in Lao make a phonemic contrast between labialized and plain versions. The complete inventory of Lao consonants is as shown in the table below, hence, final /p/, /t/, and /k/ sounds are pronounced as, and respectively. * The glottal stop appears at the end when no final follows a short vowel, All vowels make a phonemic length distinction. The vowels are as shown in the table, Diphthongs are all centering diphthongs with falling sonority. There are six tones in unchecked syllables, that is. The number of tones is reduced to four in checked syllables. The only consonant clusters allowed are syllable initial clusters /kw/ or /kʰw/, any consonant may appear in the onset, but the labialized consonants do not occur before rounded vowels
8.
French language
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French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages, French has evolved from Gallo-Romance, the spoken Latin in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues doïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to Frances past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, a French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is a language in 29 countries, most of which are members of la francophonie. As of 2015, 40% of the population is in Europe, 35% in sub-Saharan Africa, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas. French is the fourth-most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union, 1/5 of Europeans who do not have French as a mother tongue speak French as a second language. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 17th and 18th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, most second-language speakers reside in Francophone Africa, in particular Gabon, Algeria, Mauritius, Senegal and Ivory Coast. In 2015, French was estimated to have 77 to 110 million native speakers, approximately 274 million people are able to speak the language. The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie estimates 700 million by 2050, in 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese. Under the Constitution of France, French has been the language of the Republic since 1992. France mandates the use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland called Romandie, of which Geneva is the largest city. French is the language of about 23% of the Swiss population. French is also a language of Luxembourg, Monaco, and Aosta Valley, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands. A plurality of the worlds French-speaking population lives in Africa and this number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as a foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050, French is the fastest growing language on the continent. French is mostly a language in Africa, but it has become a first language in some urban areas, such as the region of Abidjan, Ivory Coast and in Libreville. There is not a single African French, but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages, sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth
9.
Politics of Laos
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The politics of the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic takes place in the framework of a one-party socialist republic. The only legal political party is the Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party, the de jure head of state is President Bounnhang Vorachith, who also is LPRP general secretary making him the de facto leader of Laos. The head of government is Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, government policies are determined by the party through the all-powerful nine-member Politburo of the Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party and the 49-member Central Committee. Important government decisions are vetted by the Council of Ministers, the FY2000 central government budget plan called for revenue of $180 million and expenditures of $289 million, including capital expenditures of $202 million. Laos first, French-written and monarchical constitution was promulgated on May 11,1947, the revised constitution of May 11,1957, 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 December 3,1975, when a communist Peoples Republic was proclaimed, a new constitution was adopted in 1991 and enshrined a leading role for the LPRP. The following year, elections were held for a new 85-seat National Assembly with members elected by ballot to five-year terms. This National Assembly, which acts as a rubber stamp for the LPRP, approves all new laws. The most recent elections took place in April 2006, the assembly was expanded to 99 members in 1997 and in 2006 elections had 115. In the early 2000s, bomb attacks against the government occurred, coupled with small exchanges of fire, a variety of different groups have claimed responsibility including the Committee for Independence and Democracy in Laos and Lao Citizens Movement for Democracy. The president is elected by the National Assembly for a five-year term, the prime minister and the Council of Ministers are appointed by the president with the approval of the National Assembly for a five-year term. There are also four deputy prime ministers, as of a cabinet reshuffle on June 8,2006, they are Maj. Gen. Douangchay Phichit, Thongloun Sisoulith, Somsavat Lengsavad and Maj. Gen. Asang Laoly. The National Assembly has 132 members, elected for a five-year term, the President of the Peoples Supreme Court is elected by the National Assembly on the recommendation of the National Assembly Standing Committee. The Vice President of the Peoples Supreme Court and the judges are appointed by the National Assembly Standing Committee, Minister of Home Affairs Prof. Dr. Eksavang Vongvichit, Minister of Public Health Pr
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