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Lao People's Democratic Republic is bordered by Burma, China, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. The Mekong River forms a large part of the western boundary with Thailand. It has a land area of 234,800 square kilometers and a population of 4.6 million giving it the lowest population density in East Asia. Two thirds of the country is mountainous. There are 68 ethnic groups that are generally categorized into three groups; Lao Loum who live in the lowland plains and Mekong river valley constituting about 60 percent of the total population, the Lao Theung who occupy the mountain slopes (about 30 percent of the population), and the Lao Soung who live in mountain areas over`1,000 meters (about 10 percent of the total population). The official and dominant language is Lao a tonal language of theTai linguistic group. 67% of the population is Buddhist.
The earliest Lao legal document is known as "the laws of Khun Borom." It reflects the state of proto-Lab society as early as the 9th century. Lao people regard Borom as a myth but western scholars regard him as a historical figure. The ancient laws describe a society where life is dependent on subsistence agriculture with domesticated water-buffalos. The official history of Lao begins in 1353 the kingdom of Lan Xang by Fa Ngum. The kingdom of Lan Xang was under constant threat. In 1478, the Vietnamese under their great king Le Thanh Tong invaded the Lao lands. In 1569 the Bermese attacked and for 60 years Lan Xang was under occupation. In 1637 independence was restored by the last Lan Xang king, Surinyavongsā. The fall of Lan Xang was brought about in 1707 when neighboring countries attacked with weapons from European Trade. Since Laos is land locked, it made it difficult to trade with European countries and they didn't have the same exposure like the other countries.
Between 1795 and 1828, the kingdom became a vassal state of Vietnam. And in 1802, Vietnam devastated the Laotian city of Vientiane, annexed and took control northern Laos. European colonialism in the region helped to create a Laos state. Vietnam succumbed to the French and in 1883 the Emperor of Vietnam gave the French the right to control all territories, including Lao lands. In 1904 the French acquired two strips of land west of the Mekong (Xainaburi in the north, Champasak inthe south) and the modern borders of Lao was established. Laos gained full independence with the defeat of the French by Vietnamese Communist in 1954. The United States and North Vietnam fought for the neutrality of Laos. In 1975, the Lao People's Democratic Republic was established.
April 1975, the Pathet Lao with the backing of North Vietnam were able to take total power with little resistance. On December 2, 1975, the king was forced to abdicate his throne and the Lao People's Democratic Republic was established.
Sources:
Boase, Bob. http://www.seasite.niu.edu/lao/undp/LaoPDR.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Laos