Laos – education
The public school system includes a five-year compulsory primary school, which is characterized by dropouts and socializing. approximately 33% of the population, most of them women, are illiterate (1996). After primary school, postgraduate education follows in two levels of three years each.
Further education includes three levels and takes place at higher education institutions and at the University of Vientiane.
OFFICIAL NAME: Saathiaranarath Prachhathipatay Prachhachhon Lao
CAPITAL CITY: Vientiane
POPULATION: 6,370,000 (Source: COUNTRYaah)
AREA: 236,800 km²
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE (S): Lao and other Tai languages, as well as Mon-Khmer and Hmong-Mien languages
RELIGION: Buddhists 58%, Indigenous religions 34%, Christians 2%, Muslims 1%, others 5%
COIN: kip
CURRENCY CODE: LAK
ENGLISH NAME: Lao People’s Democratic Republic
INDEPENDENCE: 1953
POPULATION COMPOSITION: tai (especially lao) 65%, mon-khmer 25%, hmong-mien 5%, others 5%
GDP PER residents: $ 396 (2007)
LIFE EXPECTANCY: men 54 years, women 57 years (2007)
INDEX OF LIVING CONDITIONS, HDI: 0.553
INDEX OF LIVING CONDITIONS, POSITION: 133
INTERNET DOMAIN NAME: .la
Laos is a Republic of South Asia, formerly part of French Indochina. As the only country in South Asia, Laos has no direct access to the sea. Since World War II, the country has been plagued by internal and external wars; during the Vietnam War, Laotian territory served as the backbone of the North Vietnamese military, and the eastern parts of the country were bombed by the Americans. Reconstruction has been slow and Laos is in the early 2000’s. among the world’s poorest countries. Large sections of the population continue to live on self-sufficient agriculture, many using traditional sweating techniques.
- AbbreviationFinder.org: Find two-letter abbreviation for each independent country and territory, such as LA which stands for Laos.
Laos – art and architecture
Laotian art and architecture, predominantly of a religious nature, have received strong impulses from Thailand, but also Burmese and Khmer influences have prevailed. The oldest preserved monuments in Laos are Hindu temples and Mahayana Buddhist shrines dating from the Khmer Empire. The religious gathering point of the Theravada Buddhist Laoters is a monastery complex (vat), which houses a stupa (that) and a temple (vihan). Buddha figures are placed in the temple, and it is used as a meeting room for the congregation. The Buddha statues are usually made of gilded bronze or wood. Wall paintings depict scenes fromThe life of the Buddha or episodes from the Indian heroic poem Ramayana, which enjoys great prestige in Laos. The oldest known Laotian shrine is the remains of Vat Visun from 1503. The stupa That Luang in Vientiane, built in 1566, is considered one of the most beautiful buildings in Laos.
Laos – literature
The traditional literature in Laos and NE Thailand is closely related to literary traditions in northern Thailand, the Shan states in Burma and Yunnan in China and influenced by Siamese literature. The written literature is scratched into palm leaves or written on folding books of coarse paper that have only a limited lifespan and therefore must be constantly copied. Written literature in Laos (and Southeast Asia in general) has many features in common with the oral literary tradition: Written literature is intended to be read or performed; it uses repetitions and parallel constructions, and it is expected that all who copy literary manuscripts also improve them, viz. corrects errors, improves rhymes, expands or adds episodes, etc. The transmission of the written literary tradition therefore becomes a creative process, resulting in the same narrative being found in many variants, and that it becomes difficult or almost impossible to date the individual literary works or ascribe to them particular authors, viz. the tradition is collective and anonymous.
Lao literature is partly written in nitsay prose or in the popular kon an verse form. The literature is closely linked to the Buddhist temples, is imbued with Buddhism and consists primarily of religious narratives. Many of the literary tales in Laos are jatakas or have the form of jatakas (apocryphal jatakas). There are several hundred apocryphal jataka, viz. local tales which have been recited in jataka form. The most famous collection of apocryphal jataka is called Panyasa Jataka or Ha Sip Sat, “The Life of the Fifty”. Fine examples of Lao literature are the long poetic work Thaw Hung Thaw Cyang, which describes the life and achievements of King Cyang, as well as the jataka Sinxaj. Siang Miang is a collection of gift thieves’ tales, which can be found all over SEA Asia. Siaw Sawat is a collection of didactic tales, parables and riddles. Of literary works of Indian origin may be mentioned a lao version of Ramayana called Pha Lak Pha Lam. Traditional literature is also performed as mo lam, where it is sung accompanied by the national instrument khaen, a kind of oral organ.
Modern literature is modest in scope and did not emerge until World War II with the publication of the newspaper Lao Nhaj (1940-45), in which the first short stories and novel serials were published. The first novel was the crime novel The Missing Buddha Statue (1944). The post-war literature is characterized by some prominent cultural personalities, e.g. Maha Sila Wirawong (1905-87), of whose children several were writers, as well as of a revolutionary social-realist direction. Bunthanaung Somsaiphon is an outspoken writer who already got into trouble under the old regime and who first achieved a prominent position under the Communists, but who since the early 1990’s has had to resign from all official duties. He then began not only publishing his works in Thailand, but also writing in Thai. Check youremailverifier for Laos social condition facts.
