Laos

Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in southeast Asia, bordered by Burma (Myanmar), China, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.

Laos traces its history to the Kingdom of Lan Xang or Land of a Million Elephants, which existed from the fourteenth to the eighteenth century. In the 19th century, Laos was incorporated into the 'Protectorate' of French Indochina. Following a brief Japanese occupation during World War II, the country declared its independence in 1945, but the French re-asserted their control and only in 1950 was Laos granted semi-autonomy as an "associated state" within the French Union. Moreover, the French remained in de facto control until 1954, when Laos gained full independence as a constitutional monarchy. A long civil war ended officially when the communist Pathet Lao movement came to power in 1975 but the fighting between factions continued for several years.

After taking control of the country, Pathet Lao's government renamed the country as the "Lao People's Democratic Republic" and signed agreements giving Vietnam the right to station military forces and to appoint advisers to assist in overseeing the country. Control by Vietnam and socialization were slowly replaced by a relaxation of economic restrictions in the 1980s and admission into ASEAN in 1997.