[lah-ohs, lous, ley-os; Fr. la-aws] 
| a country in SE Asia: formerly part of French Indochina. 5,116,959; 91,500 sq. mi. (236,985 sq. km). Capital: Vientiane. |
[lou] [louz] , (especially collectively
) Lao for 1. | 1. | a member of a people of Laos and northern Thailand. |
| 2. | the language of these people, belonging to the Thai group of languages. |
| Lao (lou) n. pl. Lao or Laos (louz)
[Lao Láo, perhaps from láo, person (unattested sense), third person common-gender pronoun.] |
La·os (lous, lā'ŏs')  (click for larger image in new window) A country of southeast Asia. Originally part of the Khmer Empire, the region became a powerful Lao kingdom (14th-15th century) and was later incorporated into French Indochina in 1893. Laos gained its independence in 1953, but a Communist uprising soon drew the country into a civil war, and a Communist state was established in 1975. Vientiane is the capital and the largest city. Population: 6,520,000. |
Mountainous, landlocked republic in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma to the northwest, China to the northeast, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south, and Thailand to the west. Its capital and largest city is Vientiane.
Note: Part of French Indochina from 1893 to 1949, it was granted full sovereignty in 1954.
Note: Civil war among communist and noncommunist factions in the 1950s and 1960s attracted extensive covert aid from the Soviet Union, China, and the United States.
Note: During the Vietnam War, Vietnamese communists established the Ho Chi Minh Trail through the remote mountains of Laos to channel troops and supplies from North Vietnam to South Vietnam.
Note: The communist Pathet Lao, with long-standing close ties to the Vietnamese communists, have been in power since 1975.
