* History *
Originally,the Lao, the Thais,and other speakers of Sino-Tibetan language were inhabitants of southern China. There they developed a charateristic way of life centered around the growing of wet rice in valley bottoms. Sometime during the first centuries A.D. these peoples began moving south and west.Eventually they reached as far west as Myanmar (Burma) and as far south as Thailand's great Menam (Chao Phraya) floodplain.Organized along semifeudal lines, with a military and governing elite, the newcomers conquered, absorbed, or enslaved the local peoples. in A.D. 1353, Fa Ngoun, the first historic Lao ruler, united several princely staes into Lan Chang (Lan Xang) the kingdom of one milion elephants. By the early 1700s, feuding among rival states led to the kingdom's being split into three section: the kingdoms of Louang Parbang Vientiane,and Chanpasak.During the 1800s, most of Laos was taken over by Siam (now Thailand) Siamese control continued until 1893, when the French, seeking to expand their colonial power in Indochina, ousted the Siamese from the Lao states. Laos became a protectorate within what was to become French Indochina, union of Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. The French governed the Lao staes indirectly throungh the king of Luang Parbang. laos was granted virtual independence as a self-governing state within the French Union in 1949.Complete independence came in 1953. But as a result of fighting between royal government troops and Communist Pathet Lao rebels, Laos remained divied. In 1960, army officers led an uprising against the government,and their forces occupied a stategic area of the country. During 1961-62.Several nations met in Geneva, Switzerland,to try to resolve Laos'sproblems. As a result,Laos's neutrality and independence were guaranteed. in Laos,neutralists, consrvatives. and Communists formeed a coalition government, with Prince Souvanna Phouma as Prime minister. During the Vietnam war, Laos tried to remain neutral.But the North Vietnamese moved troops and supplies to South Vietnam along a trail that ran though eastern Laos, and the U.S. bombed the trail.In 1975 following Cmmunists victories in Vietnam and Cambodia. the Communists Pathet Lao took control of Laos and nany Laotians fled to Thailand. After 1975,Laos depended heavily on assistance from Vietnam and the Soviet Union. Some 50,000 Vietnamese troops were stationed in Laos during the 1980s.They left in 1990. Today, Laos receives about haft its foreign aid from non-Communist nation.In Lune 1988,Laos held nationwide eletions for district-level people's councils.A year later,1.8 million Laotians elected a 79- memberSupreme People's Council. The council's main job is to draw up a new constitution-The first since 1975-and ratify it by 1991.