Lao People's Democratic Republic

The modern nation-state Laos emerged from the French Colonial Empire as an independent country in 1953. Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic is a socialist state and the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. Located at the heart of the Indochinese peninsula. Present-day Laos traces its historic and cultural identity to the kingdom of Lan Xang Hom Khao. Lao kingdom of Lan Xang existed as a unified kingdom from 1357–1707, divided into the three rival kingdoms of Luang Prabang, Vientiane, and Champasak from 1707–1779, fell to Siamese suzerainty from 1779–1893, and was reunified under the French Protectorate of Laos in 1893.