ASIA

Laos

The only landlocked country in Southeast Asia, Laos moves at the pace of the Mekong and keeps thousands of Buddhist temples humming. Luang Prabang wakes to a daily procession of saffron-robed monks.

WHAT THE FLAG MEANS ◢

Three horizontal bands of red, dark blue and red, the blue one double-width and bearing a white moon at the centre. Article 112 of the constitution calls the white circle a moon in as many words, fixes the flag's height at two thirds of its width, each red edge at half the height of the dark blue field and the moon at four fifths of it, and assigns none of them a meaning. The readings of red as the blood shed for independence, of the blue as the Mekong and of the moon as unity or as the full moon over the river are conventional rather than the constitution's.

Laos FACTS ◢

Capital	Vientiane
Continent	Asia
Population	7,873,046 (2025)
Area	236,800 km²
Population density	33/km²
Currency	Lao kip (LAK)
Official language	Lao
Calling code	+856
Internet TLD	.la
Time zone	UTC+07:00
Drives on the	Right
ISO codes	LA / LAO

DID YOU KNOW? ◢

It's the only landlocked nation in Southeast Asia.
The Mekong River runs almost the entire length of the country, shaping its farms and cities.
The Plain of Jars is dotted with thousands of ancient stone jars whose purpose is still debated.
Luang Prabang, a former royal capital, is renowned for its temples and dawn alms-giving ritual.