Part of the country series of articles.
TRAVEL ADVISORY: EXERCISE CAUTIONPARSTATE advises that consular assistance outside of the capital may be limited, and that travellers should avoid the northern border region with the Kingdom of Laos.
| Lao People's Democratic Republic | |
|---|---|
| People’s Democratic Republic | |
 |
|
| Capital | Pakse |
| Languages | Lao, Vietnamese, French, and many highland languages |
| Population | 3,800,000 |
The Lao People’s Democratic Republic is a single-party socialist state in the southern half of historical Laos, and a successful insurgent breakaway state of the Kingdom of Laos to its north. It is aligned with Vietnam and the Soviet Union, which shower it with arms and generous aid. Much like the Kingdom, the country was desperately poor at the beginning of the 21st Century, and it remains underdeveloped even after various attempts at establishing heavy industry. The Laotian Communist Party keeps close control over political life, and regards the Kingdom as an illegitimate state that must be defeated. In this sense, Laotion communism is a deeply nationalistic enterprise, and is bound up with the historical Laotion ethnic identity.
The capital, Pakse, is by far the country’s largest city, and was redeveloped substantially by Soviet financing in the late 2020s. It is characterised by tower blocks, monumental civic architecture and public squares. The city is five times larger than it was at the outbreak of civil war, and its streets have large black markets that form the basis of commerce. Outside the capital, the country is heavily agricultural and has forested uplands which grow rice and coffee for export. Vietnam regards the republic as a client state and supplies the majority of government revenues. The border with the Kingdom is closed, and the civil war continues to this day as sporadic shelling and skirmishes.