History Laos

Laos (land of million elephants)-French Indo China country. Around the 18th century Laos was controlled by the Siamese and then later controlled by the French. France did nothing for the country except permit opium production to flourish and allow colonial administrators to become renowned for their lotus-eating lifestyles. In 1953 France granted full sovereignty. In 1965 and 1973 the US devasted eastern and northeastern Laos with nonstop carpet bombing to counter the presence of North Vietnamese in the country. The US withdrew in 1973 and within two years the communists had taken over and the Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR) was created. The Lao government has set its goal to haul Laos out of the Least Developed Country bracket by 2020.