Editing Laos (section)

=== Independence and communist rule (1953–) ===
{{Main|History of Laos since 1945|3 = Laotian Civil War}}
[[File:FrenchLaos1953.png|thumb|French general [[Raoul Salan]] and [[Sisavang Vatthana|Prince Sisavang Vatthana]] in Luang Prabang, 4 May 1953]]
The First Indochina War took place across French Indochina and eventually led to French defeat and the signing of a peace accord for Laos at the [[1954 Geneva Conference|Geneva Conference of 1954]]. In 1960, amidst a series of rebellions in the [[Kingdom of Laos]], fighting broke out between the [[Royal Lao Army]] (RLA) and the communist [[North Vietnam]]ese and [[Soviet Union]]-backed Pathet Lao guerillas. A second [[Provisional Government of National Unity]] formed by Prince [[Souvanna Phouma]] in 1962 was unsuccessful, and the situation turned into [[Laotian Civil War|civil war]] between the Royal Laotian government and the Pathet Lao. The Pathet Lao were backed militarily by the [[People's Army of Vietnam]] (PAVN) and the [[Viet Cong]].<ref name="bbc" /><ref name="britannica" />

[[File:Muang Khoun - Laos - 01.JPG|thumb|right|Ruins of [[Khoune district|Muang Khoun]], former capital of [[Xiangkhouang Province|Xiangkhouang province]], destroyed by the [[CIA activities in Laos|American bombing of Laos]] in the 1960s]]
Laos was a part of the [[Vietnam War]] since parts of Laos were [[North Vietnamese invasion of Laos|invaded and occupied]] by [[North Vietnam]] since 1958 for use as a supply route for its war against [[South Vietnam]]. In response, the [[United States]] initiated a bombing campaign against the PAVN positions, supported regular and irregular anti-communist forces in Laos, and supported [[CIA activities in Laos|incursions into Laos]] by the [[Army of the Republic of Vietnam]].<ref name=bbc /><ref name=britannica />

Aerial bombardments against the PAVN/[[Pathet Lao]] forces were carried out by the [[United States]] to prevent the collapse of the [[Kingdom of Laos]] central government, and to deny the use of the [[Ho Chi Minh trail|Ho Chi Minh Trail]] to attack US forces in [[South Vietnam]].<ref name=bbc /> Between 1964 and 1973, the US dropped 2 million tons of bombs on Laos, nearly equal to the 2.1&nbsp;million tons of bombs the US dropped on Europe and Asia during all of World War II, making Laos the most heavily bombed country in history relative to the size of its population; ''[[The New York Times]]'' notes this was "nearly a ton for every person in Laos".<ref>{{cite web|author-link1=Ben Kiernan|last1=Kiernan|first1=Ben|last2=Owen|first2=Taylor|url=http://apjjf.org/2015/13/16/Ben-Kiernan/4313.html|title=Making More Enemies than We Kill? Calculating U.S. Bomb Tonnages Dropped on Laos and Cambodia, and Weighing Their Implications|work=The Asia-Pacific Journal|date=26 April 2015|access-date=18 September 2016|archive-date=1 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170301041322/http://apjjf.org/2015/13/16/Ben-Kiernan/4313.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Some 80 million bombs failed to explode and remain scattered throughout the country. [[Unexploded ordnance]] (UXO), including [[cluster munitions]] and mines, kill or maim approximately 50 Laotians every year.<ref>{{cite web|last=Wright|first=Rebecca|url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/05/asia/united-states-laos-secret-war/|title='My friends were afraid of me': What 80 million unexploded US bombs did to Laos|work=[[CNN]]|date=6 September 2016|access-date=18 September 2016|archive-date=17 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190117203916/https://www.cnn.com/2016/09/05/asia/united-states-laos-secret-war/|url-status=live}}</ref> Due to the impact of cluster bombs during this war, Laos was an advocate of the [[Convention on Cluster Munitions]] to ban the weapons and was host to the First Meeting of States Parties to the convention in November 2010.<ref>{{cite web|title=Disarmament|url=http://www.unog.ch/80256EE600585943/(httpPages)/B3F3E37A2838630FC125772E0050F4F7?OpenDocument|work=The United Nations Office at Geneva|publisher=United Nations|access-date=20 September 2013|date=November 2011|archive-date=21 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921060643/http://www.unog.ch/80256EE600585943/(httpPages)/B3F3E37A2838630FC125772E0050F4F7?OpenDocument|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Vientianne1973.jpg|thumb|[[Pathet Lao]] soldiers in [[Vientiane]], 1973]]
In 1975, the [[Pathet Lao]] overthrew the royalist government, forcing King [[Sisavang Vatthana|Savang Vatthana]] to abdicate on 2 December 1975. He later died in a [[Re-education camp (Vietnam)|re-education camp]]. Between 20,000 and 62,000 Laotians died during the civil war.<ref name=bbc /><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Obermeyer|first1=Ziad|last2=Murray|first2=Christopher J. L.|last3=Gakidou|first3=Emmanuela|year=2008|title=Fifty years of violent war deaths from Vietnam to Bosnia: analysis of data from the world health survey programme|journal=[[BMJ]]|volume=336|issue=7659|pages=1482–1486|doi=10.1136/bmj.a137|pmid=18566045|pmc=2440905}} See Table 3.</ref>

On 2 December 1975, after taking control of the country, the Pathet Lao government under [[Kaysone Phomvihane]] renamed the country as the ''Lao People's Democratic Republic'' and signed agreements giving [[Vietnam]] the right to station armed forces and to appoint advisers to assist in overseeing the country. The ties between Laos and [[Vietnam]] were formalised via a treaty signed in 1977, which has since provided direction for Lao foreign policy, and provides the basis for Vietnamese involvement at levels of Lao political and economic life.<ref name=bbc /><ref name="Martin Stuart-Fox">{{Cite journal |last=Stuart-Fox |first=Martin |date=1980 |title=LAOS: The Vietnamese Connection |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27908403?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents |journal=Southeast Asian Affairs |pages=191–209 |issn=0377-5437 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211013074847/https://www.jstor.org/stable/27908403?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents |archive-date=13 October 2021}}</ref> Laos was requested in 1979 by [[Vietnam]] to end relations with the [[China|People's Republic of China]], leading to isolation in trade by [[China]], the [[United States]], and other countries.<ref name="DamienKingsbury">{{Cite book |last=Kingsbury |first=Damien |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8CQlDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA50 |title=Politics in Contemporary Southeast Asia: Authority, Democracy and Political Change |date=2016-09-13 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-317-49628-1 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410140218/https://books.google.com/books?id=8CQlDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA50 |archive-date=10 April 2023}}</ref> In 1979, there were 50,000 PAVN troops stationed in Laos and as many as 6,000 civilian Vietnamese officials including 1,000 directly attached to the ministries in [[Vientiane]].<ref name="Savada">Savada, Andrea M. (1995). ''[http://www.public-library.uk/dailyebook/Laos%20-%20a%20country%20study.pdf Laos: a country study] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180419183125/http://www.public-library.uk/dailyebook/Laos%20-%20a%20country%20study.pdf |date=19 April 2018 }}''. Federal Research Division, Library of Congress, p. 271. {{ISBN|0-8444-0832-8}}</ref><ref name="Prayaga">Prayaga, M. (2005). ''[http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/103010/8/08_chapter-iv.pdf Renovation in Vietnam since 1988 a study in political, economic and social change] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180419122734/http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/103010/8/08_chapter-iv.pdf |date=19 April 2018 }} (PhD thesis)''. Sri Venkateswara University. Chapter IV: The Metamorphosed Foreign Relations, pg. 154.</ref>

The [[Insurgency in Laos|conflict]] between [[Hmong people|Hmong]] rebels and Laos [[Insurgency in Laos|continued in areas]] of Laos, including in Saysaboune Closed Military Zone, Xaisamboune Closed Military Zone near Vientiane Province and [[Xiangkhouang Province]]. From 1975 to 1996, the [[United States]] resettled some [[Indochina refugee crisis|250,000 Lao refugees]] from Thailand, including 130,000 Hmong.<ref>[https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2770.htm Laos (04/09)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024185208/https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2770.htm |date=24 October 2020 }}. U.S. Department of State.{{failed verification|date=January 2021}}</ref> On 3 December 2021, the 422-kilometre [[Boten–Vientiane railway]], a flagship of the [[Belt and Road Initiative]] (BRI), was opened.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Completed China-Laos Railway |url=https://www.aseanbriefing.com/news/the-completed-china-laos-railway/ |website=ASEAN Business News |language=en |date=21 December 2021 |access-date=18 May 2022 |archive-date=12 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220512130726/https://www.aseanbriefing.com/news/the-completed-china-laos-railway/ |url-status=live }}</ref>