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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Laos
Index
Stone jars dating back to prehistoric times, Plain of Jars,
Xiangkhoang Province
Courtesy Embassy of the Lao People's Democratic Republic,
Washington
The original inhabitants of Laos were Austroasiatic
peoples,
who lived by hunting and gathering before the advent of
agriculture. Skilled at river navigation using canoes,
Laotian
traders used routes through the mountains, especially
rivers, from
earliest times. The most important river route was the
Mekong
because its many tributaries allowed traders to penetrate
deep into
the hinterland, where they bought products such as
cardamom, gum
benzoin, sticklac, and many foods.
Data as of July 1994
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