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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Laos
Index
Detail of a glass mosaic depicting scenes of village life covering
the walls of the "Library," a small building on the grounds of Wat
Xieng Thong, Louangphrabang; an example of sixteenth-century
Buddhist architecture
LAOS IS A RURAL COUNTRY whose relatively low population
density
has allowed the continuation of a village society reliant
on
subsistence agriculture. The lack of a national government
infrastructure and effective transportation networks has
also
contributed to the relative independence and autonomy of
most
villages. Residence in a village thus has been an
important aspect
of social identity, particularly for lowland Lao ethnic
groups. For
many upland ethnic groups, clan membership is a more
important
point of social identification. For all groups, the
village
community has a kinship nexus, although structures differ.
Rice is
the staple food for all Laotians, and most families and
villages
are able to produce enough or nearly enough each year for
their own
consumption.
Laos is ethnically diverse; the population includes
more than
forty ethnic groups, which are classified within three
general
families of Lao Sung (upland Lao), Lao Theung (midland
Lao), and
Lao Loum (lowland Lao). The country is officially a
multiethnic
nation, with Lao as the official language, but
relationships among
the different groups have sometimes been characterized by
misunderstandings and competition over natural resources.
The
different ethnic groups have substantially different
residential
patterns, agricultural practices, forms of village
governance, and
religious beliefs.
Only the national capital of Vientiane and a few other
provincial capitals can be considered urban. These small
cities are
market and administrative centers that attract trading and
communications activity, but they have developed very
little
manufacturing or industrial capacity. Daily and seasonal
life in
all sectors of the society is affected by the monsoon.
Rice
production determines periods of heavy and slack work,
which are
mirrored in school vacations, religious festivals, and
government
activity.
Most lowland Lao and some midland groups practice
Theravada
Buddhism, but also believe in spirits of places or of
deceased
persons. Upland and most midland ethnic groups are
animist, with
religious practices oriented toward protective or guardian
spirits
commonly associated with places or with a family or clan.
Shamans
or other spirit practitioners are recognized and respected
for
their divinatory and healing powers among most ethnic
groups,
whether Buddhist or not.
Education and social services remain rudimentary at
best but
are improving. In lowland villages traditional education
was
provided to boys and young men through the Buddhist
temples.
Although this practice continues in some areas, in general
it has
been supplanted by a national education system which,
unfortunately, is hampered by limited financial resources
and a
lack of trained teachers. Western medical care is seldom
available
outside provincial or a few district centers and even then
is very
limited. Child and infant mortality is high, and life
expectancy is
the lowest in Southeast Asia; the population, however, is
increasing at a rapid rate. Since the end of World War II
significant differences in education, health, and
demographic
conditions have prevailed among the ethnic groups and
between rural
and urban populations.
Data as of July 1994
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