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People
According to Asiaweek's issue of December 1, 1995, the population
of Laos, at that time, counted about 4.8 Million, which in terms
of population makes Laos the third smallest country in
Southeast Asia (after Brunei with 300,000 and Singapore with 3.1
Million).
About half of the country's population are Laotians, a people
ethnically closely related to the Thais. The languages Thai and
Laotian are also very similar.
Roughly one quarter of the population, mostly to the South, ethnically
belongs, like the Cambodians, to the Mon-Khmer group, about
15 % are Thais, and various hill tribes make up another
10 % of the population.
Laos is one of the very few countries in Southeast Asia without
significant ethnic tensions. The long-time leader of the communist
movement in Laos, former Prime Minister Kaysone Phomvihan,
was born of a Vietnamese and a Laotian parent.
The citizens of the country have a reputation for being extremely
peaceful and friendly - even though Laos had been caught up in
the Vietnam war and in a civil war lasting for years.
This page: http://www.cockatoo.com/english/laos/laos_people.htm
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