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class=artititle>XW4ZW Laos</H1><A
style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,153); TEXT-DECORATION: underline" title=xw4zw
href="http://dxing.at-communication.com/en/tag/xw4zw/">xw4zw</A>,<A
style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,153); TEXT-DECORATION: underline" title=laos
href="http://dxing.at-communication.com/en/tag/laos/">laos</A><BR><BR></TD>
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<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14px">K4ZW will be active from Laos until 9 May 2014
as<SPAN class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN><STRONG>XW4ZW<SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN></STRONG><BR>He will be active on
HF Bands<BR>QSL via K1SE<SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN></SPAN></SPAN><BR><IMG
style="WIDTH: 711px; HEIGHT: 600px" alt="Laos XW4ZW "
src="http://dxing.at-communication.com/upload/Image/Laos_XW4ZW.jpg"><BR><BR><IMG
style="WIDTH: 450px; HEIGHT: 600px" alt="Laos XW4ZW DX News"
src="http://dxing.at-communication.com/upload/Image/Laos_XW4ZW_DX-News.jpg"><BR><BR><IMG
style="WIDTH: 726px; HEIGHT: 600px" alt="Laos Emblem of Laos XW4ZW"
src="http://dxing.at-communication.com/upload/Image/Laos_Emblem-of-Laos.png"><BR><BR> </P>
<P><B>Laos<SPAN class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN></B>Lao Language:
ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ,<SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN><I>Sathalanalat Paxathipatai
Paxaxon Lao</I>), officially the<SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN><B>Lao People's Democratic
Republic</B>, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma
and People's Republic of China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east,
Cambodia to the south, and Thailand to the west. Its population was
estimated to be around 6.5 million in 2012.</P>
<P>A third of the population of Laos live below the international poverty
line which means living on less than US$1.25 per day. Laos is a low income
economy with it having one of the lowest annual incomes in the world. In
2013, Laos ranked the 138th place (tied with Cambodia) on the Human
Development Index (HDI), indicating that Laos currently only has lower
medium to low development.<SUP><FONT size=4><SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN></FONT></SUP>According to the
Global Hunger Index, Laos currently ranks as the 25th hungriest nation in
the world out of the list of the 56 nations with the worst hunger
situation(s) in the world. Laos has had a poor human rights record most
particularly dealing with the nation's acts of genocide being committed
towards its Hmong population.</P>
<P>Laos traces its history to the kingdom of Lan Xang, which existed from
the 14th to the 18th century when it split into three separate kingdoms.
In 1893, it became a French protectorate, with the three kingdoms, Luang
Phrabang, Vientiane and Champasak, uniting to form what is now known as
Laos. It briefly gained independence in 1945 after Japanese occupation,
but returned to French rule until it was granted autonomy in 1949. Laos
became independent in 1953, with a constitutional monarchy under Sisavang
Vong. Shortly after independence, a long civil war ended the monarchy,
when the Communist Pathet Lao movement came to power in 1975.</P>
<P>Laos is a single-party socialist republic. It espouses Marxism and is
governed by a single party communist politburo dominated by military
generals. The Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Vietnam People's Army
continue to have significant influence in Laos. The capital city is
Vientiane. Other large cities include Luang Prabang, Savannakhet, and
Pakse. The official language is Lao. Laos is a multi-ethnic country with
the politically and culturally dominant Lao people making up approximately
60% of the population, mostly in the lowlands. Various Mon-Khmer groups,
the Hmong, and other indigenous hill tribes, accounting for 40% of the
population, live in the foothills and mountains. Laos' strategy for
development is based on generating electricity from its rivers and selling
the power to its neighbors, namely Thailand, China, and Vietnam.Its
economy is accelerating rapidly with the demands for its metals.</P>
<P>It is a member of the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), East Asia Summit and La Francophonie.
Laos applied for membership of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1997,
and on 2 February 2013, it was granted full membership.</P>
<P>In the Lao language, the country's name is "Muang Lao" (ເມືອງລາວ) or
"Pathet Lao" (ປະເທດລາວ), both of which literally mean "Lao Country".The
French, who united the three separate Lao kingdoms in French Indochina in
1893, named the country as the plural of the dominant and most common
ethnic group (in French, the final "s" at the end of a word is usually
silent, thus it would also be pronounced "Lao").<BR><A
style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,153); TEXT-DECORATION: underline"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laos">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laos</A></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></DIV></BODY></HTML>