Houaphan Province

ຫົວ ພັນ Houaphan
Basic data
Country	Laos
Capital	Sam Neua
surface	16,500 km²
Residents	289,393 (2015 census)
density	18 inhabitants per km²
ISO 3166-2	LA-HO
	Village near Sam Neua

20.3 103.8Coordinates: 20 ° 18 ' N , 103 ° 48' E

Houaphan ( Lao ຫົວ ພັນ ), also Huaphanh , is a province ( Khwaeng ) in the northeast of Laos .

geography

Outline map of the province

Houaphan is enclosed in the north, east and south-east by Vietnam . In the southwest it borders on the Laotian province of Xieng Khouang and in the west on the province of Luang Prabang . The capital of the province is the city of Sam Neua .

population

Houaphan has a population of 246,000. Of these, 46,800 live in the capital Sam Neua and 32,800 in Vieng Xai . (Status: 2000)

In the 2015 census, the population was 289,393.

A total of 22 ethnic groups live in the province.

Since Houaphan is half surrounded by Vietnam and the connection to Hanoi is shorter than to Vientiane , the Vietnamese influence is quite large.

history

For most of the last 500 years, the area of today's Houaphan Province was an alliance of six tribal principalities ( Müang ) of the Tai Nüa , called Hua Phan Thang Hok . In the course of history they had to pay tribute to Annam (now Vietnam), to the Principality of the Phuan in Xieng Khouang , to the Sip Song Chu Thai Confederation of the " White Tai " and finally to the Laotian Kingdom of Luang Prabang . In the 1880s it was briefly under Siamese domination. In 1891/93 the kingdom of Luang Prabang came back, which from that time was under French protectorate . The province formed by the French was originally named Sam Neua after its capital.

Between 1914 and 1916, the Chinese and local mountain tai rebelled under the leadership of Ho rebels from the former Black Flag gang , which had ravaged northern Laos and Vietnam as early as the 1880s. They killed a French colonial official in Sam Neua, looted the provincial treasury and took large quantities of opium and weapons. The background was that the French had stopped the opium trade with Yunnan in southern China in order to enforce their own monopoly on the drug. The mountain tai and other minorities had joined the uprising out of displeasure with the high tax burden and compulsory labor. The French colonial forces eventually crushed the uprising and pushed the Ho back to China.

The province was already a stronghold of the predominantly communist liberation movement Pathet Lao, which was fighting against the French during the First Indochina War . At the Geneva Indochina Conference in 1954, it was awarded, together with Phongsali, to the Pathet Lao, as long as they were not involved in the national government. As part of the Vientiane Agreement between Pathet Lao and the royal government, they were then incorporated into the Kingdom of Laos and renamed the Houaphan Province. During the Second Lao Civil War (1963-1973), the province was again largely under the control of the Pathet Lao and their North Vietnamese allies. The small town of Vieng Xai, 24 km east of the provincial capital Sam Neua, was the headquarters of the Pathet Lao. They used a series of deep limestone caves here to protect themselves from the bombing of the US Air Force. After taking power in 1975, the communists set up re-education camps here for their political opponents.

tourism

The main attraction of the province is the city of Vieng Xai. It is framed by picturesque mountains and cave-interspersed limestone cliffs. During the time of the Indochina War , the Pathet Lao had their headquarters here and the leadership used a number of caves as apartments and shelters. Most of these can be viewed.

Administrative units

The province consists of the following districts:

District	Lao

07-01	Xamneua	ຊຳ ເໜືອ
07-02	Xiengkhor	ຊຽງ ຄໍ້
07-03	Viengthong	ວຽງ ທອງ
07-04	Vieng Xai	ວຽງ ໄຊ
07-05	Huameuang	ຫົວ ເມືອງ
07-06	Xamtay	ຊຳ ໃຕ້
07-07	Sop Bao	ສົບ ເບົາ
07-08	Et	ເມືອງ ແອດ

Individual evidence

↑ Laos: Provinces, Cities & Places - Population Statistics in Maps and Tables. Retrieved March 10, 2018 .
↑ Martin Stuart-Fox : Historical Dictionary of Laos. 3rd edition, Scarecrow Press, 2008, p. 132.
↑ Stuart-Fox: Historical Dictionary of Laos. 2008, pp. 132-133.

Web links

Commons : Houaphan Province - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

[1] Laos: Provinces, Cities & Places - Population Statistics in Maps and Tables. Retrieved March 10, 2018 .

[2] Martin Stuart-Fox : Historical Dictionary of Laos. 3rd edition, Scarecrow Press, 2008, p. 132.

[3] Stuart-Fox: Historical Dictionary of Laos. 2008, pp. 132-133.