Vientiane

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ວຽງ ຈັນ
Vientiane
Vientiane (Laos)
Vientiane
Vientiane
Coordinates 17 ° 58 ′  N , 102 ° 36 ′  E Coordinates: 17 ° 58 ′  N , 102 ° 36 ′  E
Basic data
Country Laos

prefecture

Vientiane prefecture
ISO 3166-2 LA-VT
surface -
Metropolitan area 3920 km²
Residents -
Metropolitan area 754,000 (2009)
density -Template: Infobox location / maintenance / density
Metropolitan area 192.3  Ew. / km²
Patuxai

Vientiane (German pronunciation: [vjɛnˈtjan] ; Laotian : ວຽງ ຈັນ Vieng Chan , [ ʋíəŋ tɕàn ]) has been the capital of the People's Democratic Republic of Laos since 1975 . Vientiane is the country's economic, political and cultural center. Officially, the city has around 350,000 inhabitants, and around 620,000 people live in the entire metropolitan area.

Vientiane is the international spelling from the French colonial era . The Laotian name Vieng Chan originally means "city of sandalwood", but is now understood by many Laotians as "city of the moon" ( vieng "city", chan "sandalwood" or "moon"). The full name of the city is ນະ ຄອນ ຫລວງ ວຽງ ຈັນ Nakon Luang Vieng Chan ("capital Vientiane") to distinguish it from the prefecture of the same name and the province .

geography

The city and the surrounding area lie in a low plain on an area of ​​approximately 4,000 square kilometers. Vientiane extends in the middle of a lush landscape for several kilometers on the banks of the Mekong , which forms the border with Thailand . Since 1994 the two countries have been linked by a “ Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge ”, which was the first bridge ever built over the lower reaches of the Mekong.

climate

Vientiane is located in the tropical climate zone with a clear rainy and dry season. The dry season lasts from November to March. The rainy season begins in April and lasts about seven months. Vientiane is typically hot and humid all year round.

Vientiane
Climate diagram
J F. M. A. M. J J A. S. O N D.
 
 
7.5
 
28
16
 
 
13
 
30th
19th
 
 
34
 
33
22nd
 
 
85
 
34
24
 
 
246
 
33
25th
 
 
280
 
32
25th
 
 
272
 
31
25th
 
 
335
 
31
25th
 
 
297
 
31
24
 
 
78
 
31
23
 
 
11
 
30th
19th
 
 
2.5
 
28
17th
Temperature in ° C ,  precipitation in mm
Source:
Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Vientiane
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Max. Temperature ( ° C ) 28.4 30.3 33.0 34.3 33.0 31.9 31.3 30.8 30.9 30.8 29.8 28.1 O 31
Min. Temperature (° C) 16.4 18.5 21.5 23.8 24.6 24.9 24.7 24.6 24.1 22.9 19.3 16.7 O 21.8
Precipitation ( mm ) 7.5 13.0 33.7 84.9 245.8 279.8 272.3 334.6 297.3 78.0 11.1 2.5 Σ 1,660.5
Hours of sunshine ( h / d ) 8.2 7.6 7.0 7.5 6.7 4.9 4.8 4.4 4.6 8.0 7.8 8.3 O 6.6
Rainy days ( d ) 1 2 4th 8th 15th 18th 20th 21st 17th 9 2 1 Σ 118
Humidity ( % ) 70 68 66 69 78 82 82 84 83 78 72 70 O 75.2
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
28.4
16.4
30.3
18.5
33.0
21.5
34.3
23.8
33.0
24.6
31.9
24.9
31.3
24.7
30.8
24.6
30.9
24.1
30.8
22.9
29.8
19.3
28.1
16.7
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
N
i
e
d
e
r
s
c
h
l
a
g 		7.5
13.0
33.7
84.9
245.8
279.8
272.3
334.6
297.3
78.0
11.1
2.5
  Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Source:

history

Settlement has been evident since the Stone Age . Founded in the 13th century as a city in the Lan Xang empire , Vientiane developed steadily alongside the actual capital Luang Prabang . In 1563 Vientiane finally became the new capital. In the course of the Burmese expansion policy, Vientiane was occupied for seven years in 1575. After the expulsion of the Burmese, two separate empires (Luang Prabang and Vientiane) were formed for a short time, which were reunited in 1591 by King Nokeo Kumane.

Lan Xang finally split into three parts as a result of controversy over the throne in 1707. One of them was the Kingdom of Vientiane . After the destruction of Ayutthaya in 1767, the capital of the Siamese kingdom of Ayutthaya , Vientiane came back within the reach of the Burmese. After the Siamese had shaken off the Burmese supremacy, the kingdom of Vientiane was part of the resurgent Siamese sphere of power as a vassal state.

Pha That Luang in abandoned Vientiane in the late 1860s

Anuvong , King of Vientiane, rebelled against Siamese rule in 1826 and headed for central Thailand. However, he was defeated by the Siamese forces, brought to Bangkok and publicly executed there. Vientiane (with the exception of the Buddhist temples) was razed to the ground and a large part of the population of what is now central Laos (over 100,000 people) was deported to the other side of the Mekong. The descendants of the displaced now make up the Lao Wiang ethnic group in Thailand. Forty years later, a group of French researchers found only jungle and ruins at Vientianes.

By ceding Siam in 1887, Vientiane became a French protectorate and part of French Indochina . However, it hardly developed as the French focused their interests on Vietnam . In 1940, after Germany had militarily defeated France in World War II , the Japanese took Vientiane and all of Laos under their power, but officially left the French colonial administration in office.

On September 1, 1945, after the Second World War had ended in Asia, the Kingdom of Laos declared itself independent against the resistance of France. After the US defeat in Southeast Asia , the Communist Pathet Lao took power in Vientiane on December 2, 1975 without causing any major bloodshed.

Economy, infrastructure, and education

More than 25% of all medium-sized companies in the country are based in Vientiane. The industry is limited to a brewery ( Beerlao ), a Pepsi bottling plant, the production of cleaning agents, a cigarette factory and various wood processing companies. 20% of exports go directly to Thailand: mainly textiles, wood and wood products, but also electricity from hydropower. The international airport is located on the outskirts . There is a railway line across the Mekong Bridge from Nong Khai to the only railway station, Thanaleng. China is planning to build a new high-speed rail line to Vientiane. The construction work planned for April 2011 has been postponed indefinitely. In November 2011, however, it was announced that construction is expected to start within the next five years.

There is currently no operational state rescue service in Laos ; in Vientiane, this task is carried out by volunteers from a private foundation.

The capital and the surrounding area are the country's largest tobacco, rice and sugar cane producers. In order to better promote the economy in Vientiane, a capital city chamber of commerce is to be founded after the 450th anniversary celebrations.

Vientiane is home to most of the country's only university, the National University of Laos (NUOL); also the tallest building in the country, the 14-story Don Chan Palace .

In a ranking of cities according to their quality of life, Vientiane ranked 170th out of 231 cities worldwide in 2018.

Attractions

Pha That Luang - The national symbol of Laos

sons and daughters of the town

literature

  • Marc Askew, Colin Long, William Logan: Vientiane. Transformations of a Lao Landscape . Routledge 2006, ISBN 978-0-415-33141-8

Web links

Commons : Vientiane  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wikivoyage: Vientiane  Travel Guide
Wiktionary: Vientiane  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ geohive.com Laos population statistics ( memento of the original from November 13, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.geohive.com
  2. ^ World Meteorological Organization ; wetterkontor.de
  3. ↑ Volker Grabowsky : Introduction to Maha Sila Viravong: Prince Phetsarat. A life for Laos. Lit Verlag, Münster 2003, p. 3.
  4. ^ David K. Wyatt : Thailand. A short history. 2nd edition, Silkworm Books, Chiang Mai 2004, p. 155.
  5. ↑ rfa.org: High-speed Railway Delay , April 26, 2011, accessed November 22, 2011
  6. ↑ laovoices.com: Laos-China railway not losing speed: Lao Voices  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Dead Link / laovoices.com   , November 14, 2011, accessed November 22, 2011
  7. ↑ Weltspiegel report - Laos: The road savers of Vientiane. Tagesschau online , November 9, 2019, accessed November 9, 2019.
  8. ↑ Mercer's 2018 Quality of Living Rankings. Retrieved August 18, 2018 .