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106-502: Kon Tum shares borders with Laos and Cambodia . It has an area of 9,677.30 km (3,736.43 sq mi) and a population of approximately 530,000. The economy is primarily agricultural. The name Kon Tum comes from the name of a village of the Bahnar ethnic group . In the Bahnar language , kon means "village" and tum means "pool". Prior to the adoption of the Vietnamese alphabet in

212-629: A Japanese puppet state and was re-colonised by France , until it won autonomy in 1949. It gained independence in 1953 as the Kingdom of Laos , with a constitutional monarchy under Sisavang Vong . A civil war began in 1959, which saw the communist Pathet Lao , supported by North Vietnam and the Soviet Union , fight against the Royal Lao Armed Forces , supported by the United States . After

318-618: A constitutional monarchy . The First Indochina War took place across French Indochina and eventually led to French defeat and the signing of a peace accord for Laos at the Geneva Conference of 1954 . In 1960, amidst a series of rebellions in the Kingdom of Laos , fighting broke out between the Royal Lao Army (RLA) and the communist North Vietnamese and Soviet Union -backed Pathet Lao guerillas. A second Provisional Government of National Unity formed by Prince Souvanna Phouma in 1962

424-484: A gigawatt each. They generate about a third of the world's electricity , but cause many illnesses and the most early deaths per unit of energy produced, mainly from air pollution . World installed capacity doubled from 2000 to 2023 and increased 2% in 2023. A coal-fired power station is a type of fossil fuel power station . The coal is usually pulverized and then burned in a pulverized coal-fired boiler . The furnace heat converts boiler water to steam , which

530-554: A re-education camp . Between 20,000 and 62,000 Laotians died during the civil war. On 2 December 1975, after taking control of the country, the Pathet Lao government under Kaysone Phomvihane renamed the country as the Lao People's Democratic Republic and signed agreements giving Vietnam the right to station armed forces and to appoint advisers to assist in overseeing the country. The ties between Laos and Vietnam were formalised via

636-582: A "land-linked" nation, as evidenced by the construction of 4 railways connecting Laos and neighbours. Laos has been referred to as one of Southeast Asia and Pacific's fastest growing economies by the World Bank with annual GDP growth averaging 7.4% since 2009, while being classified as a least developed country by the United Nations . Laos is a member of the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement ,

742-488: A British observer as having been "transformed into slave-hunting raids on a large scale". In the 19th century, Luang Prabang was ransacked by the Chinese Black Flag Army . France rescued King Oun Kham and added Luang Phrabang to the protectorate of French Indochina . The Kingdom of Champasak and the territory of Vientiane were added to the protectorate. King Sisavangvong of Luang Phrabang became ruler of

848-500: A century. In 1520, Photisarath came to the throne and moved the capital from Luang Prabang to Vientiane to avoid a Burmese invasion. Setthathirath became king in 1548, after his father was killed, and ordered the construction of That Luang . Settathirath disappeared in the mountains on his way back from a military expedition into Cambodia , and Lan Xang fell into more than 70 years of "instability", involving Burmese invasion and civil war. In 1637, when Sourigna Vongsa ascended

954-667: A comprehensive report that includes summaries of refugee claims, which was submitted to the UN in May 2006. The European Union , UNHCHR, and international groups have since spoken out about the forced repatriation. The Thai foreign ministry has said that it will halt deportation of Hmong refugees held in Detention Centres in Nong Khai , while talks are underway to resettle them in Australia, Canada,

1060-451: A generator are photovoltaic solar and fuel cells . Almost all commercial electrical power on Earth is generated with a turbine , driven by wind, water, steam or burning gas. The turbine drives a generator, thus transforming its mechanical energy into electrical energy by electromagnetic induction. There are many different methods of developing mechanical energy, including heat engines , hydro, wind and tidal power. Most electric generation

1166-645: A generator to rotate. Electrochemistry is the direct transformation of chemical energy into electricity, as in a battery . Electrochemical electricity generation is important in portable and mobile applications. Currently, most electrochemical power comes from batteries. Primary cells , such as the common zinc–carbon batteries , act as power sources directly, but secondary cells (i.e. rechargeable batteries) are used for storage systems rather than primary generation systems. Open electrochemical systems, known as fuel cells , can be used to extract power either from natural fuels or from synthesized fuels. Osmotic power

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1272-408: A huge amount of power from a single unit. However, nuclear disasters have raised concerns over the safety of nuclear power, and the capital cost of nuclear plants is very high. Hydroelectric power plants are located in areas where the potential energy from falling water can be harnessed for moving turbines and the generation of power. It may not be an economically viable single source of production where

1378-542: A large number of consumers. Most power plants used in centralised generation are thermal power plants meaning that they use a fuel to heat steam to produce a pressurised gas which in turn spins a turbine and generates electricity. This is the traditional way of producing energy. This process relies on several forms of technology to produce widespread electricity, these being natural coal, gas and nuclear forms of thermal generation. More recently solar and wind have become large scale. A photovoltaic power station , also known as

1484-541: A line of Lao kings that traced back to Khoun Boulom. He made Theravada Buddhism the state religion. His ministers, unable to tolerate his ruthlessness, forced him into exile to what is later the Thai province of Nan in 1373, where he died. Fa Ngum's eldest son, Oun Heuan, ascended to the throne under the name Samsenethai and reigned for 43 years. Lan Xang became a trade centre during Samsenthai's reign, and after his death in 1421 it collapsed into warring factions for nearly

1590-536: A prime source of power within isolated villages. Total world generation in 2021 was 28,003 TWh, including coal (36%), gas (23%), hydro (15%), nuclear (10%), wind (6.6%), solar (3.7%), oil and other fossil fuels (3.1%), biomass (2.4%) and geothermal and other renewables (0.33%). China produced a third of the world's electricity in 2021, largely from coal. The United States produces half as much as China but uses far more natural gas and nuclear. Variations between countries generating electrical power affect concerns about

1696-455: A rainy season from May to October, followed by a dry season from November to April. Local tradition holds that there are 3 seasons (rainy, cool and hot) as the latter 2 months of the climatologically defined dry season are hotter than the earlier 4 months. Laos is divided into 17 provinces ( khoueng ) and one prefecture ( kampheng nakhon ), which includes the capital city Vientiane ( Nakhon Louang Viangchan ). A province, Xaisomboun province ,

1802-441: A scale of at least 1 MW p . As of 2018, the world's largest operating photovoltaic power stations surpassed 1 gigawatt . At the end of 2019, about 9,000 solar farms were larger than 4 MW AC (utility scale), with a combined capacity of over 220 GW AC . A wind farm or wind park, or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity . Wind farms vary in size from

1908-533: A small number of turbines to several hundred wind turbines covering an extensive area. Wind farms can be either onshore or offshore . Many of the largest operational onshore wind farms are located in China, India, and the United States. For example, the largest wind farm in the world , Gansu Wind Farm in China had a capacity of over 6,000  MW by 2012, with a goal of 20,000 MW by 2020. As of December 2020,

2014-465: A solar park, solar farm, or solar power plant, is a large-scale grid-connected photovoltaic power system (PV system) designed for the supply of merchant power . They are different from most building-mounted and other decentralized solar power because they supply power at the utility level, rather than to a local user or users. Utility-scale solar is sometimes used to describe this type of project. This approach differs from concentrated solar power ,

2120-602: A treaty signed in 1977, which has since provided direction for Lao foreign policy, and provides the basis for Vietnamese involvement at levels of Lao political and economic life. Laos was requested in 1979 by Vietnam to end relations with the People's Republic of China , leading to isolation in trade by China , the United States , and other countries. In 1979, there were 50,000 PAVN troops stationed in Laos and as many as 6,000 civilian Vietnamese officials including 1,000 directly attached to

2226-676: A tributary of the Sê San, also runs through the province. The province is primarily located in the Sê San river basin, though parts are also in the headwaters of the Vu Gia , Trà Khúc and Sekong Rivers . Ethnic groups in Kon Tum province include the Viet , Bahnar , Brau , Giẻ Triêng , Jarai , Rơ Măm , and Xo Dang . Laos in ASEAN  (dark grey)  –  [ Legend ] Laos , officially

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2332-547: A unified Laos, and Vientiane once again became the capital. Laos produced tin , rubber, and coffee, and never accounted for more than 1% of French Indochina's exports. By 1940, around 600 French citizens lived in Laos. Under French rule, the Vietnamese were encouraged to migrate to Laos, which was seen by the French colonists as a rational solution to a labour shortage within the confines of an Indochina-wide colonial space. By 1943,

2438-500: A variety of energy sources are used, such as coal , nuclear , natural gas , hydroelectric , wind , and oil , as well as solar energy , tidal power , and geothermal sources. In the 1880s the popularity of electricity grew massively with the introduction of the Incandescent light bulb . Although there are 22 recognised inventors of the light bulb prior to Joseph Swan and Thomas Edison , Edison and Swan's invention became by far

2544-508: Is 1 of 4 in the opium poppy growing region known as the " Golden Triangle ". According to the October 2007 UNODC fact book Opium Poppy Cultivation in South East Asia , the poppy cultivation area was 15 square kilometres (5.8 sq mi), down from 18 square kilometres (6.9 sq mi) in 2006. The climate is mostly tropical savanna and influenced by the monsoon pattern. There is

2650-793: Is a multinational state and is committed to equality between ethnic groups. The constitution contains provisions for gender equality , freedom of religion , freedom of speech , and freedom of press and assembly. On 25 September 2009, Laos ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights , 9 years after signing the treaty. The stated policy objectives of the Lao government and international donors remain focused upon achieving sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction. An organisation raised concerns in relation to freedom of expression, prison conditions, restrictions on freedom of religions, protection of refugees and asylum-seekers, and

2756-462: Is a possibility at places where salt and fresh water merge. The photovoltaic effect is the transformation of light into electrical energy, as in solar cells . Photovoltaic panels convert sunlight directly to DC electricity. Power inverters can then convert that to AC electricity if needed. Although sunlight is free and abundant, solar power electricity is still usually more expensive to produce than large-scale mechanically generated power due to

2862-500: Is an important part of the energy transformation required to limit climate change . Vastly more solar power and wind power is forecast to be required, with electricity demand increasing strongly with further electrification of transport , homes and industry. However, in 2023, it was reported that the global electricity supply was approaching peak CO2 emissions thanks to the growth of solar and wind power. The fundamental principles of electricity generation were discovered in

2968-496: Is an industry, and the government hopes to attract foreign investment to develop the deposits of coal , gold , bauxite , tin , copper , and other metals. The mining industry of Laos has received attention with foreign direct investments. More than 540 mineral deposits of gold, copper, zinc , lead and other minerals have been identified, explored and mined. The country's water resources and mountainous terrain enable it to produce and export quantities of hydroelectric energy. Of

3074-468: Is based upon the local power requirement and the fluctuations in demand. All power grids have varying loads on them. The daily minimum is the base load , often supplied by plants which run continuously. Nuclear, coal, oil, gas and some hydro plants can supply base load. If well construction costs for natural gas are below $ 10 per MWh, generating electricity from natural gas is cheaper than generating power by burning coal. Nuclear power plants can produce

3180-975: Is driven by heat engines. The combustion of fossil fuels supplies most of the energy to these engines, with a significant fraction from nuclear fission and some from renewable sources . The modern steam turbine , invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884, currently generates about 80% of the electric power in the world using a variety of heat sources. Turbine types include: Turbines can also use other heat-transfer liquids than steam. Supercritical carbon dioxide based cycles can provide higher conversion efficiency due to faster heat exchange, higher energy density and simpler power cycle infrastructure. Supercritical carbon dioxide blends , that are currently in development, can further increase efficiency by optimizing its critical pressure and temperature points. Although turbines are most common in commercial power generation, smaller generators can be powered by gasoline or diesel engines . These may used for backup generation or as

3286-511: Is fundamentally the opposite of distributed generation . Distributed generation is the small-scale generation of electricity to smaller groups of consumers. This can also include independently producing electricity by either solar or wind power. In recent years distributed generation as has seen a spark in popularity due to its propensity to use renewable energy generation methods such as rooftop solar . Centralised energy sources are large power plants that produce huge amounts of electricity to

Kon Tum province - Misplaced Pages Continue

3392-577: Is provided by batteries. Other forms of electricity generation used in niche applications include the triboelectric effect , the piezoelectric effect , the thermoelectric effect , and betavoltaics . Electric generators transform kinetic energy into electricity. This is the most used form for generating electricity based on Faraday's law . It can be seen experimentally by rotating a magnet within closed loops of conducting material, e.g. copper wire. Almost all commercial electrical generation uses electromagnetic induction, in which mechanical energy forces

3498-468: Is rated in megawatt-peak (MW p ), which refers to the solar array's theoretical maximum DC power output. In other countries, the manufacturer states the surface and the efficiency. However, Canada, Japan, Spain, and the United States often specify using the converted lower nominal power output in MW AC , a measure more directly comparable to other forms of power generation. Most solar parks are developed at

3604-538: Is south of 14°), and longitudes 100° and 108°E . Its forested landscape consists mostly of mountains, the highest of which is Phou Bia at 2,818 metres (9,245 ft), with some plains and plateaus. The Mekong River forms a part of the western boundary with Thailand, where the mountains of the Annamite Range form most of the eastern border with Vietnam and the Luang Prabang Range the northwestern border with

3710-429: Is then used to spin turbines that turn generators . Thus chemical energy stored in coal is converted successively into thermal energy , mechanical energy and, finally, electrical energy . Natural gas is ignited to create pressurised gas which is used to spin turbines to generate electricity. Natural gas plants use a gas turbine where natural gas is added along with oxygen which in turn combusts and expands through

3816-621: The ASEAN , East Asia Summit , La Francophonie , and the World Trade Organization . The word Laos was coined by the French , who united the 3 Lao kingdoms in French Indochina in 1893. The name of the country is spelled the same as the plural of the most common ethnic group, the Lao people . In English, the "s" in the name of the country is pronounced, and not silent. A human skull

3922-656: The Ho Chi Minh Trail to attack US forces in South Vietnam . Between 1964 and 1973, the US dropped 2 million tons of bombs on Laos, nearly equal to the 2.1 million tons of bombs the US dropped on Europe and Asia during all of World War II, making Laos the most heavily bombed country in history relative to the size of its population; The New York Times notes this was "nearly a ton for every person in Laos". Some 80 million bombs failed to explode and remain scattered throughout

4028-458: The Lao People's Democratic Republic ( LPDR ), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia . It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and southwest. Its capital and most populous city is Vientiane . Laos traces its historic and cultural identity to Lan Xang , a kingdom which existed from

4134-691: The Obama administration in the US declared Laos was no longer a Marxist–Leninist state and lifted bans on Laotian companies receiving financing from the US Export-Import Bank . In 2016, China was the biggest foreign investor in the Laotian economy, having invested US$ 5.395 billion since 1989, according to the Laos Ministry of Planning and Investment's 1989–2014 report. Thailand (invested US$ 4.489 billion) and Vietnam (invested US$ 3.108 billion) are

4240-611: The Thai highlands . There are 2 plateaus, the Xiangkhoang in the north and the Bolaven Plateau at the southern end. Laos can be considered to consist of 3 geographical areas: north, central, and south. Laos had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 5.59/10, ranking it 98th globally out of 172 countries. In 1993, the Laos government set aside 21% of the nation's land area for habitat conservation preservation. The country

4346-650: The Three Mile Island accident , Chernobyl disaster and the Fukushima nuclear disaster illustrate this problem. The table lists 45 countries with their total electricity capacities. The data is from 2022. According to the Energy Information Administration , the total global electricity capacity in 2022 was nearly 8.9 terawatt (TW), more than four times the total global electricity capacity in 1981. The global average per-capita electricity capacity

Kon Tum province - Misplaced Pages Continue

4452-648: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), with the support of the US government , instituted the Comprehensive Plan of Action , a programme to stem the tide of Indochinese refugees from Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia. Under the plan, refugee status was evaluated through a screening process. Recognised asylum seekers were given resettlement opportunities, while the remaining refugees were to be repatriated under guarantee of safety. After talks with

4558-592: The Vietnam War ended in 1975, the Lao People's Revolutionary Party established a one-party socialist republic espousing Marxism-Leninism , ending the civil war and monarchy, and beginning a period of alignment with the Soviet Union until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Laos's strategies for development are based on generating electricity from rivers and selling the power to its neighbours, namely Thailand, China and Vietnam, and its initiative to become

4664-545: The kinetic energy of flowing water and wind. Other energy sources include solar photovoltaics and geothermal power . There are exotic and speculative methods to recover energy, such as proposed fusion reactor designs which aim to directly extract energy from intense magnetic fields generated by fast-moving charged particles generated by the fusion reaction (see magnetohydrodynamics ). Phasing out coal-fired power stations and eventually gas-fired power stations , or, if practical, capturing their greenhouse gas emissions ,

4770-442: The pumped-storage method. Consumable electricity is not freely available in nature, so it must be "produced", transforming other forms of energy to electricity. Production is carried out in power stations , also called "power plants". Electricity is most often generated at a power plant by electromechanical generators , primarily driven by heat engines fueled by combustion or nuclear fission , but also by other means such as

4876-496: The 1218 MW Hornsea Wind Farm in the UK is the largest offshore wind farm in the world . Individual wind turbine designs continue to increase in power , resulting in fewer turbines being needed for the same total output. A coal-fired power station or coal power plant is a thermal power station which burns coal to generate electricity . Worldwide there are about 2,500 coal-fired power stations, on average capable of generating

4982-426: The 13th century to the 18th century. Because of its geographical location, the kingdom became a hub for overland trade. After a period of internal conflict, Lan Xang broke into the Kingdom of Luang Phrabang , the Kingdom of Vientiane and the Kingdom of Champasak . In 1893, the 3 kingdoms were united under a French protectorate . Laos was occupied by Japan during World War II and regained independence in 1945 as

5088-470: The 1820s and early 1830s by British scientist Michael Faraday . His method, still used today, is for electricity to be generated by the movement of a loop of wire, or Faraday disc , between the poles of a magnet . Central power stations became economically practical with the development of alternating current (AC) power transmission, using power transformers to transmit power at high voltage and with low loss. Commercial electricity production started with

5194-541: The 1920s, the name was rendered as 崑 嵩 . Kon Tum is subdivided into ten district-level sub-divisions: They are further subdivided into six commune-level towns (or townlets), 83 communes, and 10 wards. The capital city is Kon Tum , located on the Đăk Bla River . The southern border with Gia Lai follows the Sê San river up to Yali Falls Dam , as well as part of the Dak Bla, Dak Pokei and Dak Poe rivers. The Sa Thầy River ,

5300-464: The 36th hungriest nation in the world out of the list of the 52 nations with the worst hunger situation(s). In 2019, the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights conducted an official visit to Laos and found that the country's top-down approach to economic growth and poverty alleviation "is all too often counterproductive, leading to impoverishment and jeopardising the rights of

5406-436: The 4th millennium BC. Burial jars and other kinds of sepulchers suggest a society in which bronze objects appeared around 1500 BC, and iron tools were known from 700 BC. The proto-historic period is characterised by contact with Chinese and Indian civilisations. According to linguistic and other historical evidence, Tai-speaking tribes migrated southwestward to the territories of Laos and Thailand from Guangxi sometime between

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5512-501: The 8th and 10th centuries. Laos traces its history to the kingdom of Lan Xang ('million elephants'), which was founded in the 13th century by a Lao prince, Fa Ngum , whose father had his family exiled from the Khmer Empire . Fa Ngum, with 10,000 Khmer troops, conquered some Lao principalities in the Mekong river basin, culminating in the capture of Vientiane . Ngum was descended from

5618-626: The French Union, while educational, health and technical ties with the former colonial power persisted. The 1957 document was abrogated in December 1975, when a communist people's republic was proclaimed. A constitution was adopted in 1991 and enshrined a "leading role" for the LPRP. The foreign relations of Laos after the takeover by the Pathet Lao in December 1975 were characterised by a hostile posture toward

5724-536: The Netherlands and the United States. Plans to resettle additional Hmong refugees in the United States were stalled by provisions of President George W. Bush 's Patriot Act and Real ID Act , under which Hmong veterans of the Secret War, who fought on the side of the United States, are classified as terrorists because of their historical involvement in armed conflict. In The Economist 's Democracy Index 2016 Laos

5830-572: The Northern America in the 1920s in large cities and urban areas. It was not until the 1930s that rural areas saw the large-scale establishment of electrification. 2021 world electricity generation by source. Total generation was 28 petawatt-hours . Several fundamental methods exist to convert other forms of energy into electrical energy. Utility-scale generation is achieved by rotating electric generators or by photovoltaic systems. A small proportion of electric power distributed by utilities

5936-452: The Siamese in 1826 . The rebellion failed, and Vientiane was ransacked. Anouvong was taken to Bangkok as a prisoner, where he died. In a time period where the acquisition of humans was a priority over the ownership of land, the warfare of pre-modern Southeast Asia revolved around the seizing of people and resources from its enemies. A Siamese military campaign in Laos in 1876 was described by

6042-674: The UNHCR and the Thai government, Laos agreed to repatriate the 60,000 Lao refugees living in Thailand, including several thousand Hmong people. Some of the Lao refugees were willing to return voluntarily. Pressure to resettle the refugees grew as the Thai government worked to close its remaining refugee camps. While some Hmong people returned to Laos voluntarily, with development assistance from UNHCR, allegations of forced repatriation surfaced. Of those Hmong who did return to Laos, some escaped back to Thailand, describing discrimination and brutal treatment at

6148-633: The United States were normalised in November 2004 through Congress approved legislation. Laos was admitted into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in July 1997 and acceded to the World Trade Organization in 2016. In 2005, it attended the inaugural East Asia Summit . Some Hmong groups fought as CIA -backed units on the royalist side in the Laotian Civil War . After the Pathet Lao took over

6254-612: The United States initiated a bombing campaign against the PAVN positions, supported regular and irregular anti-communist forces in Laos, and supported incursions into Laos by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam . Aerial bombardments against the PAVN/ Pathet Lao forces were carried out by the United States to prevent the collapse of the Kingdom of Laos central government, and to deny the use of

6360-530: The United States, fled the camp to live elsewhere within Thailand where a sizeable Hmong population has been present since the 19th century. In 2004 and 2005, thousands of Hmong fled from the jungles of Laos to a temporary refugee camp in the Thai province of Phetchabun . Lending further support to earlier claims that the government of Laos was persecuting the Hmong, filmmaker Rebecca Sommer documented first-hand accounts in her documentary, Hunted Like Animals , and in

6466-538: The United States, fossil fuel combustion for electric power generation is responsible for 65% of all emissions of sulfur dioxide , the main component of acid rain. Electricity generation is the fourth highest combined source of NO x , carbon monoxide , and particulate matter in the US. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), low-carbon electricity generation needs to account for 85% of global electrical output by 2040 in order to ward off

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6572-681: The Vientiane Plain, Savannakhet region , and the Bolaven Plateau , which was derailed by the Japanese invasion of Indochina. Otherwise, according to Martin Stuart-Fox , the Lao might well have lost control over their own country. During World War II in Laos , Vichy France , Thailand , Imperial Japan and Free France occupied Laos. On 9 March 1945, a nationalist group declared Laos once more independent, with Luang Prabang as its capital, and on 7 April 1945 2 battalions of Japanese troops occupied

6678-419: The Vietnamese population stood at nearly 40,000, forming the majority in some cities of Laos and having the right to elect its own leaders. As a result, 53% of the population of Vientiane, 85% of Thakhek , and 62% of Pakse were Vietnamese, with the exception of Luang Prabang where the population was predominantly Lao. As late as 1945, the French drew up a plan to move a number of Vietnamese to 3 areas, i.e.,

6784-532: The Vue Mai incident, debate over the Hmong's planned repatriation to Laos intensified, including in the United States, where it drew opposition from American conservatives and some human rights advocates. In a 23 October 1995 National Review article, Michael Johns labelled the Hmong's repatriation a Clinton administration "betrayal", describing the Hmong as a people "who have spilled their blood in defence of American geopolitical interests". In their opposition of

6890-510: The Wat Tham Krabok Hmong refused to leave and the Lao government refused to accept them, claiming they were involved in the illegal drug trade and were of non-Lao origin. Following threats of forcible removal by the Thai government, the United States, in a victory for the Hmong, agreed to accept 15,000 of the refugees in 2003. Several thousand Hmong people, fearing forced repatriation to Laos if they were not accepted for resettlement in

6996-629: The West, with the government of the Lao PDR aligning itself with the Soviet Bloc , maintaining ties with the Soviet Union and depending on the Soviets for most of its foreign assistance. Laos's emergence from international isolation has been marked through expanded relations with other countries including Russia , China , Thailand , Australia , Germany , Italy , Japan and Switzerland . Trade relations with

7102-508: The ability to store the flow of water is limited and the load varies too much during the annual production cycle. Electric generators were known in simple forms from the discovery of electromagnetic induction in the 1830s. In general, some form of prime mover such as an engine or the turbines described above, drives a rotating magnetic field past stationary coils of wire thereby turning mechanical energy into electricity. The only commercial scale forms of electricity production that do not employ

7208-634: The arable land area used for growing rice. Approximately 77% of Lao farm households are self-sufficient in rice. Laos may have the greatest number of rice varieties in the Greater Mekong Subregion. The Lao government has been working with the International Rice Research Institute of the Philippines to collect seed samples of each of the thousands of rice varieties found in Laos. Laos imports petroleum and gas. Metallurgy

7314-487: The atmosphere. Nuclear power plants can also create district heating and desalination projects, limiting carbon emissions and the need for expanded electrical output. A fundamental issue regarding centralised generation and the current electrical generation methods in use today is the significant negative environmental effects that many of the generation processes have. Processes such as coal and gas not only release carbon dioxide as they combust, but their extraction from

7420-502: The city. The Japanese attempted to force Sisavang Vong (the king of Luang Phrabang) to declare Laotian independence, and on 8 April he instead declared an end to Laos's status as a French protectorate. The king then secretly sent Prince Kindavong to represent Laos to the Allied forces and Prince Sisavang as representative to the Japanese. When Japan surrendered, some Lao nationalists (including Prince Phetsarath ) declared Laotian independence, and by 1946, French troops had reoccupied

7526-616: The cost of the panels. Low-efficiency silicon solar cells have been decreasing in cost and multijunction cells with close to 30% conversion efficiency are now commercially available. Over 40% efficiency has been demonstrated in experimental systems. Until recently, photovoltaics were most commonly used in remote sites where there is no access to a commercial power grid, or as a supplemental electricity source for individual homes and businesses. Recent advances in manufacturing efficiency and photovoltaic technology, combined with subsidies driven by environmental concerns, have dramatically accelerated

7632-745: The country and conferred autonomy on Laos. During the First Indochina War , the Indochinese Communist Party formed the Pathet Lao independence organisation. The Pathet Lao began a war against the French colonial forces with the aid of the Vietnamese independence organisation, the Viet Minh . In 1950, the French were forced to give Laos semi-autonomy as an "associated state" within the French Union . France remained in de facto control until 22 October 1953, when Laos gained full independence as

7738-541: The country in 1975, the conflict continued in isolated pockets. In 1977, a communist newspaper promised the party would hunt down the "American collaborators" and their families "to the last root". As many as 200,000 Hmong went into exile in Thailand , with some ending up in the US . Other Hmong fighters hid out in mountains in Xiangkhouang Province for years, with a remnant emerging from the jungle in 2003. In 1989,

7844-607: The country. Unexploded ordnance (UXO), including cluster munitions and mines, kill or maim approximately 50 Laotians every year. Due to the impact of cluster bombs during this war, Laos was an advocate of the Convention on Cluster Munitions to ban the weapons and was host to the First Meeting of States Parties to the convention in November 2010. In 1975, the Pathet Lao overthrew the royalist government, forcing King Savang Vatthana to abdicate on 2 December 1975. He later died in

7950-477: The coupling of the dynamo to the hydraulic turbine. The mechanical production of electric power began the Second Industrial Revolution and made possible several inventions using electricity, with the major contributors being Thomas Alva Edison and Nikola Tesla . Previously the only way to produce electricity was by chemical reactions or using battery cells, and the only practical use of electricity

8056-472: The deadline for the closure of Thai refugee camps approached, and under mounting political pressure, the United States agreed to resettle Hmong refugees who passed a screening process. Around 5,000 Hmong people who were not resettled at the time of the camp closures sought asylum at Wat Tham Krabok , a Buddhist monastery in central Thailand where more than 10,000 Hmong refugees had already been living. The Thai government attempted to repatriate these refugees, and

8162-440: The death penalty. Laos has been cited as an origin country for human trafficking. A number of citizens, primarily women and girls from ethnic groups and foreigners, have been victims of sex trafficking in Laos . The Lao economy depends on investment and trade with its neighbours, Thailand, Vietnam, and, especially in the north, China. Pakxe has experienced growth based on cross-border trade with Thailand and Vietnam. In 2009,

8268-567: The deployment of solar panels. Installed capacity is growing by around 20% per year led by increases in Germany, Japan, United States, China, and India. The selection of electricity production modes and their economic viability varies in accordance with demand and region. The economics vary considerably around the world, resulting in widespread residential selling prices. Hydroelectric plants , nuclear power plants , thermal power plants and renewable sources have their own pros and cons, and selection

8374-533: The electricity through high voltage transmission lines to a substation, where it is then distributed to consumers; the basic concept being that multi-megawatt or gigawatt scale large stations create electricity for a large number of people. The vast majority of electricity used is created from centralised generation. Most centralised power generation comes from large power plants run by fossil fuels such as coal or natural gas, though nuclear or large hydroelectricity plants are also commonly used. Centralised generation

8480-404: The environment. In France only 10% of electricity is generated from fossil fuels , the US is higher at 70% and China is at 80%. The cleanliness of electricity depends on its source. Methane leaks (from natural gas to fuel gas-fired power plants) and carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel-based electricity generation account for a significant portion of world greenhouse gas emissions . In

8586-456: The exports of timber, with an express aim to help control the country's high deforestation rates and boost the country's domestic wood production industry. On 3 December 2021, the 422-kilometre Boten-Vientiane railway , a flagship of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), was opened. Laos is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia , and it lies mostly between latitudes 14° and 23°N (an area

8692-420: The generators. Although there are several types of nuclear reactors, all fundamentally use this process. Normal emissions due to nuclear power plants are primarily waste heat and radioactive spent fuel. In a reactor accident, significant amounts of radioisotopes can be released to the environment, posing a long term hazard to life. This hazard has been a continuing concern of environmentalists. Accidents such as

8798-494: The ground also impacts the environment. Open pit coal mines use large areas of land to extract coal and limit the potential for productive land use after the excavation. Natural gas extraction releases large amounts of methane into the atmosphere when extracted from the ground greatly increase global greenhouse gases. Although nuclear power plants do not release carbon dioxide through electricity generation, there are risks associated with nuclear waste and safety concerns associated with

8904-561: The hands of Lao authorities. In 1993, Vue Mai, a former Hmong soldier and leader of the largest Hmong refugee camp in Thailand, who had been recruited by the US ;Embassy in Bangkok to return to Laos as proof of the repatriation programme's success, disappeared in Vientiane . According to the US Committee for Refugees, he was arrested by Lao security forces and was never seen again. Following

9010-458: The heat input is from the process of nuclear fission . Currently, nuclear power produces 11% of all electricity in the world. Most nuclear reactors use uranium as a source of fuel. In a process called nuclear fission , energy, in the form of heat, is released when nuclear atoms are split. Electricity is created through the use of a nuclear reactor where heat produced by nuclear fission is used to produce steam which in turn spins turbines and powers

9116-489: The ministries in Vientiane . The conflict between Hmong rebels and Laos continued in areas of Laos, including in Saysaboune Closed Military Zone, Xaisamboune Closed Military Zone near Vientiane Province and Xiangkhouang Province . From 1975 to 1996, the United States resettled some 250,000 Lao refugees from Thailand, including 130,000 Hmong. On 27 May 2016, the 8th Government of Laos banned

9222-454: The most successful and popular of all. During the early years of the 19th century, massive jumps in electrical sciences were made. And by the later 19th century the advancement of electrical technology and engineering led to electricity being part of everyday life. With the introduction of many electrical inventions and their implementation into everyday life, the demand for electricity within homes grew dramatically. With this increase in demand,

9328-425: The other major large-scale solar generation technology, which uses heat to drive a variety of conventional generator systems. Both approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but to date, for a variety of reasons, photovoltaic technology has seen much wider use. As of 2019 , about 97% of utility-scale solar power capacity was PV. In some countries, the nameplate capacity of photovoltaic power stations

9434-655: The poor and marginalised." A product, Beerlao , was exported in 2017 to more than 20 countries worldwide. It is produced by the Lao Brewery Company . The tourism sector has grown from 80,000 international visitors in 1990, to 1.876 million in 2010, when tourism had been expected to rise to US$ 1.5857 billion by 2020. In 2010, 1 in every 11 jobs was in the tourism sector. Export earnings from international visitors and tourism goods are expected to generate 16% of total exports or US$ 270.3 million in 2010, growing in nominal terms to US$ 484.2 million (12.5% of

9540-543: The potential capacity of approximately 18,000 megawatts, around 8,000 megawatts have been committed for export to Thailand and Vietnam. As of 2021, Laos continues to rely on fossil fuels, coal in particular, in domestic electricity production. In 2018, the country ranked 139th on the Human Development Index (HDI), indicating medium development. According to the Global Hunger Index (2018), Laos ranks as

9646-479: The potential for profit was seen by many entrepreneurs who began investing into electrical systems to eventually create the first electricity public utilities. This process in history is often described as electrification. The earliest distribution of electricity came from companies operating independently of one another. A consumer would purchase electricity from a producer, and the producer would distribute it through their own power grid. As technology improved so did

9752-585: The process of centralised generation as they would become vital to the entire power system that we now use today. Throughout the middle of the 20th century many utilities began merging their distribution networks due to economic and efficiency benefits. Along with the invention of long-distance power transmission , the coordination of power plants began to form. This system was then secured by regional system operators to ensure stability and reliability. The electrification of homes began in Northern Europe and in

9858-431: The productivity and efficiency of its generation. Inventions such as the steam turbine had a massive impact on the efficiency of electrical generation but also the economics of generation as well. This conversion of heat energy into mechanical work was similar to that of steam engines , however at a significantly larger scale and far more productively. The improvements of these large-scale generation plants were critical to

9964-615: The repatriation plans, Democratic and Republican Members of Congress challenged the Clinton administration's position that the government of Laos was not systematically violating Hmong human rights. US Representative Steve Gunderson , for instance, told a Hmong gathering: "I do not enjoy standing up and saying to my government that you are not telling the truth, but if that is necessary to defend truth and justice, I will do that." While some accusations of forced repatriation were denied, thousands of Hmong people refused to return to Laos. In 1996 as

10070-576: The second and third largest investors respectively. Subsistence agriculture accounts for half of the GDP and provides 80% of employment. 4% of the country is arable land and 0.3% used as permanent crop land, the lowest percentage in the Greater Mekong Subregion . The irrigated areas account for 28% of the total area under cultivation which, in turn, represents 12% of all of the agricultural land in 2012. Rice dominates agriculture, with about 80% of

10176-528: The supreme leader. As of 22 March 2021 , the head of state is President Thongloun Sisoulith . He has been General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party , a position making him the de facto leader of Laos, since January 2021. Laos's first French-written and monarchical constitution was promulgated on 11 May 1947, and declared Laos an independent state within the French Union . The revised constitution of 11 May 1957 omitted reference to

10282-505: The throne, Lan Xang further expanded its frontiers. When he died without an heir, the kingdom split into 3 principalities. Between 1763 and 1769, Burmese armies overran northern Laos and annexed Luang Prabang , while Champasak eventually came under Siamese suzerainty . Chao Anouvong was installed as a vassal king of Vientiane by the Siamese. He encouraged a renaissance of Lao fine arts and literature and improved relations with Luang Phrabang. Under Vietnamese pressure, he rebelled against

10388-489: The total) in 2020. The European Council on Trade and Tourism awarded the country the "World Best Tourist Destination" designation for 2013 for architecture and history. Electricity generation Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power from sources of primary energy . For utilities in the electric power industry , it is the stage prior to its delivery ( transmission , distribution , etc.) to end users or its storage , using for example,

10494-444: The turbine to force a generator to spin. Natural gas power plants are more efficient than coal power generation, they however contribute to climate change, but not as highly as coal generation. Not only do they produce carbon dioxide from the ignition of natural gas, the extraction of gas when mined releases a significant amount of methane into the atmosphere. Nuclear power plants create electricity through steam turbines where

10600-413: The use of nuclear sources. Per unit of electricity generated coal and gas-fired power life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions are almost always at least ten times that of other generation methods. Centralised generation is electricity generation by large-scale centralised facilities, sent through transmission lines to consumers. These facilities are usually located far away from consumers and distribute

10706-672: The worst effects of climate change. Like other organizations including the Energy Impact Center (EIC) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the IEA has called for the expansion of nuclear and renewable energy to meet that objective. Some, like EIC founder Bret Kugelmass, believe that nuclear power is the primary method for decarbonizing electricity generation because it can also power direct air capture that removes existing carbon emissions from

10812-511: Was classified as an "authoritarian regime", ranking lowest of the 9 ASEAN nations included in the study. Civil society advocates, human rights defenders, political and religious dissidents, and Hmong refugees have disappeared at the hands of Lao military and security forces. Ostensibly, the Constitution of Laos that was promulgated in 1991 and amended in 2003 contains safeguards for human rights. For example, Article 8 makes it clear that Laos

10918-542: Was established on 13 December 2013. Provinces are divided into districts ( muang ) and then villages ( ban ). An "urban" village is essentially a [town]. The Lao PDR is one of the world's socialist states openly endorsing communism . The only legal political party is the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP). With the one-party state status of Laos, the General Secretary ( party leader ) holds ultimate power and authority over state and government and serves as

11024-569: Was for the telegraph . Electricity generation at central power stations started in 1882, when a steam engine driving a dynamo at Pearl Street Station produced a DC current that powered public lighting on Pearl Street , New York . The new technology was quickly adopted by many cities around the world, which adapted their gas-fueled street lights to electric power. Soon after electric lights would be used in public buildings, in businesses, and to power public transport, such as trams and trains. The first power plants used water power or coal. Today

11130-630: Was recovered in 2009 from the Tam Pa Ling Cave in the Annamite Mountains in northern Laos; the skull is at least 46,000 years old, making it the oldest modern human fossil found to date in Southeast Asia. Stone artifacts including Hoabinhian types have been found at sites dating to the Pleistocene in northern Laos. Archaeological evidence suggests an agriculturist society developed during

11236-518: Was unsuccessful, and the situation turned into civil war between the Royal Laotian government and the Pathet Lao. The Pathet Lao were backed militarily by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the Viet Cong . Laos was a part of the Vietnam War since parts of Laos were invaded and occupied by North Vietnam since 1958 for use as a supply route for its war against South Vietnam . In response,

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