This is Laos

Present-day Laos traces its historic and cultural identity to Lan Xang, which existed from the 13th century to the 18th century as one of the largest kingdoms in Southeast Asia. Because of its central geographical location in Southeast Asia, the kingdom became a hub for overland trade and became wealthy economically and culturally. After a period of internal conflict, Lan Xang broke into three separate kingdoms: Luang Phrabang, Vientiane, and Champasak. In 1893, the three kingdoms came under a French protectorate and were united to form what is now known as Laos.

Laos is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia, and it lies mostly between latitudes 14° and 23°N (a small area is south of 14°), and longitudes 100° and 108°E. Its thickly forested landscape consists mostly of rugged mountains, the highest of which is Phou Bia at 2,818 metres (9,245 ft), with some plains and plateaus.

The people of Laos are often categorised by their distribution by elevation (lowlands, midlands and upper high lands), as this somewhat correlates with ethnic groupings. More than half of the nation's population is ethnic Lao—the principal lowland inhabitants, and the politically and culturally dominant people of Laos. The Lao belong to the Tai linguistic group who began migrating south from China in the first millennium CE. Ten per cent belong to other "lowland" groups, which together with the Lao people make up the Lao Loum (lowland people).

The staple food of the Lao is sticky rice (Lao: ເຂົ້າໜຽວ, khao niao, pronounced [kʰȁw.nǐa̯w]). Laos has the highest sticky rice consumption per-capita in the world with an average of 171 kilograms (377 lb) of sticky rice consumed annually per person. Sticky rice is deeply ingrained in the culture, religious tradition and national identity of Laos. It is a common belief within the Lao community that no matter where they are in the world, sticky rice will always be the glue that holds the Lao communities together, connecting them to their culture and to Laos. Affinity for sticky rice is considered the essence of what it means to be Lao. Often the Lao will refer to themselves as luk khao niaow (Lao: ລູກເຂົ້າໜຽວ, pronounced [luːk kʰȁw.nǐaw]), which can be translated as 'children or descendants of sticky rice'.