Kingdom of Laos

Kingdom of Laos ພຣະຣາຊອານາຈັກຣ໌ລາວ (Lao) Royaume du Laos (French)
1947–1975
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: ເພງຊາດລາວ Pheng Xat Lao "Hymn of the Lao People"
Status	French protectorate (1947–1953) Independent state (1953–1975)
Capital	Vientiane (administrative) Luang Phabang (royal)
Largest city	Vientiane
Official languages	Lao French
Spoken languages	Lao Hmong Khmu French
Ethnic groups	Lao Khmu Hmong Phouthai Tai Makong Katang Lue Akha
Religion	Buddhism (official[1]) Tai folk religion Christianity Other/Irreligion
Government	Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy under military dictatorship (1959–1960)
King
• 1946–1959	Sisavang Vong
• 1959–1975	Sisavang Vatthana
Prime Minister
• 1947–1948 (first)	Souvannarath
• 1962–1975 (last)	Souvanna Phouma[a]
Legislature	Parliament
• Upper house	Royal Council
• Lower house	National Assembly
History
• Unification	11 May 1947
• Independence	22 October 1953
• Recognized	21 July 1954
• United Nations admission	14 December 1955
• Communist takeover	23 August 1975
• Lao PDR established	2 December 1975
Area
• Total	236,800 km2 (91,400 sq mi)
Population
•	3,100,000
Currency	Kip (₭) (LAK)
Time zone	UTC+7 (ICT)
Date format	dmy
Drives on	Right
Calling code	+856
ISO 3166 code	LA
Preceded by Succeeded by French Protectorate of Laos French Indochina Lao People's Democratic Republic Royal Lao Government in Exile
Today part of	Laos
^ Held the position several times.

Part of a series on the
History of Laos
Muang city-states era
Muang Sua 698–1353
Lan Xang era
Lan Xang 1353–1707
Regional kingdoms era
Kingdom of Vientiane 1707–1828 Kingdom of Luang Phrabang 1707–1893 Muang Phuan 1707–1899 Kingdom of Champasak 1713–1904
Colonial era
Lao rebellion 1826–1828 Haw wars 1865–1890 Franco-Siamese crisis 1893 French Protectorate of Laos 1893–1953 Franco-Thai War 1940–1941 Japanese puppet state 1945 Free Lao Movement (Lao Issara) 1945–1949
Independent era
Kingdom of Laos 1946–1975 Laotian Civil War 1953–1975 North Vietnamese invasion of Laos 1958–1959 Anti-Communist Insurgency 1975–2007 Lao People's Democratic Republic 1975–1991 Laos after Soviet dominance 1991–present
See also
History of Laos History of Isan
v t e

The Kingdom of Laos was the form of government in Laos from 1947 to 1975. Located in Southeast Asia at the heart of the Indochinese Peninsula, it was bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, North Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and southwest. The country was governed as a constitutional monarchy beginning with its independence on 22 October 1953. It survived until December 1975, when its last king, Sisavang Vatthana, surrendered the throne to the Pathet Lao during the civil war in Laos, who abolished the monarchy in favour of a Marxist–Leninist state called the Lao People's Democratic Republic, which has controlled Laos ever since.^[2]

Given self-rule with the new Constitution in 1947 as part of the French Union and a federation with the rest of French Indochina,^[3] the 1953 Franco-Lao Treaty finally established a sovereign, independent Laos, but did not stipulate who would rule the country. In the years that followed, three groups, led by the so-called Three Princes, contended for power: the neutralists under Prince Souvanna Phouma, the right-wing party under Prince Boun Oum of Champassak, and the left-wing, North Vietnamese-backed Pathet Lao under Prince Souphanouvong and future Prime Minister Kaysone Phomvihane.

The Pathet Lao would eventually emerge victorious in the Laotian Civil War and establish the Lao People's Democratic Republic in 1975.