Laos

Laos is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is located in the heart of the Indochina Peninsula and its capital and largest city is Vientiane. The historical and cultural identity of modern Laos can be traced back to Lan Xang, which existed as one of the largest kingdoms in Southeast Asia from the 13th to the 18th century. The kingdom's central geographical location in Southeast Asia made it a hub for overland trade and made it economically and culturally rich. The woodlands and fields are home to a rich variety of wildlife, comprising nearly 200 species of mammals, approximately the same number of reptiles and amphibians, and around 700 species of birds. The most common mammals in the area are gaurs, deer, bears and monkeys. Elephants, rhinos and tigers, along with several species of wild oxen, monkeys and gibbons, are some of the country's endangered mammals. While geckos, snakes, skinks and frogs are plentiful, many species of turtles are endangered. The forest is home to numerous warblers, babblers, woodpeckers and thrushes, along with many larger birds of prey, and the lowlands are home to a variety of waterfowl. Dozens of Laos' bird species are threatened, among them most of the hornbills, ibis and stork. In 2009, an ancient human skull was found in the Tam Pa Ling cave in the Annamite Mountains of northern Laos, a skull at least 46 000 years old, which makes it the oldest modern human fossil found in Southeast Asia. Late Pleistocene sites in northern Laos have yielded stone finds, including Hoabinhian types. Evidence suggests that a farming society developed in the 4th millennium BC.