Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south, and Thailand to the west. Its population was estimated to be around 6.5 million in 2012. A third (33%) of the country's population lives below the international poverty line which means living on less than U.S. $1.25 per day.

A performer takes part in a street parade as part of the opening ceremony of the Ibero-American Theater Festival in Bogota, Colombia, March 12, 2016. (Photo by John Vizcaino/Reuters)

Beyonce performs during the Formation World Tour at Raymond James Stadium on Friday, April 29, 2016, in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Frank Micelotta/Invision for Parkwood Entertainment/AP Images)

A local resident rests on a bench as Mount Bromo volcano erupts in the background in Ngadisari, Probolinggo, East Java, Indonesia January 5, 2016. (Photo by Darren Whiteside/Reuters)

A model poses backstage at the Topshop Unique catwalk show during London Fashion Week in London, Britain February 19, 2017. (Photo by Neil Hall/Reuters)

Models prepare backstage before presenting creations of Belarussian designer Tatyana Efremova during the Belarus Fashion Week in Minsk, Belarus, 14 April 2018. (Photo by Tatyana Zenkovich/EPA/EFE)

Prints of R$ 50 Brazilian reais bills sit on a table for inspection at at the Casa da Moeda, the national mint, in the Santa Cruz suburb of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Tuesday, March 5, 2013. Brazil is likely to keep its key interest rate at a record low for the third straight meeting, as policy makers are caught between a fragile economic recovery and faster-than-expected inflation. (Photo by Dado Galdieri/Bloomberg)

This picture taken on October 20, 2016 shows students practising wushu at the Tagou martial arts school in Dengfeng. China is investing hugely in football training and has vowed to have 50 million school- age players by 2020, as the ruling Communist party eyes “football superpower” status by 2050. (Photo by Nicolas Asfouri/AFP Photo)