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 vendor decorates a sacrificial camel ahead of the Eid al-Adha festival, in Karachi, Pakistan, 23 August 2016. Eid al-Adha is the holiest of the two Muslims holidays celebrated each year, with this year will be celebrated on 02nd September. Eid al-Adha marks the yearly Muslim pilgrimage (Hajj) to visit Mecca, the holiest place in Islam. Muslims slaughter a sacrificial animal and split the meat into three parts, one for the family, one for friends and relatives, and one for the poor and needy. (Photo by Rehan Khan/EPA)

Muslim girls are seen after prayers, in Lagos, Nigeria, Friday, July 31, 2020. Small groups of pilgrims performed one of the final rites of the Islamic hajj on Friday as Muslims worldwide marked the start of the Eid al-Adha holiday amid a global pandemic that has impacted nearly every aspect of this year's pilgrimage and celebrations. The last days of hajj coincide with the four-day Eid al-Adha, or “Feast of Sacrifice”, in which Muslims slaughter livestock and distribute the meat to the poor. (Photo by Sunday Alamba/AP Photo)

A Muslim woman prays at the Al Meroz hotel in Bangkok, Thailand, August 29, 2016. Predominately Buddhist Thailand has opened its first halal hotel as hopes to attract more Muslim visitors and boost one of the few bright spots in its economy. (Photo by Chaiwat Subprasom/Reuters)

Muslims pray at the top of Mount Al-Noor during their Umrah Mawlid al-Nabawi “Birthday of Prophet Mohammad” in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia January 16, 2016. Muslims believe Prophet Mohammad received the first words of the Koran through Gabriel, at the top of Mount Al-Noor in the holy city of Mecca. (Photo by Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters)

Nigerians take a photo in their traditional clothes during Eid al-Fitr prayers in Lagos, Nigeria on May 2, 2022. Muslims gather to perform Eid al-Fitr prayers held in Nigeria, the country with the largest Muslim population in Africa. (Photo by Adeyinka Yusuf/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

A Muslim worshipper belonging to the Mouride Brotherhood prays in the sea during the “prayer preformed at sea” ceremony in Dakar on September 21, 2023. Followers of the Muslim Mouride brotherhood in Senegal gather for a ceremony celebrating the prayer that the founder of the brotherhood, Cheikh Amadou Bamba preformed at sea when exiled to Gabon by the French. (Photo by John Wessels/AFP Photo)

Models perform during a Muslim fashion show an airport train in Jakarta, Indonesia on Thursday, May 2, 2019. The fashion show was held to great to upcoming fasting month of Ramadan, the holiest month in Muslim calendar. (Photo by Tatan Syuflana/AP Photo)