Afghan children watch the Kabul view as they stand near to a victim's grave who lost her life in the recent attack on Sayyid al-Shuhada school in west Kabul, Afghanistan, 11 May 2021. Following a terrorist attack on a girls school in Kabul on 08 May that killed some 80 person and injured more than 100, the Afghan government declared 11 May as a national mourning day. (Photo by Hedayatullah Amid/EPA/EFE)

A female vendor sells Christmas and New Year paraphernalia from her stall at a roadside in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, 16 December 2022. A few days before the Christmas holidays and with the celebrations of New Year's Eve and New Year's Day in sight, the shopping for seasonal decoration in the West African city is at its peak. (Photo by Legnan Koula/EPA/EFE)

An Elvis impersonator is reflected in the window of the Elvis Express at Central Station in Sydney, Australia, on Thursday, January 5, 2023. Hundreds of Parkes Elvis Festival attendees will board the Elvis Express train from Sydney's Central Station on Thursday for a windy 450-kilometre journey to the central west. (Photo by Steven Saphore/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

An aerial view of sinkholes (obruk), caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer, in Konya, Turkiye on September 17, 2024. Many sinkholes are observed in the fields of Eseli Plateau located within the borders of Resadiye Neighborhood in the north-west of Karapinar district, where sinkhole formation has increased rapidly in recent years. (Photo by Serhat Cetinkaya/Anadolu via Getty Images)

A Australian green tree frog wearing a small turtle as a hat, keeping its head dry during its swim in Padang West Sumatra, Indonesia in May 2023. The Australian green tree frog grows up to 11 centimetres tall, the males being smaller that the females. They can live to the age of 25 and their colour alters between green, brown and blue depending on their mood. (Photo by Yan Hidayat/Media Drum Images)

Love Island star Maura Higgins brought her signature glamour to Soho as she made a special appearance at MAC's flagship store on Carnaby Street on February 8, 2025. In the heart of London's West End, Carnaby Street renowned for its trendsetting fashion, beauty, and vibrant energy was the perfect backdrop as Maura greeted fans and posed for photos. (Photo by Andy Barnes/w8media)

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.