A child performs in the mutton bustin (sheep riding) at the rodeo performance of the 76th annual Cloverdale Rodeo and Country Fair in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, on May 18, 2024. (Photo by Xinhua News Agency/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Stiliana Nikolova of Bulgaria performs her ball exercise in the final of the individual competition of the 40th European Rhytmic Gymanstics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, 25 May 2024. (Photo by Tibor Illyes/EPA)

Edibles are displayed at Shango Cannabis shop on first day of legal recreational marijuana sales beginning at midnight in Portland, Oregon October 1, 2015. The sale of marijuana for recreational use began in Oregon on October 1, 2015 as it joined Washington state and Colorado in allowing the sale of a drug that remains illegal under U.S. federal law. (Photo by Steve Dipaola/Reuters)

These stunning color portraits, produced by the U.S. Office of War Information during World War II depict the role of women in the US war effort. All of the images were shot on 4x5 color transparency film by Howard R. Hollem and Alfred T. Palmer during 1942 and 1943 and were turned over to the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division in 1944. They are seen here with their original captions.

A craftsman makes imitation bread samples at The Sample Factory on February 25, 2008 in Gujo, Gifu, Japan. Gujo City has more than a 50 percent share of the imitation vinyl chloride samples industry. Replica foods are used in most restaurant window displays in Japan, and are popular as souvenirs for tourists. (Photo by Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images)

The cruise ship Costa Concordia lies stricken off the shore of the island of Giglio, on January 14, 2012 in Giglio Porto, Italy. More than four thousand people were on board when the ship hit a sandbank. At least 3 people have been confirmed dead and another 50 are unaccounted for. (Photo by Laura Lezza/Getty Images)

Participants sit on a cable chair as they take part in the 30th edition of the Belalp Witches Ski Race on January 14, 2012 in Belalp, Switzerland. The race is inspired by a legend dating back to the middle ages, of a witch who tormented villagers in the area until she was burnt to death. (Photo by Harold Cunningham/Getty Images)

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.