A sunflower “smiles” in a field in Tokyo on August 7, 2014. Some 20,000 sunflowers were enjoyed by visitors to the area this week. (Photo by Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP Photo)

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.

The love padlocks, called cadenas d’amour, multiplied until there were thousands of love tokens on the bridge, each engraved with a message of love. (Photo by Charles Platiau/Reuters)

A Maiko, a traditional Japanese dancer, walks in the snow in Gion, Kyoto's famous geisha district, January 7, 2006 in Kyoto, Japan. The ancient city Kyoto attracts the largest number of visitors in Japan and has been increasing every year. (Photo by Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images)

A Rajasthani man displays his moustache during the closing ceremony of annual Camel Fair in Pushkar, in India's desert state of Rajasthan, on November 8, 2022. (Photo by Himanshu Sharma/AFP Photo)

A Palestinian protester runs past burning tyres amid clashes with Israeli security forces deploying during a raid in the old city of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank, on December 30, 2022. (Photo by Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP Photo)

Swedish actress Rebecca Ferguson attends the World Premiere of “Dune: Part Two” in London's Leicester Square on February 15, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Hannah McKay/Reuters)

A tern chick takes its first steps in the first decade of June 2024 at Nickerson Beach, New York, a common nesting location. (Photo by Suraj Ramamurthy/Solent News)