Bonnie Morgan arrives at the LA Premiere of “Rings” at the Regal LA LIVE Stadium 14 on Thursday, February 2, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP 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.

Pasua Turner jumps double dutch as people take part in a Juneteenth event along Black Lives Matter Plaza on Monday June 19, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Matt McClain/The Washington Post)

Revellers make the most of Friday night in Soho, central London after the hottest day of the year recorded in the capital this year, June 17, 2022. (Photo by Marcin Nowak/Alamy Live News)

Dawlish Carnival 50th anniversary pram race featuring the famous Dawlish Black Swan in England on August 15, 2023. (Photo by nidpor/StockimoNews/Alamy Live News)

A man participates in the Pacu Jawi, a traditional bull race, at Nagari Labuah, in Tanah Datar of West Sumatra, Indonesia, on April 13, 2024. (Photo by Yorri Farli/Xinhua News Agency/Alamy Live News)

From the top of a building, Kanon Kennedy, of Washington, looks down at the Black Lives Matter mural as demolition begins, Monday, March 10, 2025, in Washington. (Photo by acquelyn Martin/AP Photo)

Singer Dua Lipa and her fiancé, Callum Turner, soak up the sun and unwind together during their lively vacation in Ibiza, Spain on August 14, 2025. (Photo by Gtres/Backgrid UK)