MAPS OF HISTORY · HISTORY OF · Laos

ONE LAND · 6 ATLASES

Laos, on the map of history

What was Laos before it was Laos? Below, every era of this land in the Maps of History collection — who ruled it, what it was called, and when control changed — each line linked to the dated map that shows it. Modern borders stand in as an honest approximation; every atlas says so on the map itself.

Upland principalities (mod. Laos) · The Mongol Empire, 1206–1294

OPEN THE MONGOL EMPIRE ON THE LIVING MAP →

French Indochina (mod. Laos) · China in Revolution, 1911–1949

The quietest province of French Indochina — royal capitals on the Mekong, colonial neglect, and the era’s storms passing overhead: Japanese occupation in 1945, a brief independence declaration, the French return. Its revolution, when it comes, will be an annex of Vietnam’s, as Vietnam’s was an annex of China’s: the transmission belt of this era’s politics runs straight down the map’s southwest corner.

OPEN CHINA IN REVOLUTION ON THE LIVING MAP →

French Indochina · The Great War, 1914–1918

OPEN WWI ON THE LIVING MAP →

French Indochina — Laos · The Road to War, 1931–1941

OPEN THE ROAD TO WAR ON THE LIVING MAP →

Laos · The War Room — WW2, 1936–1945

OPEN WW2 ON THE LIVING MAP →

Laos · The Cold War, 1945–1991

OPEN THE COLD WAR ON THE LIVING MAP →