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Vientiane

[vyen-tyahn]
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noun
  1. a city in and the capital of Laos, on the Mekong River, in the NW part.
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Laos

[lah-ohs, lous, ley-os; French la-aws]
noun
  1. a country in SE Asia: formerly part of French Indochina. 91,500 sq. mi. (236,985 sq. km). Capital: Vientiane.
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Related formspro-La·os, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

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British Dictionary definitions for vientiane

Vientiane

Viangchan (wiːɛŋtæn)

noun
  1. the administrative capital of Laos, in the south near the border with Thailand: capital of the kingdom of Vientiane from 1707 until taken by the Thais in 1827. Pop: 776 000 (2005 est)
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Laos

noun
  1. a republic in SE Asia: first united as the kingdom of Lan Xang ("million elephants") in 1353, after being a province of the Khmer Empire for about four centuries; made part of French Indochina in 1893 and gained independence in 1949; became a republic in 1975. It is generally forested and mountainous, with the Mekong River running almost the whole length of the W border. Official language: Laotian. Religion: Buddhist majority, tribal religions. Currency: kip. Capital: Vientiane. Pop: 6 695 166 (2013 est). Area: 236 800 sq km (91 429 sq miles)Official name: People's Democratic Republic of Laos
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for vientiane

Laos

Southeast Asian land, from the name of legendary founder Lao. Related: Laotian.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
vientiane in Culture

Laos

[(lows, lah-ohs)]

Mountainous, landlocked republic in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma to the northwest, China to the northeast, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south, and Thailand to the west. Its capital and largest city is Vientiane.

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Note

Part of French Indochina from 1893 to 1949, it was granted full sovereignty in 1954.

Note

Civil war among communist and noncommunist factions in the 1950s and 1960s attracted extensive covert aid from the Soviet Union, China, and the United States.

Note

During the Vietnam War, Vietnamese communists established the Ho Chi Minh Trail through the remote mountains of Laos to channel troops and supplies from North Vietnam to South Vietnam.

Note

The communist Pathet Lao, with long-standing close ties to the Vietnamese communists, have been in power since 1975.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.