The Culture of Laos - Essay Example

Culture First of all, religious belief plays a decisive role within the scenario of Lao culture. To be specific, one can easily identify the influence of Buddhism in the culture of Laos. John Holt opines that, “When writing about Lao culture, however, one also has to take into account that most of the “ethnic Lao” population, and therefore Lao Buddhism and religious culture, actually resides outside of the current political boundaries of Laos” (9). At the same time, the different elements of culture, like art and literature, are deeply influenced by Theravada Buddhism.

Besides, South East Asian conventional way of life still prevails in Laos and the same influence their cultural aspects. The influence of traditional way of life is evident in their food habits. For instance, rice is generally considered as an important food grain in Laos. The people of Laos connect their food habits with their culture because the same is related to their daily life. Physical location One can see that this nation is located within the South Eastern side of Asia. Lydia Laube states that, “Laos is a landlocked country of 236,800 square kilometres” (1).

Some of the important nations in this region share their borders with this nation. To be specific, Laos shares its border with China, an important nation in this area. At the same time, Laos shares her boundary with Burma, a less dominant nation in this area. . This nation is well known for its conservative measures that protect its natural vegetation. Still, opium production in the border areas is an important problem to be dealt with utmost importance. Population The present population of this nation is above 6 million.

One must not misunderstand that most of the people live in big cities. Instead, most of the people live in the valley areas, especially within the banks of the most important river system in Laos, i.e. the River Mekong. Even the capital city (say, named as Vientiane prefecture) of this nation does not face population explosion because its population is below 800000. So one can see that population explosion is not an imminent threat for the people of Laos. Still, this low population is an advantage to the nation because this nation possesses the youngest population in the Asian continent.

Religious beliefs The most important religious belief in this nation is Buddhism, especially Theravada Buddhism. To be specific, around 70% of the people believe in Theravada Buddhism. Besides, Christianity is less influential among the people in this nation. Still, the core aspects of Hinduism indirectly influence their beliefs because Buddhism originated from this religion. Besides, some people in this nation practice Animism, i.e., the belief that provides importance to the natural phenomena.

On the other side, the constitution ensures religious freedom to the citizens. But the Communist/Socialist government provides less importance to religious practices in public. Ethnic groups One among the important ethnic groups in this nation is Lao Loum, who lives in the lowland region. To be specific, this ethnic group gained political and intellectual importance in the society. The origin of this ethnic group is