Laos (, , or Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved November 08, 2007, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/laos), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in southeast Asia, bordered by Burma (Myanmar) and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south, and Thailand to the west. Laos traces its history to the Kingdom of Lan Xang or Land of a Million Elephants, which existed from the fourteenth to the eighteenth century as a vassal of Siam. After a period as a French protectorate, it gained independence in 1949. A long civil war ended officially when the communist Pathet Lao movement came to power in 1975 but the fighting between factions continued for several years. Private enterprise has increased since the late 1990s when economic reforms including rapid business licensing were introduced. Laos is still ranked among th