Modern-day Laos traces its roots back to the ancient Lao kingdom of Lan Xang. From the late 18th century until the late 19th century, Laos was under the control of Siam (present-day Thailand) before becoming part of French Indochina. In 1975, the communist Pathet Lao movement took control of the government. A gradual, limited return to private enterprise and the liberalization of foreign investment laws began in 1988. CIA’s World Factbook is a public resource providing basic information on 258 w

The lands that today comprise Croatia were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the close of World War I. In 1918, the Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes formed a kingdom known after 1929 as Yugoslavia. Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, although it took four years of sporadic but often bitter fighting to expel Yugoslav forces. CIA’s World Factbook is a public resource providing basic intelligence on 258 world entities, including country profiles and one-page factsheets. Le

27K views · 1K reactions | The richness of the annual Nile River...