Sainyabuli Province
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| Sainyabuli ໄຊຍະບູລີ |
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|---|---|
| — Province — | |
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| Country | Laos |
| Capital city | Sainyabuli |
| Area | |
| • Total | 16,389 km2 (6,328 sq mi) |
| Population (2004) | |
| • Total | 382,200 |
| • Density | 23/km2 (60/sq mi) |
Sainyabuli (Lao ໄຊຍະບູລີ; French: Xaignabouli) is a province of Laos, located in the northwest of the country. Sainyabuli is the only Laotian province that is west of the Mekong River.
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[edit] Geography
The province is located in the northwest of the country, and covers all the area west of the Mekong river. It is bordered by Oudomxai Province to the north, Louangphabang and Vientiane Province to the east, and (from the south clockwise) the Thai provinces Loei, Phitsanulok, Uttaradit, Nan and Phayao. The province is quite mountainous with the Luang Prabang Range running roughly in a N/S direction and forming a natural border with the Thai highlands.[1] The Nam Phouy National Biodiversity Conservation Area, a protected area in Laos home to many wild elephants, is located in the forested mountains close to the Thai border.[2] The reservoir area of lower Nam Phoun dam is partly within the Nam Phouy NBCA.[3]
Sainyabuli Province is devoid of vehicle roads except for one north-south route extending from the provincial capital to the Thai border opposite Thailand's Loei Province. The province is rich in timber and lignite, and is considered the rice basket of norther Laos, since most other northern provinces are too mountainous to grow enough rice. Other important crops include maize, oranges, cotton, peanuts and sesame.
[edit] History
In 1904 the area of the province was ceded from Siam to the French Indochina colony. In 1941 it was annexed by Thailand again under the name Lan Chang Province, but returned to the pre-war status in 1946. The area is allegedly a heartland for military involvement in illegal timber trade.[4]
Since the Mekong isolated Sainuyabuli from other Laotian provinces with Hmong villages, the warfare during the Quiet War that affected other Hmong villages largely did not affect Sainyabuli. Most Hmong villages in Sainyabuli did not see any fighting.[5] Houaysouy was a Hmong village in Sainyabuli. It had no fighting during the Quiet War, and Vang Pao did not recruit any of its men. After the war, Anne Fadiman, author of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, said that the village was "tossed into the political melee along with the rest of the country." As they were Hmong the occupying Vietnamese soldiers regarded the residents of the village as traitors and for this reason the Vietnamese soldiers persecuted them.[5] In 1979 around 400 members of the Lee, Vang, Xiong, and Yang clans attempted to escape from the village.[6] The family of Lia Lee, the subject of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, originated from Houaysouy.[7]
[edit] Asian elephants in Sainyabuli
The Sainyabuli province is home to Laos’ majority of domesticated Asian elephants. Approximately 75% of the nation’s 560 domesticated elephants work in Sainyabuli.[8] Their main work duties are within the logging industry, which causes a loss in both wild and domestic elephant habitat.[9] The Sainyabuli province is also home to the annual,[10] organised in Hongsa by the Lao National Tourism Authority in partnership with Elefantasia, provincial and district authorities.
[edit] Administrative divisions
The province is made up of the following districts:
- Botene District (8-09)
- Hongsa District (8-03)
- Kenethao District (8-08)
- Khop District (8-02)
- Ngeun District (8-04)
- Parklai District (8-07)
- Phiang District (8-06)
- Thongmyxay District (8-10)
- Xayabury District (8-01)
- Xienghone District (8-05)
[edit] See also
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[edit] References
- ^ Laos, Le « Pays du million d’éléphants »
- ^ UNOSAT Map
- ^ Elefant-Asia
- ^ Walker, Andrew (1999). The legend of the golden boat: regulation, trade and traders in the borderlands of Laos, Thailand, China, and Burma. University of Hawaii Press. p. 179. ISBN 9780824822569. http://books.google.com/books?id=ZHK2AAAAIAAJ. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
- ^ a b Fadiman, Anne. "Flight." The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 1997. 155.
- ^ Fadiman, Anne. "Flight." The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 1997. 156.
- ^ Fadiman, Anne. "Foua and Nao Kao." The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 1997. 103.
- ^ Elefantasia 2008, Who we are, 22 April 2008, http://www.elefantasia.org/spip.php?rubrique1&lang=en
- ^ Norachack, B 2002, 'The care and management of domesticated Asian elephants in Lao PDR', in Baker I & Kashio, M (eds), Giants On Our Hands: Proceedings of the International Workshop on the domesticated Asian elephant,FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok, pp 172-180.
- ^ Elephant Festival
[edit] External links
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