Subdivisions of Laos in Lao: provinces, capitals and districts (ເມືອງ)

How to read the Lao names and their transliteration

Each province name starts with ແຂວງ, kʰwǣṅ, and the capital follows it; ແຂວງ​ຈຳປາສັກ is Kʰwǣṅ Čāṃpāsâk, the province of Champasak, governed from Pakse, ປາກເຊ. Vientiane appears twice: once as a province, ແຂວງ​ວຽງຈັນ, with its capital at Phonhong, and once as the capital prefecture, ນະຄອນ​ຫລວງ​ວຽງຈັນ, Nakʰɔ̄n [h]lwaṅ Vẏaṅčân.

Lao writes no spaces between the words of a name, so the list keeps them together as the script does: ສະຫວັນນະເຂດ is one block, read Sa[h]vânnakʰēt. The transliteration spells out what the script encodes. A raised ʰ marks an aspirated consonant, as in Tʰā̀kʰǣk for Thakhek; ā, à, á and â mark vowel length and tone; ṃ stands for the vowel sign ຳ, so ຄຳ is Kʰāṃ.

The letter in square brackets needs a word of its own. In ຫ້ວຍຊາຍ, [h]Váysāy (Houayxay), and ໜອງບົກ, [h]Nɔ̄ṅbôk, the ຫ or the ligature ໜ is written but not spoken as an h; it changes the tone of the following consonant. The bracket keeps that information visible without suggesting a sound that is not there.

Several district names recur across provinces. Vientiane Province and Luang Prabang both have a ວຽງຄຳ, Vẏaṅkʰāṃ; Bolikhamxai and Houaphanh each have a ວຽງທອງ; and ໄຊເສດຖາ, Saisēttʰā, is a district of Vientiane Prefecture as well as of Attapeu.

What changed: Xaisomboun, new districts, new names

The first level has changed through one territory. Xaisomboun was formed in June 1994 as a special zone from parts of Bolikhamxai, Vientiane and Xiangkhouang, and ISO 3166-2 gave it the code LA-XN in 2002. The zone was dissolved on 13 January 2006 and its districts returned to the provinces around it. On 13 December 2013 Xaisomboun came back as a full province, the eighteenth unit of the country, which ISO lists as LA-XS.

Today's province has five districts: Anouvong, which holds the provincial seat and the town of Xaisomboun, Longchaeng, Longxan, Hom and Thathom. Hom and Thathom appear in the district table under Vientiane Province and Xiangkhouang, where they belonged between the two lives of Xaisomboun.

Below the provinces the count has grown from the 140 districts in the list to 148 in the national list. Among the additions are Kounkham in Khammouane, Xaichamphon in Bolikhamxai, Phonthong in Luang Prabang, Kone and Xon in Houaphanh, Xaisathan in Xaignabouli and Meun in Vientiane Province. Some districts have changed name: the capital district of Savannakhet, ຄັນທະບູລີ Kʰântʰabūlī in the list, is now Kaysone Phomvihane, and Bachiang in Champasak is listed as Bachiangchaleunsouk.