It has a land area of 236,800 square kilometers, a population of 7.58 million (as of January 2023), a capital of Vientiane, and a total of 17 provinces and one municipality. In 1353, the establishment of the Lancang Kingdom was the heyday of Laos' history. 1893, the Lancang Kingdom fell under the French protectorate, and in September 1940, it was occupied by Japan, and on October 12, 1945, it declared independence. 1946, France invaded again. 1954, in July, at the diplomatic conference of the five countries of the USSR, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and China, participating countries signed the Geneva Agreement on the Restoration of Peace in Indochina, which was adopted by the United Nations. In July 1954, at a five-nation diplomatic conference between the Soviet Union, the United States, Britain, France and China, the participating countries signed the Geneva Agreement on the Restoration of Peace in Indochina, and France withdrew its troops from Laos, which was soon replaced by the U.S.A. In 1962, the Geneva Agreement on Laos was signed, and Laos formed a coalition government with Prince Phouma as the Prime Minister and Prince Souphanouphon as the Deputy Prime Minister.On December 2, 1975, it was proclaimed to abolish the monarchical system and establish the Lao People's Democratic Republic. Laos is the only landlocked country in the northern part of the Central and Southern Peninsula and is one of the least developed countries in the world, with agriculture as its mainstay, a weak industrial and service base, and abundant water resources and valuable timber such as teak and pear. The Lao PDR is a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), a member of ASEAN, a member of the China-ASEAN FTA (10+1) and a member of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) cooperation, and has a declining gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of about US$19.7 billion in 2020, a year-on-year growth rate of 3.28 per cent, with a per capita of US$2,642.