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Two Lao girls pray before the That Luang Stupa in Vientiane, Laos, on Nov. 3, 2017. Laos is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. In the central part of the country, the capital Vientiane is located on the alluvial plain on the Mekong River, suitable for fishing and plantation. The Lan Xang Kingdom, the first unified multi-ethnic nation in the history of Laos, moved its capital to Vientiane in the mid-16th century, and Vientiane gradually prospered. (Photo by Alan Liu/Xinhua)