ISO 3166-2:LA is the entry for Laos

Laos

Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...

 in ISO 3166-2

ISO 3166-2

ISO 3166-2 is part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization , and defines codes for the names of the principal subdivisions of all countries coded in ISO 3166-1...

, part of the ISO 3166

ISO 3166

ISO 3166 is a standard published by the International Organization for Standardization . It defines codes for the names of countries, dependent territories, special areas of geographical interest, and their principal subdivisions . The official name of the standard is Codes for the representation...

 standard

Standardization

Standardization is the process of developing and implementing technical standards.The goals of standardization can be to help with independence of single suppliers , compatibility, interoperability, safety, repeatability, or quality....

 published by the International Organization for Standardization

International Organization for Standardization

The International Organization for Standardization , widely known as ISO, is an international standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national standards organizations. Founded on February 23, 1947, the organization promulgates worldwide proprietary, industrial and commercial...

 (ISO), which defines code

Code

A code is a rule for converting a piece of information into another form or representation , not necessarily of the same type....

s for the names of the principal subdivisions (e.g., province

Province

A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Etymology:The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to...

s or states) of all countries

Country

A country is a region legally identified as a distinct entity in political geography. A country may be an independent sovereign state or one that is occupied by another state, as a non-sovereign or formerly sovereign political division, or a geographic region associated with a previously...

 coded in ISO 3166-1

ISO 3166-1

ISO 3166-1 is part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization , and defines codes for the names of countries, dependent territories, and special areas of geographical interest. The official name of the standard is Codes for the representation of names...

.

Currently for Laos, ISO 3166-2 codes are defined for 1 prefecture, 16 provinces, and 1 special zone

Provinces of Laos

Laos is divided into provinces and 1 prefecture plus the Vientiane Capital city municipality...

. The special zone Xaisômboun

Xaisomboun

Xaisomboun was a special zone of Laos, located in the north of the country, near the capital Vientiane. The special zone was created 1994 with area split off from the provinces Vientiane, and Xiangkhoang...

, which is listed, was merged back into Vientiane Province and Xiangkhouang Province in 2006.

Each code consists of two parts, separated by a hyphen. The first part is LA, the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2

ISO 3166-1 alpha-2

ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes are two-letter country codes defined in ISO 3166-1, part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization , to represent countries, dependent territories, and special areas of geographical interest...

 code of Laos. The second part is two letters.

Current codes

Subdivision names are listed as in the ISO 3166-2 standard published by the ISO 3166 Maintenance Agency (ISO 3166/MA).

Click on the button in the header to sort each column.

Code	Subdivision name	Subdivision category
LA-VT	Vientiane	prefecture
LA-AT	Attapu [Attopeu]	province
LA-BK	Bokèo	province
LA-BL	Bolikhamxai [Borikhane]	province
LA-CH	Champasak [Champassak]	province
LA-HO	Houaphan	province
LA-KH	Khammouan	province
LA-LM	Louang Namtha	province
LA-LP	Louangphabang [Louang Prabang]	province
LA-OU	Oudômxai Oudomxai Province Oudomxay or Oudômxai is a province of Laos, located in the northwest of the country. The province capital is Muang Xai.-History:The province was created in 1976, when it was split off from Luang Prabang...  [Oudomsai]	province
LA-PH	Phôngsali [Phong Saly]	province
LA-SL	Salavan [Saravane]	province
LA-SV	Savannakhét	province
LA-VI	Vientiane	province
LA-XA	Xaignabouli	province
LA-XE	[Sékong]	province
LA-XI	Xiangkhoang [Xieng Khouang]	province
LA-XN	Xaisômboun Xaisomboun Xaisomboun was a special zone of Laos, located in the north of the country, near the capital Vientiane. The special zone was created 1994 with area split off from the provinces Vientiane, and Xiangkhoang...	special zone

Changes

The following changes to the entry have been announced in newsletters by the ISO 3166/MA since the first publication of ISO 3166-2 in 1998:

Newsletter	Date issued	Description of change in newsletter	Code/Subdivision change
		One new province added. One new reference for the list source. One code source cancelled. Information on romanization system updated. Origin of names in brackets given	Subdivisions added: LA-XN Xaisômboun Xaisomboun Xaisomboun was a special zone of Laos, located in the north of the country, near the capital Vientiane. The special zone was created 1994 with area split off from the provinces Vientiane, and Xiangkhoang...
		Error correction: Generic name of one subdivision changed to "special zone"

See also

• Subdivisions of Laos
• FIPS region codes of Laos

External links

• Provinces of Laos, Statoids.com