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Vientiane, capital of Laos: facts and figures
Vientiane is the capital of Laos. It has about 950,000 residents, which makes it the 120th most populous capital of the 172 in DailyGeo's atlas, and it sits 176 m above sea level. Its nearest neighbouring capital is Hanoi, 478 km away.
Key figures
| Figure | Value |
|---|---|
| Country | Laos |
| Continent | Asia |
| City population | 950,000 residents |
| World rank by population | 120th of 172 |
| Elevation | 176 m |
| Founded | 1560 |
| Time zone | Asia/Vientiane |
| Coordinates | 17.98° N, 102.63° E |
| Country population | 7,873,046 residents |
| Country GDP | 18.3 billion US dollars |
| GDP per capita | $2,325 |
| Life expectancy | 69.2 years |
| Internet users | 65.6 % |
| Big Mac price | not reported |
Climate through the year
Vientiane averages 23.0 °C from December to February and 27.3 °C from June to August. January is the coldest month of the year and April the warmest, and the city receives 1,933 mm of precipitation in an average year.
| Month | Mean temperature |
|---|---|
| January | 22.5 °C |
| February | 23.9 °C |
| March | 27.3 °C |
| April | 29.2 °C |
| May | 28.8 °C |
| June | 27.8 °C |
| July | 27.3 °C |
| August | 26.9 °C |
| September | 26.8 °C |
| October | 26.3 °C |
| November | 25.3 °C |
| December | 22.6 °C |
Nearest capitals
Distances are great-circle distances between city centres, which is what the Capitals game measures when it tells you how far a guess was from the answer. Hanoi is the closest capital to Vientiane.
| Capital | Country | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Hanoi | Vietnam | 478 km |
| Bangkok | Thailand | 522 km |
| Naypyidaw | Myanmar | 717 km |
| Phnom Penh | Cambodia | 755 km |
| Dhaka | Bangladesh | 1,424 km |
How to remember it
Reading a figure once rarely fixes it in memory. Attach Vientiane to a place and a number you already know: it is 478 km from Hanoi, and it is the 120th largest capital in the atlas. Then practise retrieving it. DailyGeo Capitals gives you one mystery capital a day with distance, direction, language and population clues, the memorising method explains the review schedule, and the capitals index lists all 172.
To see how Laos compares with every other country on figures like these, the richest countries by GDP per capita ranks them on geopolitix, a country-ranking game by the same maker as DailyGeo.
Sources
- City population and coordinates: DailyGeo's own game data, the same figures the Capitals game plays with. Population follows the urban area rather than the commune, which is why no density is quoted.
- Temperature and rainfall: ten-year means (2015 to 2024) computed from ERA5 reanalysis, retrieved through Open-Meteo. Hersbach, H., et al. (2020). The ERA5 global reanalysis. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.
- Elevation: terrain height at the city's coordinates in the Copernicus DEM, read through Open-Meteo rather than taken from a curated claim.
- Time zone: resolved from the same coordinates.
- Country figures: the World Bank, latest reported year for each series: Country GDP, GDP per capita, Country population, Life expectancy, Internet users.
- Founding date: Wikidata, earliest recorded founding claim.
- This capital elsewhere: Wikipedia, UNdata, Wikidata.
- Method and limits: How this data was collected explains how each figure was collected and what it does not cover.
The short answer
Vientiane is the capital of Laos, in Asia, with about 950,000 residents, averaging 23.0 °C from December to February and 27.3 °C from June to August.
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Play today's DailyGeo puzzleFrequently asked questions
What is the capital of Laos?
Vientiane is the capital of Laos. It has about 950,000 residents and lies in Asia.
How many people live in Vientiane?
About 950,000, which ranks Vientiane 120th of the 172 capitals in DailyGeo's atlas by city population.
What is the weather like in Vientiane?
Vientiane averages 23.0 °C from December to February and 27.3 °C from June to August, with 1,933 mm of precipitation a year. These are ten-year means from ERA5 reanalysis.
How expensive is Vientiane?
GDP per capita in the country is $2,325, the latest year the World Bank reports.
Keep learning
- Hanoi, capital of Vietnam: facts and figures
Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam: 8,100,000 residents, 24 m above sea level, 17.8 °C from December to February and 29.1 °C from June to August. Key figures and sources.
- Bangkok, capital of Thailand: facts and figures
Bangkok is the capital of Thailand: 10,700,000 residents, 7 m above sea level, 26.9 °C from December to February and 28.4 °C from June to August. Key figures and sources.
- Naypyidaw, capital of Myanmar: facts and figures
Naypyidaw is the capital of Myanmar: 920,000 residents, 154 m above sea level, 23.4 °C from December to February and 25.8 °C from June to August. Key figures and sources.
- Capitals of the world: the full list by continent
Every capital in DailyGeo's atlas, grouped by continent, with population, elevation and winter and summer temperatures, each linking to its own data page.