Bokeo province
Bokeo is a northern province of Laos. It is the smallest and second least populous province in the country. Bokeo province covers an area of, bordering Luang Namtha province to the northeast, Oudomxai province to the east, Xaignabouli province to the south; and Thailand to the southwest and Burma to the west and northwest.
The province has five districts: and the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone in Ton Pheung district. Bokeo's provincial capital is Houayxay on the Mekong River. The province is in the Golden Triangle, at the border of Myanmar and Thailand.
Geography
Bokeo province is the smallest of the country's provinces, covering an area of. Settlements include Houayxay, Mong Lin, Ban Thakate, Ban Meung Hong, Ban Ha Li Tai, Ban Khai San, Ban Nam Kueng, Ban Long and Ban Paung. The Nam Nga River flows through the province's Bokeo Nature Reserve, and is hemmed between the Mekong River bordering Thailand and Burma and is on the trade route with China. Don Sao is an island in Tonpheung District, which is connected to the mainland except during the rainy season.Protected areas
The Bokeo Nature Reserve was created as protection for the black crested gibbon, discovered in 1997, previously thought to be extinct. Elephants and wild water buffalo migrate through the reserve; bears and tigers are present. The protected area is characterized by a mixed deciduous forest and mountainous terrain. The area covered by the reserve is, including in Bokeo province and in Luang Namtha province where critically endangered species of western black crested gibbon is the primary protected species. According to a preliminary survey, the number of gibbons is substantial, particularly in and around the uninhabited Nam Kan River and its tributaries.The Gibbon Experience, funded by the French entrepreneur Jean Francois Reumaux, is a conservation project that came into existence after the indigenous black cheeked gibbon was discovered. The project has two components: one is four gibbon viewing huts, known as canopy huts in the forest reserve, meant to allow viewing of the black cheeked gibbons, and the second component is to experience the rain forest at canopy level. The Waterfall Gibbon Experience involves three hours of hiking to the location, in the reserve following the Nam Nga River.
Other than gibbons, other wildlife reported to live in the reserve are: great barbet ; grey-headed parakeet ; grey leaf monkeys ; crab-eating mongoose, tiger ; smaller cats; dhole, bears ; otters; sambar ; and wild cattle.
The 10,980 hectare Upper Lao Mekong Important Bird Area stretches across the provinces of Bokeo, Oudomxay, and Sainyabuli. It is at an elevation of. The topography features river channels, exposed beds, sandbars, sand and gravel bars, islands, rock outcrops, bushland, and braided streams. Confirmed avifauna include black-bellied tern, great cormorant, grey-headed lapwing, Jerdon's bush chat, brown-throated martin, river lapwing, small pratincole, and swan goose.
Administrative divisions
The province includes the following districts:| Map | Code | Name | Lao script | Population |
| - | - | - | - | |
| 5-01 | Houayxay | ເມືອງຫ້ວຍຊາຍ | 70,170 | |
| 5–02 | Ton Pheung | ເມືອງຕົ້ນເຜິ້ງ | 34,476 | |
| 5–03 | Meung | ເມືອງເມິງ | 14,506 | |
| 5–04 | Pha Oudom | ເມືອງຜາອຸດົມ | 40,909 | |
| 5–05 | Pak Tha | ເມືອງປາກທາ | 19,182 | |
| - | - | - | - |
History
Bokeo was named after the sapphires mined in Houayxay District. A stele dated 1458 is found in the Wat Jom Kao Manilat, a pagoda built in 1880 of teak in Shan architectural style. Fort Carnot, a historical artifact of the French colonial empire, was used by the Laotian Army post-independence as a barracks until its abandonment in the late 20th century.The province was created in 1983, when it was split off from Luang Namtha province. In 1992, Paktha and Pha Oudom Districts were reassigned from Oudomxay province. Houayxay town was a marked crossroad trading centre between Yunnan province of China and Thailand, particularly for Chinese goods.
Demographics
Its population was 179,243 in 2015, in 36 townships, and more than 400 villages. Most numerous ethnic groups are the Lanten, Hmong, Lahu, Yao, Akha, and Tai Lue peoples. The Lahu, a Tibeto-Burman speaking people who are part of ethnic group of northern Myanmar and Thailand inhabit this province.Economy
The provincial economy is dominated by the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone. In 2007, Kings Romans Group, owned by Chinese husband-and-wife pair Zhao Wei and Su Guiqin, entered into a 99-year lease for 10,000 hectares on the banks of the Mekong. The company was granted 3,000 of these hectares as a duty-free zone, which later became the SEZ. Since the SEZ was launched, Bokeo has gone from being one of the country's poorest provinces in to one of its best-off, registering the steepest reduction in poverty of any Laotian province since 2013.As gambling is illegal in China, and the SEZ is only a two-hour journey by road from the Chinese border crossing at Boten, casinos and hotels catering near-exclusively to a Chinese clientele were built. An industry involving trafficking in endangered animals has grown up around the Chinese tourist trade. In January 2018, the US Treasury Department announced sanctions against what it called Zhao's transnational criminal organisation, engaging in illicit activities, including human trafficking and child prostitution, drug trafficking and wildlife trafficking.
Houayxay, the capital city of the province, has most of the remainder of the province's economic activity. The province is one of the maize producing areas of Laos. Commercial mining for stones and gold is an economic activity. Ban Nam Khok and Ban Houi Sala, about and from Bokeo town respectively, are mining areas. Buhae Industrial Corp., which mines for sapphires, is a company operating in Houayxay District. Some of the ethnic Lantaen villages are noted for their production of traditional saa paper and other crafts.
Paa beuk, a catfish, the largest freshwater fish in the world, is found in the Mekong River. It grows to in length and can weigh up to 300 kg. It is a vaulable economic resource for local fishermen.