The Annamite Range or the Annamese Mountains ( French : Chaîne annamitique ; Lao : ພູ ຫລວງ Phou Luang ; Vietnamese : Dãy (núi) Trường Sơn ) is a major mountain range of eastern Indochina , extending approximately 1,100 km (680 mi) through Laos , Vietnam , and a small area in northeast Cambodia .
9-599: The highest points of the range are the 2,819 m (9,249 ft)-high Phou Bia , the 2,720 m (8,920 ft)-high Phu Xai Lai Leng and the 2,598 m (8,524 ft)-high Ngọc Linh (Ngoc Pan). The latter is located at the northwestern edge of the Triassic Kontum Massif in central Vietnam. Important mountain passes are the Nape Pass and the Mụ Giạ Pass . The Annamite Range runs parallel to
18-551: A non-Lao person for at least 30 years. In 2021, Xaisomboun Province officials announced the development of Phou Bia Mountain and Tchao Anouvong Cave as two "sustainable development tourism sites", valued at some US$ 500 million. The development will center especially on Tchao Anouvong Cave, Phou Houa Xang Village, in Anouvong District , Xaisomboun province, under a 99-year concession. Raven Forward Air Controllers Too Many Requests If you report this error to
27-576: Is the Vietnamese pronunciation and terminology of Chinese : 安南 ( pinyin : Ān Nán ), meaning "the tranquil south" referring to Vietnam. The French adopted the word and used "Annamese" or "Annamite" to refer to the Vietnamese. The Annamite mountains form an important tropical seasonal forest global ecoregion , the Annamite Range Moist Forests Ecoregion, which consists of two terrestrial ecoregions ,
36-879: The Southern Annamites montane rain forests and the Northern Annamites rain forests . The range is home to rare creatures such as the recently discovered Annamite rabbit and the antelope-like saola , the Douc langur , the large gaur , the Chinese pangolin , and formerly the Indochinese tiger . Most of the highlands like the Annamite Range and the Central Highlands were populated by ethnic minorities who were not Vietnamese during
45-634: The Mekong basin, west of the divide, although most of Houaphan Province and a portion of Xiangkhoang Province (where the famous Plain of Jars is located) lie east of the divide. Most of Vietnam lies east of the divide, although Vietnam's Tây Nguyên (Central Highlands) region lies west of the divide, in the Mekong basin. The mountain range is also referred to variously as the Annamese Range , Annamese Mountains , Annamese Cordillera , Annamite Mountains and Annamite Cordillera . The name "Annam"
54-731: The Vietnamese coast, in a gentle curve which divides the basin of the Mekong River from Vietnam's narrow coastal plain along the South China Sea . Most of the crests are on the Laotian side. The eastern slope of the range rises steeply from the plain, drained by numerous short rivers. The western slope is more gentle, forming significant plateaus before descending to the banks of the Mekong. The range itself has three main plateaus, from north to south: Phouane Plateau, Nakai Plateau and Bolaven Plateau . Laos lies mostly within
63-450: The beginning of the 20th century. The demographics were drastically transformed with the colonization of 6 million settlers from 1976 to the 1990s, which led to ethnic Vietnamese Kinh outnumbering the native ethnic groups in the highlands. Phou Bia Phou Bia ( Lao : ພູເບັ້ຍ , pronounced [pʰúː bîa] ) is the highest mountain in Laos . It is in the Annamese Range , at
72-577: The mountain. The area is remote, covered with jungle, and has been used by Hmong guerrilla soldiers. In the 1970s, c. 60,000 Hmong supporting FAC operations took refuge at the Phou Bia massif. There have been reports of smaller Hmong hideouts in the area as recently as 2006. Phou Bia rises in a restricted military area near the abandoned Long Chen air base, and for this reason sees few outside visitors. Unexploded ordnance further complicates access. As of July 2008, there had been no known ascent by
81-651: The southern limit of the Xiangkhoang Plateau in Xaisomboun Province . Owing to its elevation—2,819 m (9,249 ft), the highest terrestrial point in Laos, the climate is cold and the area around the mountain is mostly cloudy. Although no snow has been reported for decades, it is claimed that as late as the first years of the 20th century, snow fell occasionally on its summit. On 10 April 1970, an Air America C-130A aircraft crashed into
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