Pakse (or Pakxe; French language: Paksé; Laotian language: ປາກເຊ 'mouth of the river') is the capital and most populous city of the southern Laotian province of Champasak. Located at the confluence of the Xe Don and , the district had a population of approximately 77,900 at the 2015 Laotian census.
History
The French established an administrative outpost in Pakse in 1905. The city was the capital of the Lao Kingdom of Champasak until 1946 when the Kingdom of Laos was formed. After the
Franco-Thai war the French ceded Preah Vihear Province, formerly belonging to the French protectorate of Cambodia, and the part of Champasak Province located on the other side of the
Mekong river from Pakse, which had been part of
French Laos, to
Thailand.
[Grabowsky, Volker. Regions and National Integration in Thailand 1892–1992. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1995.]
Demographics
In 1943, 62% of the population of Pakse were Vietnamese.
[Stuart-Fox, Martin (1997). A History of Laos. Cambridge University Press, p. 51. .] Today, Pakse is a centre of the
Laotian Chinese community, with a large number of businesses being owned by Laotians of Chinese ancestry.
Religion
The population is predominantly Buddhist and the city has temples. These include: Wat Luang, which was built in 1935 and is the largest temple in Pakse, and the Chinese temple Wat Sopsé.
Infrastructure
Health
There are 2 hospitals in the city.
Transportation
Pakse International Airport construction was completed on 2 November 2009.
Climate
Pakse has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen climate classification
Aw). Temperatures are higher in the months before the monsoon season (March–April). There is a
wet season (April–October) and
dry season (November–March).
Tourism
Visitors to Pakse's Champasak Province grew from 113,684 in 2006 to 493,180 in 2013.
