Lao speaking countries
Lao is the official language in Laos and is spoken in Thailand as monther tongue by a part of the population. The Lao language (native name: ພາສາລາວ) has its roots in the Tai–Kadai language family.With 16.75 million native speakers, Lao has the highest prevalence in Thailand. As a percentage of the total population, the largest share of around 67 percent is in Laos. A total of about 21.7 million people worldwide speak Lao as their mother tongue.
| Country | Region | Official language | Distribution | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thailand | Southeast Asia | no | 23.4 % | 16,755,000 |
| Laos | Southeast Asia | yes | 67.2 % | 4,990,000 |
Unless otherwise described in the text, this page is about native speakers — not the total number of speakers. How many people understand or speak Lao as a subsequently learned language is not the subject of this page. Countries where native speakers make up only a few thousand, or even a few hundred people, or countries with a percentage well below 1% are unlikely to be listed here.