LAOS 1:750,000 (MAP ITMB)

After a number of years, ITMB is pleased to re-introduce Laos as a country map instead of as a map shared with Cambodia at a less generous scale. ITMB actually first published map of this country in 1996, so this map is the second edition of Laos for bibliographic purposes, but none of our staff except myself were around in those days, so they accidently thought this was our first effort. Sorry about that, libraries. For those who care, the original ISBN was 0921463928 and at that time, Lan was just arriving in Canada to take charge of our cartographic production.

Anyway, we’re very pleased to introduce you to this new, double-sided, map at a great scale, with fantastic detail. To me, the north side is the most interesting, covering the portion of Laos from Vientiane, the capital, to the Chinese border. Detailed inset maps of Vientiane and Louang Prabang, the temple city, are included on this side, as are bits of both Thailand and Vietnam. The south portion fills the other side of the sheet, including a goodly portion of Vietnam, showing all border crossings. Much of Thailand has had to be obscured, unfortunately, to make room for the place names index, but the immediate border areas are shown, including the rail line south from Vientiane. In an interesting departure from previous ITMB maps, the back cover consists of a detailed inset map of Vientiane at 1:16,000 scale, making it easy to use in the city without having to unfold the map sheet. Laos, as a country, has an exceptionally rich history, with the exotic Plain of Jars, the enormous temples, and in its involvement in the Vietnam War. This is a country well worth a visit and now it has a map enticing everyone to visit!