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Phou Khao Khouay National Park | |
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Phou Khao Khuay National Park | |
IUCN category VI (protected area with sustainable use of natural resources) [1] | |
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Location | Xaisomboun, Vientiane, and Bolikhamsai provinces, Laos |
Nearest city | Vientiane |
Coordinates | 18°22′55″N103°5′59″E / 18.38194°N 103.09972°E |
Area | 1,920 km2 (740 sq mi) |
Designation | National |
Designated | 1993 National Biodiversity Conservation Area; 2021 National Park |
Governing body | Department of Forestry (DOF), Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) |
Phou Khao Khouay National Park is a protected area in Laos. [1] It is located 40 kilometres (25 mi) northeast of Vientiane. It covers an area of 1920 km2, [2] extending into Xaisomboun Province, Vientiane Prefecture, Vientiane Province, and Bolikhamsai Province. It was established on 29 October 1993 as Phou Khao Khouay National Biodiversity Conservation Area (or Phou Khao Khouay National Protected Area), [3] and redesignated a national park in 2021. [1] It includes a large stretch of mountain range with sandstone cliffs, river gorges and three large rivers with tributaries which flow into the Mekong River. [3]
It has mountainous topography with elevation varying from 200 m – 1761 m. The area emerged from "uplifting and exposure of the underlying sedimentary (Indosinias schist-clay-sandstone) complex". Sandstones are also seen spread in layers. Extensive flat uplands with sandstones with hardly any soil cover are also part of the topography of the park.
The park has monsoonal climate with recorded annual rainfall of 1,936.1 mm (with higher reaches recording more rainfall). The mean annual temperature is 26.6 °C with recorded the mean maximum of 31.6 °C and the mean minimum temperature of 21.5 °C.
The forests are evergreen, Shorea mixed deciduous forest, dry dipterocarp and pine type; particularly coniferous forest, of monospecific stands of Pinus latteri , Fokienia hodgsinsii , bamboo, and fire-climax grasslands.
Animals found in the park include elephants, tigers, bears, 13 pairs of white-cheeked gibbons, langurs, reptiles, amphibians and birds. Sightings of the green peafowl have been reported near Ban Nakhay and Ban Nakhan Thoung, although it was generally once considered extinct in Laos. Conservation management has increased its population.
Laos is a country in and the only landlocked nation in mainland Southeast Asia, northeast of Thailand and west of Vietnam. It covers approximately 236,800 square kilometers in the center of the Southeast Asian peninsula and it is surrounded by Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, the People's Republic of China, Thailand, and Vietnam.
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The Khao Kho National park is located in Lom Kao, Lom Sak, Khao Kho and Mueang Phetchabun districts in Thailand's Phetchabun province. The national park covers an area of 483 square kilometres (186 sq mi) and was established in 2012.
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Bolikhamsai is a province of Laos. Pakxan, Thaphabat, Pakkading, Borikhane, Viengthong, and Khamkeut are its districts and Pakxan is its capital city. The province is the site of the Nam Theun 2 Dam, the country's largest hydroelectric project.
Vientiane province is a province of Laos in the country's northwest. As of 2015 the province had a population of 419,090. Vientiane province covers an area of 15,610 square kilometres (6,030 sq mi) composed of 11 districts. The principal towns are Vang Vieng and Muang Phôn-Hông.
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Luang Namtha is a province of Laos in the country's north. From 1966 to 1976 it formed, together with Bokeo, the province of Houakhong. Luang Namtha province covers an area of 9,325 square kilometres (3,600 sq mi). Its provincial capital is Luang Namtha. The province borders Yunnan, China to the north, Oudomxai province to the east and southeast, Bokeo province to the southwest, and Shan State, Myanmar to the northwest.
Vientiane is a prefecture of Laos, in the northwest Laos. The national capital, Vientiane, is in the prefecture. The prefecture was created in 1989, when it was split off from Vientiane province.
Champasak is a province in southwestern Laos, near the borders with Thailand and Cambodia. It is one of the three principalities that succeeded the Lao kingdom of Lan Xang. As of the 2015 census, it had a population of 694,023. The capital is Pakse, but the province takes its name from Champasak, the former capital of the Kingdom of Champasak.
Xaisomboun is a mountainous province in central Laos, between Vientiane province and Xiangkhouang province. The province covers an area of 8,300 square kilometres (3,200 sq mi) and had a population of 85,168 in 2015. Xaisomboun town in Anouvong District is the economic centre. There are extensive copper and gold mining operations nearby at Sana Somboun.
Protected areas in Laos include:
The Phou Khao Khouay leaf-nosed bat is a species of bat found in Laos and Vietnam. It was described as a new species in 2006. It is considered vulnerable to extinction by the IUCN.
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The Northern Khorat Plateau moist deciduous forests ecoregion covers a small area on the border between northeastern Thailand and Laos, in the transition zone between the drier Khorat Plateau to the south and the wetter Annamite Range and Luang Prabang Range mountains to the north. Much of the ecoregion has been converted to agriculture along the floodplain of the middle course of the Mekong River.
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