1960 Pictorial Map of Vientiane, Laos

This is a c. 1960 pictorial map of Vientiane, Laos. Printed in English and Lao (with French and Lao street names), over 108 locations across the city are illustrated in profile and numerically identified. These correspond with a bilingual guide situated in the bottom left naming temples, markets, schools, and government buildings. A dragon marks the Air Vietnam office, while a winged horse identifies the office of Air Laos. Several embassies are identified, among them the American Embassy, the Thai Embassy, and the Indian and Vietnamese Legations. The offices of the International Control Commission (ICC) are illustrated, with a maple leaf marking the Canadian office. The ICC was created to monitor and observe the ceasefires in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam following the 1954 Geneva Accords. It existed until 1973 when it was replaced by the International Commission for Control and Supervision.

Dating the Map

We arrived at the c. 1960 date for this map by researching many of the entities indexed in the guide. In the end we narrowed this map's publication to, roughly, 1955 - 1962. The American Embassy was opened in 1955, providing one bookend. The other date is provided by the United States Operations Mission (USOM) Headquarters. USOM began operating in Vientiane in December 1954 and continued until 1962, when it was reorganized into USAID.

Publication History and Census

This map was created and published by an unknown entity c. 1960. It is the only known surviving example.