Phonsavan

File:Photo 2020 - Phonesavan seen from the sky.jpg

The recorded history of Xiangkhouang is interlinked with the Tai Phuan. The Tai Phuan or Phuan people are a Buddhist Tai-Lao ethnic group that migrated to Laos from southern China and by the 13th century had formed the independent principality of Muang Phuan at the Plain of Jars, with Xiangkhouang (contemporary Muang Khoun) as the capital. In the 14th century, Muang Phuan was incorporated into the Lan Xang kingdom under King Fa Ngum.

The Phuan population were able to retain a degree of autonomy, while they had to pay tax and tribute to Lan Xang. The capital was dotted with temples in a Xiangkhouang style, with lower roofs and a characteristic "waist" at the foundation. In 1930, Le Boulanger described it as "a large and beautiful city, protected by wide moats and forts occupying the surrounding hills; and the opulence of the sixty-two pagodas and their stupas, of which the flanks concealed treasures, obtained the capital a fame that spread fear wide and far."

After the Kingdom of Siam extended control to territories east of the Mekong in the 1770s, Muang Phuan became a Siamese vassal state and maintained tributary relations with Đại Việt. To exert greater control of the lands and people of Muang Phuan, the Siamese launched three separate campaigns (1777–1779, 1834–1836, and 1875–1876) to resettle parts of the Phuan population to the south into regions under Siamese control. Subsequent invasions by Haw marauders and splinter groups of ex-Taiping Rebellion revolutionaries from southern China plundered Luang Prabang and Xiangkhouang in the 1870s, and desecrated and destroyed the temples of the Phuan region.

The Franco-Siamese treaties of the 1890s placed Xiangkhouang under colonial rule as part of French Indochina until after World War II. The French used Xiangkhouang as their provincial capital. Some ruined colonial public buildings remain, such as the governor's residence, church, and the French school.Provincial Tourism Department Xiangkhouang, A Guide to Xieng Khouang{{cite book|last=Stuart-Fox|first=Martin|title=The Lao Kingdom of Lān Xāng: Rise and Decline|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GnxuAAAAMAAJ|year=1998|publisher=White Lotus Press|isbn=978-974-8434-33-9}}

During the Laotian Civil War, Xiangkhouang was the scene of ground battles and aerial bombardment due to its strategic importance. Houaphanh and Xiangkhouang provinces were strongholds of Pathet Lao forces and their North Vietnamese allies. There is the covert air campaign conducted by the United States Air Force to neutralize communist forces or to drop unused ordnance after returning from missions in Vietnam.

Phonsavan was built after the fighting ended in 1975 to replace the former provincial capital, Muang Khoun (old Xiang Khouang), which was destroyed by wartime bombing and partially rebuilt since.{{cite journal |last1=Ciochon |first1=Russell L. |title=Laos Plain of Jars in the Wake of American Bombing |journal=The Asia-Pacific Journal |date=15 June 2009 |volume=24-3-09 |url=https://apjjf.org/-Russell-Ciochon/3171/article.html |access-date=16 May 2020}}

Image:Phakeo-JarSite-b.JPG|Jars, Ban Phakeo

Image:Jarssite3.jpg|Jar Site 3

Image:WatPiawat.JPG| Ruins, Wat Phia Wat (16th century)

Phonsavan has humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa) tempered by its elevation (1,100 m). Average June temperature is 23.6 °C, average December (the coldest month) temperature is 14.8 °C.

{{Weather box

|width = auto

|location = Phonsavan, elevation {{convert|1094|m|ft|abbr=on}}, (1996–2005)

|metric first = Yes

|single line = Yes

|Jan record high C = 30.3

|Feb record high C = 32.2

|Mar record high C = 33.2

|Apr record high C = 35.0

|May record high C = 34.4

|Jun record high C = 34.3

|Jul record high C = 32.4

|Aug record high C = 32.1

|Sep record high C = 32.4

|Oct record high C = 32.0

|Nov record high C = 32.8

|Dec record high C = 30.0

|year record high C =

|Jan high C = 23.3

|Feb high C = 25.7

|Mar high C = 28.1

|Apr high C = 28.7

|May high C = 27.1

|Jun high C = 27.2

|Jul high C = 26.7

|Aug high C = 26.5

|Sep high C = 26.6

|Oct high C = 25.4

|Nov high C = 23.8

|Dec high C = 21.7

|year high C =

|Jan low C = 8.8

|Feb low C = 10.7

|Mar low C = 14.0

|Apr low C = 16.6

|May low C = 19.0

|Jun low C = 20.0

|Jul low C = 19.7

|Aug low C = 19.4

|Sep low C = 17.8

|Oct low C = 15.4

|Nov low C = 11.6

|Dec low C = 7.8

|year low C =

|Jan record low C = -2.2

|Feb record low C = 1.7

|Mar record low C = 3.1

|Apr record low C = 7.3

|May record low C = 11.1

|Jun record low C = 13.7

|Jul record low C = 16.1

|Aug record low C = 15.1

|Sep record low C = 9.8

|Oct record low C = 2.6

|Nov record low C = 0.6

|Dec record low C = -1.0

|year record low C =

|precipitation colour= green

|Jan precipitation mm = 8.7

|Feb precipitation mm = 15.8

|Mar precipitation mm = 56.9

|Apr precipitation mm = 145.2

|May precipitation mm = 193.6

|Jun precipitation mm = 193.0

|Jul precipitation mm = 276.8

|Aug precipitation mm = 300.9

|Sep precipitation mm = 158.2

|Oct precipitation mm = 63.6

|Nov precipitation mm = 23.1

|Dec precipitation mm = 8.4

|year precipitation mm =

|Jan rain days = 2

|Feb rain days = 3

|Mar rain days = 5

|Apr rain days = 13

|May rain days = 18

|Jun rain days = 20

|Jul rain days = 22

|Aug rain days = 22

|Sep rain days = 16

|Oct rain days = 9

|Nov rain days = 4

|Dec rain days = 2

|source 1 = World Meteorological Organization

{{cite web

| title = World Weather Information Service - Xiengkhuang

| url = http://worldweather.wmo.int/121/c01502.htm

| publisher = World Meteorological Organization

| access-date = June 10, 2012}}

|date=June 2012

|source 2 =NOAA (extremes),{{cite web

| url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=global-summary-of-the-day&stations=48935099999&startDate=1700-01-01&endDate=2023-12-31&dataTypes=MAX,MIN,PRCP

| title = Global Surface Summary of the Day - GSOD

| publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

| accessdate = January 26, 2023

}} The Yearbook of Indochina (1932-1940)[https://seadelt.net/Asset/Source/Document_ID-247_No-01.PDF The Yearbook of Indochina (1932-1933)][https://seadelt.net/Asset/Source/Document_ID-248_No-01.pdf The Yearbook of Indochina (1934-1936)][https://odyssee.univ-amu.fr/files/original/2/791/ANOM_A1017_Annuaire-stat-Indochine_Vol-7_1936-1937.pdf The Yearbook of Indochina (1936-1937)][https://seadelt.net/Asset/Source/Document_ID-249_No-01.pdf The Yearbook of Indochina (1937-1938)][https://seadelt.net/Asset/Source/Document_ID-250_No-01.pdf The Yearbook of Indochina (1939-1940)]}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{commons category-inline|Phonsavan}}
• {{wikivoyage inline|Phonsavan}}
• [http://www.ecotourismlaos.com/ Eco-tourism Laos]

{{Districts of North Laos}}

Category:Populated places in Xiangkhouang Province

Category:Socialist planned cities