Map - Vientiane Province (Vientiane Province)

Vientiane province (ແຂວງວຽງຈັນ) 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 km2 composed of 11 districts. The principal towns are Vang Vieng and Muang Phôn-Hông.

In the mid-16th century, Vientiane, under King Setthathirat's rule, became prosperous. It became a major centre of Buddhist teachings and many temples were built. In 1989, the province was split into two halves: Vientiane prefecture containing the city Vientiane itself, and the remainder of the province.

The Laotian epic, the Phra Lak Phra Lam, claims that Prince Thattaradtha founded the city when he left the legendary Lao kingdom of Muong Inthapatha Maha Nakhone because he was denied the throne in favor of his younger brother. Thattaradtha founded a city called Maha Thani Si Phan Phao on the west bank of the Mekong River; this city was said to have later become today's Udon Thani, Thailand. One day, a seven-headed Naga told Thattaradtha to start a new city on the east bank of the river opposite Maha Thani Si Phan Phao. The prince called this city Chanthabuly Si Sattanakhanahud, which was said to be the predecessor of modern Vientiane.

Contrary to the Phra Lak Phra Ram, most historians believe that the city of Vientiane was an early Khmer settlement centered around a Hindu temple, which the Pha That Luang would later replace. Khmer princes ruling Say Fong were known to have made pilgrimages to the shrine near Vientiane. In the 11th and 12th centuries, the time when the Lao and Thai people are believed to have entered Southeast Asia from Southern China, the few remaining Khmer in the area were either killed, removed, or assimilated into the Lao civilization, which would soon populate the area.

In 1354, when Fa Ngum founded the kingdom of Lan Xang, Vientiane became an important administrative city, even though it was not made the capital. King Setthathirath established it as the capital of Lan Xang in 1563, to avoid a Burmese invasion. For the following several centuries Vientiane's position was unstable: at times it was strong and a regional centre, but many times it came under the control of Vietnam, Burma, or Siam.

When Lan Xang fell apart in 1707, it became an independent Kingdom of Vientiane. In 1779, it was conquered by the Siamese general Phraya Chakri and made a vassal of Siam. When King Anouvong tried to establish an independent kingdom, and led an unsuccessful rebellion, it was obliterated by Siamese armies in 1827. The city was burned to the ground and was looted of nearly all Lao artifacts, including Buddha statues and people. The Siamese routed Anouvong and razed the city leaving only the Wat Si Saket in good shape, shifting all people. Vientiane was in great disrepair, depopulated, and disappearing into the forest, when the French arrived in 1867. It eventually passed to French rule in 1893. It became the capital of the French protectorate of Laos in 1899. The French rebuilt the city and rebuilt or repaired Buddhist temples such as Pha That Luang, Haw Phra Kaew, and left many colonial buildings behind. By a decree signed in 1900 by Governor-General Paul Doumer, the province was divided into four muang: Borikan, Patchoum, Tourakom, and Vientiane. Two years earlier, men from these four muang were responsible for building a house for the first administrator of Vientiane, Pierre Morin.

During World War II, Vientiane fell with little resistance and was occupied by Japanese forces, under the command of Sako Masanori. On 9 March 1945 French paratroopers arrived, and "liberated" Vientiane on 24 April 1945.

As the Laotian Civil War broke out between the Royal Lao Government and the Pathet Lao, Vientiane became unstable. In August 1960, Kong Le seized the capital and insisted that Souvanna Phouma, become prime minister. In mid-December, General Phoumi then seized the capital, overthrew the Phouma Government, and installed Boun Oum as prime minister. In mid-1975, Pathet Lao troops moved towards the city and US personnel began evacuating the capital. On 23 August 1975, a contingent of 50 Pathet Lao women, symbolically "liberated" the city. On 2 December 1975, the communist party of the Pathet Lao took over Vientiane and defeated the Kingdom of Laos which ended the Laotian Civil War, but the ongoing Insurgency in Laos began in the jungle, with the Pathet Lao fighting the Hmongs and royalists in-exile.

In the 1950s and 1960s during the French-Indo China War and Vietnam War, thousands of refugees arrived in the province. By 1963, some 128,000 at arrived, especially Hmong people from Xiengkhouang province. Some 150,000 more arrived in the early-1970s. Many of the refugees arrived were addicted to opium. In 1989, the province was split into two parts, Vientiane prefecture, which contains the capital, Vientiane, and the remaining area, Vientiane province.

In late-2006, 13 ethnic Khmu Christians were arrested in the village of Khon Kean. One was released in April 2007, and on 16 May, nine others were released after being held at a police facility in Hin Heup.