老挝 (Lǎowō): Laos (country in Southeast Asia)

Meanings

Phonetic transliteration. 老 (old/venerable) is a common character, but 挝 is almost exclusively used in this country name.

Lǎowō de shǒudū shì Wànxiàng.

The capital of Laos is Vientiane.

usage

万象 (Wànxiàng, Vientiane) literally means 'ten thousand elephants' — matching the old name 'Land of a Million Elephants.'

老 lǎo

挝 wō