Isan is the northeast region of Thailand. It is located on the Khorat Plateau, bordered by the Mekong River to the north and east, and by Cambodia to the south; to the west it is separated from Northern and Central Thailand by the Phetchabun mountain range. Agriculture is the main economic activity, but due to the poor conditions output trails that of other parts of the country, and this is Thailand's poorest region. The main language of the region is Isan (which is similar to Lao), but Thai is also widespread and Khmer is spoken in the south. Most of the population is of Lao origin, but the region's incorporation into the modern Thai state has been largely successful. Prominent aspects of Isan culture include mor lam music, muay Thai boxing and the food, in which sticky rice and chillies are prominent.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isan

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1885: King Leopold II of Belgium established the Congo Free State as his personal possession in Africa. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_II_of_Belgium)

1859: Prince Alexander John Cuza of Wallachia and Moldavia merged his two principalities to form Romania. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Romania)

1924: Hourly Greenwich Time Signals from the Royal Greenwich Observatory were first broadcast by the BBC. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwich_Time_Signal)

1988: The first Red Nose Day raised £15 million in the United Kingdom for charity. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comic_Relief)

2004: Rebels from the Revolutionary Artibonite Resistance Front captured the city of Gonaïves, starting the 2004 Haiti rebellion. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Haiti_rebellion)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

"I profoundly believe that there is on this horizon, as yet only dimly perceived, a new dawn of conscience. In that purer light, people will come to see themselves in each other, which is to say they will make themselves known to one another by their similarities rather than by their differences. Man's knowledge of things will begin to be matched by man's knowledge of self. The significance of a smaller world will be measured not in terms of military advantage, but in terms of advantage for the human community. It will be the triumph of the heartbeat over the drumbeat." -- Adlai Stevenson (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Adlai_Stevenson)