Glossary — L

Glossary terms beginning with L.

Ladino: Language based on medieval Castilian but with Hebrew suffixes and written in Hebrew alphabet; developed and used by Sephardim (q.v.).
lakh: A unit of measure equal to 100,000. Also see crore (q.v.).
Lamaism: Tibetan Buddhism, became the state religion of Mongolia in 1586.
Land central bank: The central bank of a German state (Land; pl., Länder) or group of Länder. The presidents of the nine Land central banks sit on the Central Bank Council (q.v.) of the Bundesbank (q.v.).
Lao Issara: Free Laos. Movement formed in 1945 to resist any attempt to return to French colonial status.
Lao Loum: Literally translated as the valley Laotian. Inclusive term for people of Tai stock living in Laos, including lowland Lao and upland Tai. Group of lowland peoples comprising the majority population of Laos; generally used to refer to ethnic Lao, the country’s dominant ethnic group (approximately 66 percent of the population according to the 1985 census), and speaking Tai-Kadai languages, including Lao, Lue, Tai Dam (Black Tai), and Tai Deng (Red Tai).
Lao Patrocitic Front (LPF) (Neo Lao Hak Xat): Sucessor to Neo Lao Issara (q.v.), the political arm of the Pathrt Liberation Army (q.v.)--formerly known as the Pathet Lao (q.v.)--is its milituary arm.
Lao People's Liberation Army (LPLA): Official title of Pathet Lao armed forces, more commonly known as the communist revolutionaries, or guerrilla forces. The LPLA originated with the Latsavong detachment, formed in January 1949 by Kaysone Phomvihan, and steadily increased in number to an estimated 8,000 guerrillas in 1960 and an estimated 48,000 troops between 1962 and 1970.
Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP) (Phak Pasason Pativat Lao): Founded secretly in 1955 as the Phak Pasason Lao (Lao People’s Party--LPP); name changed in 1972. Seized full power and became the ruling (communist) party of Laos in 1975. The LPRP Central Committee formulates party policy; it is dominated by the Political Bureau (Politburo) and the Secretariat and maintains control by placing its members in key institutions throughout the government and the army.
Lao Sung: Literally translated as the Laotian of the mountain top--those who traditionally live in the high altitudes in northern Laos. In official use, term denotes a category of ethnic groups that speak Tibeto-Burmese, Miao-Yao languages; chiefly the Hmong (q.v.) (Meo) group of highland or upland minorities but also the Mien (Yao) and Akha. According to the 1985 census, these groups make up approximately 10 percent of the population.
Lao Theung: Literally, Laotian of the mountain slopes; group--including Kammu, Loven, and Lamet--that traditionally lives in medium altitudes, practices swidden, or slash-and-burn-agriculture, and speaks Mon-Khmer languages and dialects. According to the 1985 census, approximately 24 percent of the population. Regarded as original inhabitants of Laos, formally referred to by ethnic Lao as kha, or slave.
latifundios: Large estates held as private property, which may be farmed as plantations, by tenant sharecroppers, or as traditional haciendas. The latifundio system (latifundismo) is a pattern of land ownership based on latifundios owned by local gentry, absentee landlords, and domestic or foreign corporations.
Latin: See Roman Catholic.
Latin American Free Trade Association (LAFTA): A regional group founded by the Montevideo Treaty of 1960 to increase trade and foster development. LAFTA’s failure to make meaningful progress in liberalizing trade among its members or to move toward more extensive integration prompted the leaders of five Andean states to meet in Bogotá in 1966. This meeting led to the creation in 1969 of the Andean Group (q.v.)--consisting of Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru (Venezuela joined in 1973)--to serve as a subregional structure within LAFTA. LAFTA was replaced in 1980 by the Latin American Integration Association (Asociación Latinoamericana de Integración--ALADI), which advocated a regional tariff preference for goods originating in member states. ALADI has since declined as a major Latin American integration effort in favor of regional efforts, such as the Southern Cone Common Market (q.v.).
lats (LVL): Latvia’s unit of currency prior to the Soviet annexation in 1940. Reintroduced in March 1993, the lats became the sole legal tender in Latvia in October 1993. In March 1996, the exchange rate was LVL0.55 = US$1.
Latvian ruble: Interim unit of currency introduced in Latvia in May 1992 and circulated in parallel to and valued at par with the Russian ruble, a vestige of Soviet rule, until July 1992. Sole legal tender until March 1993. Replaced by the lats (q.v.).
Law of Return: Passed by Knesset in July 1950 stating that ""Every Jew has the right to come to (Israel) as an olah (new immigrant).""; Source: Library of Congress
LD: Libyan dinar. Unit of currency since September 1, 1971, replacing the Libyan pound. At the beginning of 1987 LD1 was valued at US$3.38; reciprocal exchange rate approximately LD0.29 per US$1. The rate of exchange has been stable since February 1973. The Libyan dinar is divided into 1,000 dirhams.
League of Nations: An international organization whose covenant arose out of the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. It was created for the purpose of preserving international peace and security and promoting disarmament by obligating nations to submit their conflicts to arbitration, judicial settlement, or to the League Council for consid-eration. By not signing the Treaty of Versailles, the United States refused to join. Although the fifty-three-member body considered sixty-six disputes and conflicts between 1920 and 1939, it proved ineffective against German, Italian, Japanese, and Soviet aggression in the 1930s. Formally disbanded in April 1946, its functions were transferred to the United Nations.; Source: Library of Congress
Lebanese pound (L£): The unit of currency, which is divided into 100 piasters. Before the outbreak of the 1975 Civil War, the pound was strong, and it required only L£2.3 to buy a United States dollar. During and immediately after the worst fighting, confidence in the pound dropped, but in 1982 the exchange rate was still fairly firm at L£3.81 to the dollar. During the chaos from 1983 to 1987, however, the pound rapidly depreciated, so that by August 1987 it was nearly worthless, trading at more than L£250 to the dollar.
Legislative Assembly: See Constituent Assembly.
Lehi: Acronym for Lohamei Herut Yisrael, literally, Fighters for Israel’s Freedom, a former resistance and political organization, created in 1939 and disbanded under pressure in 1948. Commonly known as the Stern Gang. See also Irgun.; Source: Library of Congress
lek (L): Albanian national currency unit consisting of 100 qintars.; Source: Library of Congress
lempira (L): Honduras monetary unit from 1926 to present. For most of that period, the lempira’s value was pegged at US$1=L2. Devalued in 1990, in December 1993, the official rate was US$1=L5.9.
Lesser Antilles: The easternmost islands of the West Indies (q.v.) extending from the Virgin Islands through Trinidad and including the small islands off the north coast of South America. Some of these islands are divided further into two subgroups: the Leeward Islands consisting of the northern part of the Lesser Antilles from the Virgin Islands through Dominica and including Anguilla, Saint Christopher (Saint Kitts) and Nevis, Barbuda, Antigua, and Guadeloupe; and the Windward Islands stretching from Martinique through Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent to Grenada. Trinidad, Tobago, Barbados, and the islands off the north coast of South America do not belong to either subgroup. The names Leeward and Windward refer to their sheltered (leeward) or exposed (windward) position relative to the prevailing northeasterly trade winds.; Source: Library of Congress
leu (pl., lei): The monetary unit of Moldova, introduced in November 1993. The exchange rate was 4.27 lei per US$1 at the beginning of 1995. The leu is convertible.; Source: Library of Congress
lev (pl. leva): The national currency unit of Bulgaria, consisting of 100 stotinki. Exchange rate to the U.S. dollar in 1991 was 18 leva.; Source: Library of Congress
Levant: Historically, the countries along the eastern shores of the Mediterranean.
liberation theology: An activist movement led by Roman Catholic clergy who trace their inspiration to Vatican Council II (1965), when some church procedures were liberalized, and the Latin American Bishops’ Conference in Medellín, Colombia (1968), which endorsed greater direct efforts to improve the lot of the poor. Advocates of liberation theology--sometimes referred to as ""liberationists""--work mainly through Ecclesiastical Base Communities (q.v.).; Source: Library of Congress
licenciado: A person granted a higher degree in a university; also a title bestowed on lawyers.
lineage: A group whose members are descended through males from a common male ancestor (patrilineage) or through females from a common female ancestor (matrilineage--not reported in Ethiopia). Such descent can in principle be traced. Lineages vary in genealogical depth from the ancestor to living generations; the more extensive ones often are internally segmented.
liquidity shortage: The lack of assets that can be readily converted to cash.
lira: Turkish currency; 1 Turkish lira (TL) = 100 kurus. Value of the lira has fluctuated considerably. In 1989 US$1.00 = TL2,122; in 1991 US$1.00 = TL4,172; in 1993 US$1.00 = TL10,983; in January 1994 US$1.00 = TL 15,196; as of August 31, 1995, US$1.00 = TL47,963.
Lisbon Protocol: Agreement that implemented the first phase of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START--q.v.) after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The protocol is an amendment to the START agreement by which Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakstan undertook the Soviet Union’s obligations under START I.
litas (pl., litai): Lithuania’s unit of currency prior to the Soviet annexation in 1940. Reintroduced in June 1993, the litas became the sole legal tender in Lithuania in August 1993. In March 1996, the exchange rate was 4.0 litai = US$1.
literacy: The ability to read and write at a specified age. Information on literacy, while not a perfect measure of educational results, is probably the most easily available and valid for international comparisons. Low levels of literacy, and education in general, can impede the economic development of a country in the current rapidly changing, technology-driven world.; Source: Cia Fact Book Modified
Living Buddha or Incarnate Buddha: Western term for Tibetan Buddhist leaders who are considered incarnations and reincarnations of buddhas actively working for human salvation. Mongolia’s Jebtsundamba Khutuktu was one of the many Living Buddhas.
Lombard rate: The interest rate at which the Bundesbank (q.v.) extends credit to commercial banks in order to cover temporary financing gaps. It is usually somewhat higher than the Bundesbank’s discount rate (q.v.).
Lomé Convention: An agreement between the European Community (EC) and the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) states whose provisions call for the EC to extend economic assistance to ACP countries. Much of the aid is for project development or rehabilitation, but a large portion is set aside for the Stabilization of Export Earnings (STABEX) system, designed to help developing countries withstand fluctuations in the prices of their agricultural exports.; Source: Library of Congress
London Club: An informal group of commercial banks that come together to negotiate a debt rescheduling agreement with a country. The group has two committees, an economics committee that develops economic data projections and a negotiating committee. Committee members usually come from the five principal banks that hold the largest amounts of a country’s debt.; Source: Library of Congress
Long March: The 12,500-kilometer-long trek made by the Red Army in the face of the Guomindang’s ""annihilation campaigns."" Began in October 1934 in Jiangxi Province and ended in October 1935 in Shaanxi Province. Some 100,000 persons left the communist base area in Jiangxi but only about 28,000 arrived in Yan’an, Chinese Communist Party headquarters for the next decade. It was during the Long March that Mao Zedong gained his preeminent role in the party.
LS: See Syrian pound.