It is a landlocked country in the heart of the Indochina Peninsula of mainland Southeast Asia, bordered by Myanmar (Burma) and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south, and Thailand to the west. Present-day Laos traces its historical and cultural identity to the kingdom of Lan Xang Hom Khao (Kingdom of the Million Elephants Under the White Umbrella), which existed for four centuries as one of the largest kingdoms in Southeast Asia. Due to Lan Xang's central geographic location in Southeast Asia, the kingdom was able to become a famous center of overland trade, becoming economically as well as culturally wealthy.