Sayabuli is a province of Laos, located in the northwest of the country. Xayabuli Province covers an area of 16,389 square kilometres (6,328 sq mi). The province borders Bokeo Province and Oudomxai Province to the north, Luang Prabang Province and Vientiane Province to the east, and (from the south clockwise) the Thai provinces Loei, Phitsanoulok, Uttaradit, Nan and Phayao. Xayabuli is the only Laotian province that is completely to the west of the Mekong River. The province is quite mountainous with the Luang Prabang Range running roughly in a north-south direction and forming a natural border with the Thai highlands. Xayabuli has the largest concentration of elephants in Laos.

The province is considered the rice basket of northern Laos, since most other northern provinces are too mountainous to grow enough rice.

The Nam Phouy National Biodiversity Conservation Area, a protected area in Laos home to many wild elephants, is located in the forested mountains close to the Thai border. The NBCA is located in the forested mountains of the Luang Prabang Range close to the border with Thailand and is part of the Luang Prabang montane rain forests ecoregion. The reservoir area of lower Nam Phoun dam is partly within the Nam Phouy NBCA. In view of the concentration of the largest number of Asian elephants in the province, in entire Laos, the Lao Elephant Conservation Center has been established in Hongsa District. The Nam Phouy NBCA is spread over an area of 1,912 square kilometres (738 sq mi). The habitat is characterized by mixed deciduous forest with an abundance of bamboo resulting from regular forest burning. The protected area was identified by the Government of Laos in the National Elephant Conservation Meeting held in 2008 and WWF has been in the forefront in this effort since 2005. The area is not patrolled much, which makes the enforcement of conservation measures difficult.

The 10,980 hectare Upper Lao Mekong Important Bird Area (IBA) stretches across the provinces of Sayabuli, Bokeo, and Oudomxai. The topography is characterized by river channel, exposed beds, sandbars, gravel bars, islands, rock outcrops, bushland, and braided streams.

The 18,230 hectare Mekong Channel upstream of Vientiane Important Bird Area (IBA) comprises an approximately 300 kilometres (190 mi) section of the Mekong Channel upstream of Vientiane city. It is situated in two provinces: Saiyabouli and Vientiane.

There are two mega projects in the province: Hongsa coal-fired power plant and Xayabuli Dam.

References:

1. Wikipedia ‘Saiyabouli province’: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sainyabuli_Province