Laos is one of the few remaining communist nations in the world. It is also one of east Asia’s poorest countries. 65% of its population practice Buddhism; 33%practice Animism or the belief in souls.

The San Francisco Bay Area is an ethnically diverse metropolitan region. It encompasses the cities of San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose. The San Francisco Bay Area is home to some of the biggest universitiesin the world including Stanford and the University of California, Berkeley.