Flower Hmong in Moped Helmet

The Hmong (RPA: Hmoob/Moob, IPA: [m̥ɔ̃ŋ]) are an Asian ethnic group from the mountainous regions of China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Hmong are also one of the sub-groups of the Miao ethnicity (苗族) in southern China. Hmong groups began a gradual southward migration in the 18th century due to political unrest and to find more arable land. Hmong are rich in culture, art and family and are distinguished by costume/dress (fabric patterns represent fruit, vegetables, farming, chickens, eggs, etc.)

The United States recruited a number of Hmong people to help fight against the communist Pathet Lao, known as the secret war, during the Laotian Civil War. Hmong people were singled out for retribution when the Pathet Lao took over the Laotian government in 1975, and tens of thousands fled to Thailand seeking political asylum. Thousands of these refugees have resettled in Western countries since the late 1970s, mostly the United States, but also in Australia, France, French Guiana, Canada, and South America. Others have returned to Laos under United Nations-sponsored repatriation programs.

Vietnam (ⁱ/ˌviːətˈnɑːm/, /viˌɛt-/, /-ˈnæm/, /ˌvjɛt-/; Vietnamese pronunciation: [viət˨ naːm˧] ( listen)) officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Cộng hòa Xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam ( listen)), is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. With an estimated 90.3 million inhabitants as of 2012, it is the world's 13th-most-populous country, and the eighth-most-populous Asian country. The name Vietnam translates as "South Viet", and was officially adopted in 1945. The country is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east. Its capital city has been Hanoi since the reunification of North and South Vietnam in 1976.