Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR) is a landlocked Southeast Asian nation of approximately 5.6 million population with a population growth rate of 2%. The population is ethnically varied, with 47 distinct ethnic groups identified in the 1995 census; the ethnic, or lowland, Lao make up 52.5% of the total (Lao PDR - National Statistical Center, 2003). The ethnic Lao tend to predominate in the lowlands; the ethnic minorities, in the highlands, although there is some mixing through migration and resettlement. The ethnic minority areas in the highlands have higher rates of poverty, worse health indicators, and fewer services available for a variety of reasons, including remoteness, lower levels of educational achievement, and increasing land pressure that limits their ability to achieve food self-sufficiency (Lao PDR, 2003).