Lao Sung or more commonly Lao Soung (Laotian: ລາວສູງ láːw sǔːŋ) is an official Laos PDR designation for highland dwelling peoples in Laos (the others being the Lao Loum

Lao Loum

The Lao Loum is an official Laos PDR designation for lowland dwelling Tai peoples, including the majority Lao people. The Lao Loum, literally meaning "lowland Lao," are the inhabitants of the river valleys and lowlands along the Mekong River and make up over 68% of the population of Laos, of...

 and the Lao Theung

Lao Theung

The Lao Theung or Lao Thoeng is one of the traditional divisions of ethnic groups living in Laos . It literally indicates the "midland Lao", and comprises a variety of different ethnic groups of mostly Austro-Asiatic origin...

). The ones in Laos, the actual Lao Soung, make up 9% of the Laotian population. The Lao Soung aren't actually one single ethnic group but are made up of (H)mong

Hmong people

The Hmong , 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 in southern China...

 (the main group), Yao

Yao people

The Yao nationality is a government classification for various minorities in China. They form one of the 55 ethnic minority groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China, where they reside in the mountainous terrain of the southwest and south...

, Akha, Phu Noi and other people who live in the Laotian mountaintops. All these groups are related. Their main religions are animism

Animism

Animism refers to the belief that non-human entities are spiritual beings, or at least embody some kind of life-principle....

, Buddhism

Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

, and Chinese folk religions. Some Lao Soung fought against the communist Pathet Lao

Pathet Lao

The Pathet Lao was a communist political movement and organization in Laos, formed in the mid-20th century. The group was ultimately successful in assuming political power after the Laotian Civil War. The Pathet Lao were always closely associated with Vietnamese communists...

 government in 1975 to keep the Laotian monarchy

Monarchy

A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...

 in power. Many moved from southern China and Laos to the U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s to escape the communist governments there.