The Hmong are an ethnic group from the highlands of Laos. When a communist movement called the Pathet Lao began to gain power in Laos during the Vietnam War, the Central Intelligence Agency recruited the Hmong to fight the communists and attack North Vietnamese supply lines. The resulting conflict far outlasted the Vietnam War.
High suicide rate. Approximately 30,000 Japanese people commit suicide each year. Japan has the highest life expectancy rate in the world in part because of universal health insurance, compulsory primary education and a general healthy lifestyle, according to a new study.
Looking at countries around the world, Hong Kong has the longest life expectancy for men at 78.4 years (2001 figure), followed by Japan, and Iceland at 78.1 years (2001 figure). Japan had the highest life expectancy for women, followed by Hong Kong at 84.6 years and Switzerland at 82.6 years (2000 figure).