In December 1991 the USSR splintered into Russia and 14 other independent republics.  Since then, Russia has struggled in its efforts to build a democratic political system and market economy to replace the social, political, and economic controls of the Communist government.  In tandem with its energy wealth, the Kremlin in recent years has overseen a recentralization of power that has undermined democratic institutions.

Russian languages are Russian and many minority languages and dialects.

There have been 30 Russian refugee arrivals to Pennsylvania so far this year.

The ethnic groups are as follows: Bhote 50 percent, ethnic Nepalese 35 percent (includes Lhotsampas - one of several Nepalese ethnic groups), and indigenous or migrant tribes: 15 percent.  The government type is in transition to constitutional monarchy, and they have a special treaty relationship with India.  The economy, one of the worlds smallest and least developed, is based on agriculture and forestry, which provide the main livelihood for more than 60% of the population. Agriculture consists largely of subsistence farming and animal husbandry. Rugged mountains dominate the terrain and make the building of roads and other infrastructure difficult and expensive. The economy is closely aligned with India's through strong trade and monetary links and dependence on India's financial assistance. The industrial sector is technologically backward, with most production of the cottage industry type.

Languages in Bhutan are numerous and include Dzongkha (official), the Bhotes speak various Tibetan dialects, and Nepalese speak various Nepalese dialects.

Over 100,000 Bhutanese Lhotshampas (Hindus) have been confined in seven UN Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees camps since 1990; Bhutan cooperates with India to expel Indian Nagaland separatists; lacking any treaty describing the boundary, Bhutan and China continue negotiations to establish a boundary alignment to resolve substantial cartographic discrepancies, the largest of which lies in Bhutan's northwest region.  There were 785 arrivals to PA so far this year.

The largest of the Southeast Asian nations, a diverse range of indigenous cultures exist in Myanmar with the majority culture being primarily Buddhist.  Other facets of the culture have been influenced by the neighboring countries and manifest themselves in its language (Burmese and several ethnic dialects), cuisine, music, dance and theatre.

The country has seen many, many years of civil unrest.  Most recently, in 2007, unexpectedly increased fuel prices caused tens of thousands of Burmese to march in protest led by pro-democracy activists and Buddhist monks.  In September 2007, the military-government brutally suppressed the protestors, killing at least 13 people and arresting thousands for participating in the demonstrations.   Since then, the regime has continued to raid homes and monasteries and arrest persons suspected of participating. The military’s economic mismanagement and human rights abuse of the Karen, Chin, and Karenni ethnic groups, are among the driving factors behind Burma's large refugee and trafficking-in-persons problem.

Over the last two decades, more than 150,000 refugees fled to Thailand which borders Myanmar to the East.  Having become a humanitarian concern, the United States responded by committing to resettle thousands of Burmese refugees and over the year, Pennsylvania has resettled 456 from this group.

The conquest of Vietnam by France began in 1858 and was completed by 1884. It became part of French Indochina in 1887. Vietnam declared independence after World War II, but France continued to rule until its 1954 defeat by Communist forces under Ho Chi MINH. Under the Geneva Accords of 1954, Vietnam was divided into the Communist North and anti-Communist South. US economic and military aid to South Vietnam grew through the 1960s in an attempt to bolster the government, but US armed forces were withdrawn following a cease-fire agreement in 1973. Two years later, North Vietnamese forces overran the South reuniting the country under Communist rule. Despite the return of peace, for over a decade the country experienced little economic growth because of conservative leadership policies. However, since the enactment of Vietnam's "doi moi" (renovation) policy in 1986, Vietnamese authorities have committed to increased economic liberalization and enacted structural reforms needed to modernize the economy and to produce more competitive, export-driven industries. The country continues to experience protests from various groups - such as the Protestant Montagnard ethnic minority population of the Central Highlands and the Hoa Hao Buddhists in southern Vietnam over religious persecution. Montagnard grievances also include the loss of land to Vietnamese settlers.

Refugees have streamed to the US since the take over by the Communists. Cambodia and Laos protest Vietnamese squatters.  Approximately 300,000 Vietnamese refugees reside in China.

Vietnamese languages are Vietnamese, English, French, Chinese, Khmer, and other Malayo-Polynesian.

There have been 35 Vietnamese arrivals to Pennsylvania in the last year.

Native Kazakhs, a mix of Turkic and Mongol nomadic tribes who migrated into the region in the 13th century, were rarely united as a single nation. The area was conquered by Russia in the 18th century, and Kazakhstan became a Soviet Republic in 1936. During the 1950s and 1960s agricultural "Virgin Lands" program, Soviet citizens were encouraged to help cultivate Kazakhstan's northern pastures. This influx of immigrants (mostly Russians, but also some other deported nationalities) skewed the ethnic mixture and enabled non-Kazakhs to outnumber natives. Independence in 1991 caused many of these newcomers to emigrate. Kazakhstan's economy is larger than those of all the other Central Asian states combined, largely due to the country's vast natural resources and a recent history of political stability. Current issues include: developing a cohesive national identity; expanding the development of the country's vast energy resources and exporting them to world markets; achieving a sustainable economic growth; diversifying the economy outside the oil, gas, and mining sectors; enhancing Kazakhstan's competitiveness; and strengthening relations with neighboring states and other foreign powers.

Kazakhstan, the largest of the former Soviet republics in territory, excluding Russia, possesses enormous fossil fuel reserves and plentiful supplies of other minerals and metals. It also has a large agricultural sector featuring livestock and grain. Kazakhstan's industrial sector rests on the extraction and processing of these natural resources. Kazakhstan enjoyed double-digit growth in 2000-01 and 8% or more per year in 2002-07 - thanks largely to its booming energy sector, but also to economic reform, good harvests, and increased foreign investment; growth slowed to 2.4% in 2008, however, as a result of declining oil prices and a softening world economy. Inflation reached 10% in 2007 and 17% in 2008. In the energy sector, the opening of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium in 2001, from western Kazakhstan's Tengiz oilfield to the Black Sea, substantially raised export capacity. In 2006, Kazakhstan completed the Atasu-Alashankou portion of an oil pipeline to China that is planned in future construction to extend from the country's Caspian coast eastward to the Chinese border. The country has embarked upon an industrial policy designed to diversify the economy away from overdependence on the oil sector by developing its manufacturing potential. The policy changed the corporate tax code to favor domestic industry as a means to reduce the influence of foreign investment and foreign personnel. The government has engaged in several disputes with foreign oil companies over the terms of production agreements, most recently, with regard to the Kashagan project in 2007-08. Since 2007, Astana has provided financial support to the banking sector which has been struggling with poor asset quality and large foreign loans.

The languages of Kazakhstan include Qazaq, which is the language of the state and is spoken by 64 percent of the population. Russian, which is official, is used in everyday business and designated the “language of interethnic communication”, is spoken by 95 percent of the population (2001 estimate).