The Lao, the majority ethnic group in Laos, have discriminated against minorities in Laos. The discrimination is based upon the ethno-centric perception of the Lao. The Lao ethno-centrism has been built up through the population census and ethnic classification work done by the French authorities and the Laotian governments since the independence. In the 1950s, the Royal Lao government classified the peoples in its country in three groups, Lao Loum [lowland Lao], Lao Theung [mountain slope Lao], and Lao Sung [high mountain Lao]. Thus, It seems to have stressed that all peoples In Laos were 'Lao', eliminating the individual ethnic name such as Hmong, Mien, etc., which could be a sign of their ethnicity: The communist Lao Peoples Democratic Republic [LPDR] government carried out the population and ethnic census since late 1970s. The principles of the census work were 'national equality' and 'evolutionist theory.' Particularly according to the 'evolutionist theory,' the Laotian government seems to have tried to create ethnic identities appropriate for the national integration by abolishing "bad " culture and fostering "good" culture of ethnic groups, thus manipulated the ethnicity of ethnic groups. The minorities in Laos are legally equal to the Lao. They are, however, in reality discriminated against and even oppressed, although they totally make 45% of the population in Laos. The LPDR government has treated Buddhism, a religion adhered to predominantly by the Lao Loum, more favorably. The discrimination against the minorities can be seen more clearly in the Lao-centric 'New Economic Mechanism,' a market economical reform programme put into operation since 1986, which apparently has not taken the economically poor situation and cultural peculiarities of the ethnic minorities into consideration.