The subregions of Southeast Asia share many similarities: tropical environments; ethnically diverse populations, with Overseas Chinese minorities that are especially active in commerce; vestiges of European colonialism (except in Thailand); difficult political trade-offs between democracy and dictatorship; and the importance of religion. Some obvious differences among the subregions are in the pace of modernization and in the varying responses to cultural and ethnic diversity—from celebrating diversity to tolerating it to violently rejecting it.