Ethnic group
Also called: Ethnicity · Topic: Power-sharing: Majoritarianism versus Accommodation · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 1 "Power-sharing"
Meaning
An ethnic group is a social group that shares a culture. Its members believe they have a common descent, meaning they come from the same ancestors. They believe this because they look alike, share a culture, or both. Members of an ethnic group need not follow the same religion or hold the same nationality. NCERT uses the idea to explain the divisions in Belgium and Sri Lanka, where the groups are based on language.
Example
In Belgium, Dutch speakers make up 59% of the people and live in the Flemish region. French speakers make up 40% and live in Wallonia. A few, about 1%, speak German. In Sri Lanka, Sinhala speakers are 74% and Tamil speakers 18%. Each of these language communities works as an ethnic group, even though members of one group may follow different religions.
Don't confuse with
- Nationality: this is the country a person legally belongs to. One ethnic group can be spread across several nationalities, and one country can hold many ethnic groups.
- Religious group: this is based on faith. Most Sinhalas are Buddhists, but about 7% of Sri Lankans are Christians drawn from both Sinhala and Tamil groups.