Ethnic groups

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Huns 
Uygur


An ethnic group or ethnicity is a population of human beings whose members identify with each other, usually on the basis of a presumed common genealogy or ancestry (Smith 1987). Recognition by others as a distinct ethnic group is often a contributing factor to developing this bond of identification. Ethnic groups are also often united by common cultural, behavioural, linguistic, ritualistic, or religious traits. Processes that result in the emergence of such identification are summarized as ethnogenesis.

The term is used in contrast to race, which refers to physical and genetic traits perceived as common to certain groups.

Ethnicity, nation, and race

An ethnic group may overlap or even coincide with a nation, especially when national identity is defined primarily in terms of common origin. Members of nations may also identify with each other, often presuming common ancestry, and are generally recognized by others as a distinct group with a specific name. Nations tend to have a common identity: mostly cultural, usually linguistic, and sometimes religious. An ethnic group that is also a nation may be the titular nation of a nation-state. Some ethnic groups have no sovereignty.

Members of an ethnic group, on the whole, claim cultural continuities over time, although historians and anthropologists have documented that many of the cultural practices on which various ethnic groups are based are of relatively recent invention (Friedlander 1975, Hobsbawm and Ranger 1983, Sider 1993).

While ethnicity and race are related concepts (Abizadeh 2001), the concept of ethnicity is rooted in the idea of social grouping, marked especially by shared nationality, tribal affiliation, genealogical relationships, religious identification, language use, or specific cultural and traditional origins, whereas race is rooted in the idea of a biological classification. In 1950, the UNESCO statement The Race Question, signed by internationally renowned scholars (including Ashley Montagu, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Gunnar Myrdal, Julian Huxley, etc.), suggested to "drop the term 'race' altogether and speak of 'ethnic groups'.
 

List of ethnic groups

This is a list of names of ethnic groups(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).


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