An ethnic group is a human population whose members identify with each other, usually on the basis of a presumed common genealogy or ancestry (Smith 1986). Ethnic groups are also usually united by common cultural, behavioural, linguistic, or religious practices. In this sense, an ethnic group is also a cultural community.
From an objective standpoint, an ethnic group is also an endogamous population, that is, members of an ethnic group procreate primarily with other members of their ethnic group, something which is measurable in terms of characteristic average genetic frequencies. These differences, however, usually do not approach the magnitude of racial difference in that the genetic differences within an ethnic group are greater than the difference between any two ethnic groups. The characteristic of endogamy is reinforced by proximity, cultural familiarity, and also social pressure (in extreme cases, by legal command) to procreate within the ethnic group.
Types of ethnic group
In general, two types of ethnic groups have arisen in human history. The earliest form is the kinship-based ethnic group most closely corresponding to the term "tribe". As human populations became more mobile, another type of ethnic group arose, most closely associated with the evolution of the state ("country"), as the opportunity to procreate outside the old kinship systems presented itself. Invasion, migration, and pan-ethnic religions have contributed to a further evolution of new ethnic groups out of the mixture of older ethnic groups. At the same time, ethnic distinction can persist, even within the bounds of a single country as long as members of an ethnic group procreate primarily among themselves, for various reasons.
More on [ Ethnic group ]
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The Talk of the Town
The Chill Nick Paumgarten Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:00:00 -0000 If you had stumbled into Banjo Jim’s, in the East Village, on a recent Wednesday night and encountered a sixty-something guy leading a band through a fervent rendition of “Wild Thing,” for an audience of two dozen or so, you might have concluded, “This is lame,” and slipped back . . . Oily Speculations James Surowiecki Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:00:00 -0000 When bad things happen, it’s always nice to have a scapegoat. So, with Americans furious about soaring oil prices, Congress has gone in search of someone to blame. There are a number of usual suspects to choose from, depending on your politics--OPEC, greedy oil companies, lily-livered environmentalists opposed . . . Obama’s Iraq Problem George Packer Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:00:00 -0000 In February, 2007, when Barack Obama declared that he was running for President, violence in Iraq had reached apocalyptic levels, and he based his candidacy, in part, on a bold promise to begin a rapid withdrawal of American forces upon taking office. At the time, this pledge represented conventional thinking . . .
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Ethnologue: Languages of the World - The Ethnologue is a catalogue of more than 6,700 languages spoken in 228 countries. The Ethnologue Name Index lists over 39,000 language, dialect, and alternate names. The Ethnologue Language Family Index organizes languages according to language families.
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