This article is about the concept of a minority. For an entry on the Green Day single, see Minority. Green Day is a pop punk band consisting of Billie Joe Armstrong (lead vocals, guitar), Mike Dirnt (bass, backing vocals, born Michael Ryan Pritchard), and Tré Cool (drummer, born Frank Edwin Wright III). ... Minority was the first single off Green Days album, Warning:. Minority rose into the charts faster than any of Green Days other singles. ...

The definition of a minority group can vary, depending on specific context, but generally refers to either a sub-group that does not form either a majority or a plurality of the total population, or a group that, while not necessarily a numerical minority, is disadvantaged or otherwise has less power (whether political or economic) than a dominant group. Examples of minorities in this latter context include women in some countries and African Americans in Mississippi in the 1920s.[1] In sociology, a group is usually defined as a collection consisting of a number of people who share certain aspects, interact with one another, accept rights and obligations as members of the group and share a common identity. ... A majority is a subset of a group that is more than half of the entire group. ... A plurality (or relative majority) is the largest share of something, which may or may not be a majority. ...

In a socio-economic context, the term "minority" tends to refer to groups of people who, according to a particular set of criteria, are fewer in population than other ethnic groups. All criteria for ethnicity have bearing on designating a minority — language, nationality, religion, culture, lifestyle, or sexual orientation. Often this means it is outnumbered by at least one other sub-group, but not always. This article or section should be merged with ethnic group Ethnicity is the cultural characteristics that connect a particular group or groups of people to each other. ... Nationality is, in English usage, a legal relationship existing between a person and a state. ... Look up Culture in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Wikinews has a related story: Culture and entertainment Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Cultural Development in Antiquity Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Culture and Civilization in Modern Times Classificatory system for cultures and civilizations, by Dr. Sam Vaknin Categories: Culture... Sexual orientation is the focus of a persons amorous or erotic desires, fantasies, and feelings, the gender(s) one is primarily oriented towards. ...

In politics, a minority government may be one which is formed by a party with a plurality of seats in the national legislature, when no majority party exists.

In sociology

A majority, in sociological terms, is that segment of the population that outnumbers all others combined, one that is dominant. The term minority is unavoidably associated with the political movements which push for assimilation, in which the minority group sheds its distinctive traits and is absorbed into the dominant group. A majority is a subset of a group that is more than half of the entire group. ... In the social sciences, assimilation is the process of integration whereby immigrants, or other minority groups, are absorbed into a generally larger community. ...

In politics and government

In the politics of some countries, a minority is an ethnic group that is recognized as such by respective laws of its country and therefore has some rights that other groups lack. Speakers of a legally-recognized minority language, for instance, might have the right to education or communication with the government in their mother tongue. Countries that have special provisions for minorities include Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom (which does maintain the concept of a British supra-nation, however). The Elections and Parties Series Democracy Liberal democracy History of democracy Referenda Representative democracy Representation Voting Voting systems Elections Elections by country Elections by calender Electoral systems Politics Politics by country Political campaigns Political science Political philosophy Related topics Political parties Parties by country Parties by name Parties by ideology... A country, a land, or a state, is a geographical area that connotes an independent political entity, with its own government, administration, laws, often a constitution, police, military, tax rules, and population, who are one anothers countrymen. ... A minority language is a language spoken by a minority of the population of a country. ...

Differing minority groups often are not given identical treatment. Some groups are too small or too indistinct compared to the majority, that they either identify as part of the same nation as the members of the majority, or they identify as a separate nation but are are ignored by the majority because of the costs or some other aspect of providing preferences. For example, a member of a particularly small ethnic group might be forced to check "Other" on a checklist of different backgrounds, and consequently might receive fewer privileges than a member of a more defined group.

Many contemporary governments prefer to assume the people they rule all belong to the same nationality rather than separate ones based on ethnicity. Examples of this are France and Greece. The United States asks for race and ethnicity on its official census forms, which thus breaks up and organizes its population into different sub-groups, but primarily on racial origin rather than national one. Spain does not divide its nationals by ethnic group, although it does maintain an official notion of minority languages. The United States Census Bureau uses the federal governments definitions of race when performing a census. ...

Some minorities are so relatively large or historically or otherwise important that the system is set up in a way to ensure complete equality. As an example, the former Yugoslav republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina recognizes the three main nations, none of which constitute a numerical majority, as constitutive nations, see nations of Bosnia and Herzegovina. For publications of this name, see also Nation (disambiguation) The most popular modern ethical and philosophical doctrines state that all humans are divided into groups called nations. ... More than 95% of population of Bosnia and Herzegovina belongs to one of its three constitutive nations: Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs. ...

The issue of establishing minority groups, and determining the extent of privileges they might derive from their status, is controversial. There are some who argue that minorities are owed special recognition and rights, while others feel that minorities are unjustified in demanding special rights, as this amounts to preferential discrimination and could hamper the ability of the minority to integrate itself into mainstream society - perhaps to the point at which the minority follows a path to separatism or supremacism. In Canada, some feel that the failure of the dominant English-speaking majority to assimilate French Canadians has given rise to Quebec separatism. To discriminate is to make a distinction. ... Separatism involves setting oneself or others apart. ... Supremacism is the belief that ones race or religion is the supreme, and that those of other distinctions are (by various arbitrary criteria) unfit for social or religious interaction, and sexual reproduction. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Quebec The Quebec sovereignty movement is a movement calling for the attainment of sovereignty for Quebec, a province of the country of Canada. ...

One particularly controversial issue is affirmative action, or positive discrimination: the idea that minorities should be granted special privileges that the majority does not enjoy. An example of this is when an individual of minority status is given preference for acceptance to a university over a more- or equally-qualified non-minority, in order to fulfill a quota of minorities in the student body. Critics of these policies often refer to them as reverse discrimination and argue that they are perpetrating new wrongs to counter old ones, and instilling a sense of victimhood in the majority. Proponents of the polices argue that the end result—a more diversified student body—justifies the means. The debate is likely to continue into the future. Affirmative action (US English), or positive discrimination (British English), is a policy or a program providing advantages for people of a minority group who are seen to have traditionally been discriminated against, with the aim of creating a more egalitarian society. ... Affirmative action (US English), or positive discrimination (British English), is a policy or a program providing advantages for people of a minority group who are seen to have traditionally been discriminated against. ... A professor teaching in a university A university is an institution of higher education and of research, which grants academic degrees. ... Reverse discrimination is a term used to describe discriminatory policies or acts that benefit a historically sociopolitically nondominant group (typically minorities), rather than the historically sociopolitically dominant group. ...

See also

• dominant minority
• model minority
• majority

A dominant minority is a group that has overwhelming political, economic or cultural dominance in a country or region despite representing a small fraction of the overall population (a demographic minority). ... Cover of Newsweek featuring an article on the success of Asian American students The term model minority refers to a minority ethnic, racial, or religious group whose members are noted by the general public of the country in which they reside for typically achieving a degree of success in business... A majority is a subset of a group that is more than half of the entire group. ...

Links

• Eurominority - Organization for the European Minorities (Stateless Nations and national minorities)
• ECMI - European Centre for Minority Issues
• Minority Rights Group International
• What is a Minority Group? definitions from Dayton Law School.