Ethnic Groups in the World
By: Rodger Doyle
From: Scientific American, September 1998
J. Geffen
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1.
Many of the world’s problems stem from the fact that it has 5,000 ethnic groups
but only 190 countries. Few states are ethnically homogeneous and many, particularly
in Africa, have no majority ethnic group. Since 1945 some 15 million people have
been killed in conflicts involving ethnic violence, although ethnic tensions have not
necessarily been the catalyst. Among the worst incidents were the 1994 civil war in
Rwanda, which resulted in more than a million dead and three million refugees, and
the 1947 communal riots in India, which left several hundred thousand dead and 12
million refugees.
2.
Why are some multiethnic countries plagued by violent, persistent ethnic
conflict and others not? There are no completely satisfactory answers, but it is evident
that several factors affect the outcome. One of these is the presence or absence of
political institutions that give minorities protection against the tyranny of majority
rule. Federal systems, such as the one instituted after 1947 in India, can help dampen
ethnic tensions by giving minorities regional autonomy. Intermarriage – between
Thais and Chinese in Thailand, say, or Taiwanese and Mainlanders in Taiwan –
erodes ethnic differences. And free-market forces tend to mitigate ethnic tensions. For
instance, Russia has not adopted an irredentist policy – there are nearly 25 million
Russians in neighboring republics – arguably because it would interfere with the goal
of achieving a Western-style market economy.
3.
The region with perhaps the most intransigent ethnic rivalries is sub-Saharan
Africa, which has about 1,300 language groups in 42 countries, the boundaries of
which were imposed by the colonial powers with little regard for ethnicity. In addition
to language differences, religious divisions exist – most prominently between
Muslims and Christians. These widespread ethnic and religious divides have
contributed heavily to instability in countries such as Nigeria, where Hausa, Fulani,
Yoruba and Ibo tribes contend for political power. Nigeria has suffered six military
coups and two civil wars since gaining independence from Britain in 1960. Following
decolonization, about three fourths of the sub-Saharan African countries have
undergone coups or civil wars.
4.
India has had a generally successful record in dealing with ethnic tensions since
independence despite its 300 languages, thousands of castes and major religious fault
lines. One explanation may be its extreme diversity: a country with so many divisions
may be at less risk of violence than one in which just a few groups contend, because
no single group can dominate. At its inception, India was blessed with a large, welleducated, democratically inclined elite that used its prestige to build a multiethnic
Ethnic Groups in the World / 2
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political machine – the Congress Party – that was a potent force in mitigating
tensions. But now there is uneasiness about India’s future because of the rise to power
of the nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, whose more extreme supporters shout
slogans such as “For Muslims there are only two places, Pakistan or the grave.”
5.
There is a widely held belief that ethnic violence in the former Yugoslavia arose
from ancient ethnic hatreds. But this view ignores a history of peaceful coexistence
and extensive intermarriage among ethnic groups going back generations. It is
unlikely that the recent conflict in the region would have progressed to genocide had
it not been for political leaders such as Slobodan Milosevic, who distorted history to
create a myth of a Serbia wronged by ancient enemies and now again threatened by
these same enemies. The notion of “ancient ethnic hatred,” at least in the Balkans,
India and Africa, seems to have limited basis in fact.
Ethnic Groups in the World / 3
Answer in your own words.
1.
Answer the question below in English.
What has the fact, that the number of ethnic groups exceeds by a ratio of twenty
five to one the number of countries they live in, led to? (paragraph 1)
Answer: ____________________________________________________________
Answer the question below in Hebrew.
2.
What are the factors that might either exacerbate or dampen ethnic tensions
(paragraph 2)?
Answer: ____________________________________________________________
3.
Answer the question below in English.
How is the adoption of, or the absence of, a market economy – paragraph 2 –
relevant to ethnic tensions?
Answer: ____________________________________________________________
Answer the question below in Hebrew.
4.
What policy – paragraph 2 – should a judicious ruling majority pursue in its
treatment of ethnic minorities?
Answer: ____________________________________________________________
5.
6.
Answer the question below in English.
In what sense are the former colonial rulers of sub-Saharan Africa – paragraph 2
– at least partly responsible for ethnic rivalries in the area?
Answer: ____________________________________________________________
Answer the question below in English.
What fact best illustrates the instability of government in sub-Saharan Africa –
paragraph 3 – these last 40 years?
Answer: ____________________________________________________________
Ethnic Groups in the World / 4
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10.
Answer the question below in English.
How may extreme diversity in any given country – paragraph 4 – have
prevented the outbreak of riots on ethnic or religious grounds?
Answer: ____________________________________________________________
Answer the question below in English.
What recent developments in India itself – paragraph 5 – have called into
question the very possibility of coexistence of the rival ethnic minorities in
Indian society?
Answer: ____________________________________________________________
Answer the question below in English.
What historical fact – paragraph 5 – might suggest that there must be other
reasons besides ancient ethnic hatred that will account for the genocide
committed in former Yugoslavia?
Answer: ____________________________________________________________
Answer the question below in English.
How was the Serbian historical past – paragraph 5 – tampered with in order to
arouse Serbian passions?
Answer: ____________________________________________________________