ETHNIC MINORITIES

Ethnic minorities: translation

Generally speaking, the term “ethnic minorities” can refer to any of the Russian Federation’s non-ethnic Russianpeoples including those historically classified asnational minorities(i.e., ethnic groups whose ancestral homelands lie within the current boundaries of Russia, e.g., theTatars,Bashkirs,Chechens,Sakha,Udmurts, andChuvash), as well as ethnic or cultural groups from beyond Russia’s contemporary borders (including recentimmigrants).The latter group is best defined by ethnicUkrainians,Armenians,Roma(Gypsies), andChinese, as well as the peoples ofCentral Asia. Due to their historical classification as an ethnic group (as opposed to a religious group), RussianJewsare sometimes listed as ethnic minorities, while the country’sMuslimsandBuddhistsare categorized based on their culturolinguistic affiliation.

See alsoLanguage.