ethnicity
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ethnicity
a shared racial, linguistic or national identity of a social group. See also NATIONALISM.Ethnicity is an imprecise term which has given rise to some degree of conceptual confusion (see also ETHNIC GROUP). It is often conflated with other terms such as racial group.
Ethnicity can incorporate several forms of collective identity, including cultural, religious, national and subcultural forms. A distinction may be drawn between cultural
ethnicity and political ethnicity. The former refers to a belief in a shared language, religion or other such cultural values and practices. The latter refers to the political awareness or mobilization of a group on a (real or assumed) ethnic basis. Although ethnicity is often used in relation to a group's assumed racial identity, strictly racial attributes (see RACE) are not necessarily, or even usually, the defining feature of ethnic groups.