Wikipedia:WikiProject Ethnic groups/Template

For broader context on this WikiProject, please see Wikipedia:WikiProject Ethnic groups.

Not all sections will be useful for all groups, but this should be suggestive of appropriate ways to handle articles about ethnic groups and other similar human populations such as tribes, nations (meaning peoples, not states), etc.

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<Brief introduction, reiterating title of article and given a basic one-paragraph introduction to the group.>

The next paragraph should say one of the following, or something similar:

• This article covers the <GROUP> as an ethnic group.
• This article covers the <GROUP> as an ethnic group, not <GROUP> meaning citizens of <COUNTRY>.
• This article covers the <GROUP> as an ethnic group, tribe, or nation.

GROUP

[[File:An acceptable alternative to the coloring here is to use just a white background throughout, with an optional illustration in this space at the top. See Jew for an example of this approach. However, please don't adopt arbitrary colors for an Infobox without first discussing it in the project. Thanks. You may wish to use Template:Infobox Ethnic group to generate this table.|frameless]]
Regions with significant populations
<Country 1>: XXXX <Country 2>: XXXX
Languages
Languages used and percentages if needed.
Religion
Religions and percentages if needed.
Related ethnic groups
We have not been able to devise a consistent way to use this field. See following rows for illustrations of how it can be used.
At right, see several possible approaches to handling "related groups"; feel free to use one or more of these.	<Group 1>  <Group 2>   <etc.>    GROUP     <subgroup 1>     <subgroup 2>     <etc.> GROUP <Sibling Group 1> <Sibling Group 2> Related groups include <Group 1>, <Group 2>, <Group 3>

Classification

(Optionally) a description of larger ethnic classifications under which this group falls.

Applicability of the term "ethnic group" to <GROUP>

(Optionally) Discuss any controversies about defining of <GROUP> as an ethnic group (other than those which apply to the notion of "ethnic group" in all cases).

In many cases these issues are country-specific and are better taken up somewhere under Geography. Also, this section is subject to retitling (e.g. "Applicability of the term 'tribe' to the Pequot" -- see Pequot). Again, remember, these templates are only suggestions.

Subgroups

List of subgroups of the ethnicity. Major subgroups with lots of information should probably have their own article.

History

(OPTIONAL) Main article: [[History of <GROUP>]].

Probable history of the ethnic group. Topics can include:

• Major migrations
• Origins of ethnic group and/or origins of its identity
• If this is an extinct group or an extinct classification, its demise

Geography

In what countries/regions are people of this ethnicity found, and how many are there in each country.

Then, for each country that seems relevant, a separate section, as follows:

COUNTRY 1

(OPTIONAL) Main article: [[History of <GROUP> in <COUNTRY>]].

This is an area to be particularly careful about POV and about attribution of statements. In particular, it is important to distinguish persecution from mere prejudice and informal status from formal status.

Some areas that may merit coverage are:

• Percent of the population of country in <YEAR>. Multiple years may be relevant if changes are dramatic.
• First arrived in country when?
• formal status (past and present): For example:
  • In the United States, some Native American tribes are officially "recognized" by the government.
  • In many countries, there are set-aside parliamentary seats, recognized 'minority languages', etc.
  • In South Africa in the apartheid era, various ethnic groups has an official status of less than full citizenship.
  • in the United States prior to the Civil War, chattel slavery of African-Americans.
• movements for separatism, autonomy, self-rule, irredentism, etc.
• levels of assimilation/acculturation (e.g. what is the predominant language among the ethnic group in that country)
• formal and informal restrictions on ethnic culture/language in that country (e.g. laws against Kurdish-language broadcasts in Turkey, laws against wearing the hijab in France, Germany)
• informal institutions of oppression in that country. For example:
  • In the United States, until the second half of the 20th Century, many neighborhoods had effective covenants against Afro-Americans and Jews.
  • In many European countries, there is enough prejudice against Gypsies to be a clear factor of oppression.
  • The genocidal Interahamwe attacks on Tutsis in 1990s Rwanda.
• informal institutions of protection in that country. For example:
  • The protection of Moslems and Jews by the Mongols during the Mongol rule over China
  • Russian sponsorship of various Slavic minorities in the Ottoman Empire
  • Examples of constitutional protection of minority ethnic rights in the US.

COUNTRY 2

etc.

Culture

(OPTIONAL) Main article: GROUP Culture.

For those ethnicities not closely connected to a nation state, this is the place to discuss issues similar to what we would cover for the culture of a nation state. Typically (though not always), if a nation state exists, we can just point to that article.

Language

Is this group closely associated with a particular language or languages? What other language(s) do they commonly use? Obviously, if they have a language uniquely their own, that needs to be handled according to Wikipedia:WikiProject Languages.

Religion

Is this group closely associated with a particular religion? What other religion(s) do a large number of them adhere to?

Literature

(OPTIONAL) Main article: GROUP literature. Description of a body of literature or authors associated with the ethnic group. Could also refer to articles on the languages used or the countries in which they live: e.g. Literature of XXXX Country.

Arts

Description and discussion of artifacts, architecture, or inventions that are unique or different when practiced by members of the group.

Institutions

Countries, regional governments, para-states, ethnic political parties, ethnically-based liberation movements, etc. closely associated with this ethnicity

References

This should nearly always include references for the population statistics. See Armenians for a good example.