The Reflection of the National Minorities Term in International Covenants, Treaties and Agreements

Abstract:     
There are thousands of minority groups in the world, different from the majorities by race, colour or religion, including hundreds of millions of people. In Europe different documents refer to over 60 minorities. In the countries from Africa and Asia the number of the minority populations, of the linguistic or tribal communities with distinct ethnic characteristics is much higher. In this context, the issue of defining “the national minorities” seems like the first step in investigating the fundamental rights of this category of people.

In this study we have tried to analyze the main international treaties, declarations and agreements in order to try to find a definition of the “national minority” term.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 8

Keywords: national minority, minority groups, definition, convenants, treaties, agreements

JEL Classification: K33

working papers series