In the given context, a minority is a group of people, who do not (wish to) exhibit all the distinguishing marks as members of a political association (nation, state). Minority-members are protected by international, individual laws in many countries. In Germany, a number of laws provide a basis for minority protection, among them paragraph 3, sentence 1 of the German federal constitution law, or the EU framework convention for the protection of national minorities (1995).[1] In Germany, there are four recognised minorities: The Danish Minority, the Frisian Minority, (Frisians), the Sorbian Minority (Sorbians) and the German Sinti and Roma. They are acknowledged as national minorities, because they conform to the following criteria: Their members are national subjects, they differ (…) by their own language, culture and history (own identity); they strive to keep this identity, by tradition (…) they are domestic Germans, they live in Germany in inherent settlement areas.[2]

 


[1] DIE ZEIT (editor): Das Lexikon, vol. 9. 2005, p. 585

[2] http://www.bpb.de/apuz/243860/zur-sozialen-und-politischen-lage-der-anerkannten-nationalen-minderheiten-in-deutschland?p=all, 1 October 18

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