Interesting nationalities. National composition of the world population

According to various estimates, about 5 thousand different peoples live on the entire globe. Most of them are not numerous. Ethnos can be distinguished not only by the number of representatives, but also by language.

African population

Africa is home to a huge number of ethnic groups. Compared with the Black Continent, the peoples of other countries of the world are not so diverse. For example, in Nigeria their number reaches 250. The most numerous Nigerian tribes are Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo.

In total, about 50 different nationalities live in Africa. 24 of these peoples make up about 86% of the total population of the Black Continent. At the same time, each of the nationalities speaks its own language. And only Arabic is an exception. Almost a fifth of Africans speak this language.

colonial past

Africa is a continent that until recently was ruled by the peoples of other countries of the world. The colonial past is felt everywhere here. For many centuries, European colonialists plundered the property of local residents, exploited them for their own benefit. The collapse of this system began only in the post-World War II era. The total population of the Black Continent is about 250 million people. Compared with the peoples of other countries of the world, population growth is very fast here.

Classification of the peoples of Africa

It is customary to divide into categories according to language. A huge number can be combined into large related groups - families. Such a language family will include those languages ​​that have common roots. In total, there are several large language groups on the Black Continent. These are Bantu, Semitic-Hamitic, Mande, Nilotic. For example, in northern Africa there are peoples who communicate in Semitic-Hamitic languages. This category includes the Cushitic and Berber subgroups. Representatives of the peoples who communicate in the languages ​​of the Bantu group live in the central part of the continent and in the south.

Only in the VII-XI centuries. Arabs appeared in Africa. The peoples who inhabited the territory of the Sahara and the Maghreb in ancient times were called Libyans by ancient historians. Before these territories were conquered by the Arabs, they spoke the languages ​​​​of the Berber group. The Arabs of the tribes called Hilal and Sulaim, who moved here in the 11th century, seriously influenced the way of life of the local Berbers. The aborigines converted to Islam, began to farm like the Arabs. The nomadic way of life became widespread. Rarely are the peoples of other countries of the world assimilated to the same extent as the Arabs and Berbers at the present time. Now it is almost impossible to draw a clear line between them. Moreover, the process of mixing these two ethnic groups most intensively occurred in the last half century.

Comparative age of the Slavic ethnos and other peoples

According to some sources, the state of Kievan Rus arose in the 6th century AD. e. Other scientists believe that the Slavic state arose on the territory of an ancient trade route called "from the Varangians to the Greeks" in 862, when the principality of the famous Russian dynasty began. Many nations like to lengthen their history. However, there are those whose "age" is beyond doubt - moreover, they are much older than the Slavic ethnic group. The ancient peoples of other countries of the world, except for Russia, are Armenians, Jews, Assyrians, Basques, Khoisans.

Armenians - the civilization of King Hayk

The Armenian ethnos is considered the youngest among other ancient peoples. However, there are many unexplored things in the history of Armenians. Until the very end of the 19th century, historians believed that the Armenian ethnos originates from King Hayk, whose personality is covered with legends. Hayk was the first to decide to outline the borders of the new state in the vicinity of Mount Ararat. It was believed that it was from the name of King Hayk that the self-name of the Armenians - “hai” originated.

Currently, another version of the origin of the Armenians is accepted. Scientists believe that their ancestors - the flies and the Urumeans - settled the local territories as early as the 12th century BC. e., even before the formation of the Hittite state. The peoples of other countries of the world, with whom the Armenians lived in the neighborhood, are the Urartians and the Luvians. Some scholars believe that the origins of the Armenian nation must be sought among the evidence of the Hurrian kingdom, which was called Arme-Shubia.

Jews

Jews are another people whose history goes back centuries. There are no less mysteries in the past of the Jews than in the history of the emergence of the Armenians. For a long time it was believed that the concept of this people is not ethnic, but rather religious. There were fierce disputes between scientists about who they were after all - one of the religious heresies, a separated social stratum, or, perhaps, an independent people. According to the main source of the Jewish religion - the Old Testament - the Jews are the descendants of Abraham, a native of the Mesopotamian city of Ur.

Together with his father, Abraham moved to the "promised land" - Canaan. Subsequently, he seized the lands of nearby tribes, who, according to legend, were the descendants of Noah. Scientists believe that the Jewish people originates from the II millennium BC. e. - it was then that they formed into an independent group of Semitic-speaking tribes. The closest "relatives" of the Jews in terms of language are the tribes of the Amorites and the Phoenicians.

The modern version of the origin of the Jews

Not so long ago, thanks to the development of science, new views on the origin of the Jewish people appeared. Scientists conducted a genetic analysis of three large groups of Jewish people. Ashkenazi (living in America and Europe), Mizrahim (inhabitants of the Middle East and northern Africa), as well as Sephardim (living in the Iberian Peninsula) were studied. It turned out that all these ethnic groups have similar genetics. This confirms their origin from a common source. The conclusion made by scientists is that the ancestors of the Jews originally lived in Mesopotamia. The division occurred during the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar.

And other countries of the world have many misconceptions about the Jews. One of the most common is that the main religious book of the Jews is the Old Testament. In fact, the holy book for them is the Talmud. The Jewish religion has many branches - it is an orthodox direction, reformist, conservative. However, all believers use the Talmud as their main book.

Jewish origin is attributed to Christopher Columbus. Several documents testify to this. The navigator himself also repeatedly mentioned that he belongs to the Jewish people. So that the peoples of other countries of the world and their descendants could learn about his voyages, Columbus kept a diary of navigation. It is noteworthy that in the first lines he mentions the history of the expulsion of Jews from Spain. Also, some scholars believe that the signature in the will of Columbus was made in Hebrew.

Assyrian people

What other ancient peoples of other countries of the world existed? The list continues with the Assyrians: this people is perhaps even more ancient than the Jews. They presumably arose in the 4th-2nd millennium BC. The Jews were descended from the Western Semitic peoples. The Assyrians were representatives of the northern Semites. Modern representatives of the Assyrian ethnic group consider themselves descendants of an ancient civilization. Some scholars agree with this view. Others believe that the ancestors of the modern Assyrians are the Arameans.

Chinese

There are peoples of other countries of the world, except for Russia, which differ both in age and in the number of their representatives. One such ethnic group is the Chinese. They call themselves the "people of Han". The Chinese make up about 19% of the total population of the Earth. The beginning of the Han civilization is considered to be the V-III millennium BC. The first settlements were built in the valley. The formation of the Chinese ethnic group was significantly influenced by the peoples of other countries of the world. Their list mainly consists of representatives of the Mongoloid race: these are Tibetans, Indonesians, Thais. All of them are quite different in their culture. Today, however, the Chinese are the direct descendants of the great Han civilization.

Basques

Basques are an example of the peoples of other countries of the world who do not belong to the Indo-European language environment. The great resettlement of peoples began in the 4th millennium BC. At present, the languages ​​of the Indo-European group are a means of communication for almost all Europeans. The exception is the Basques - their origin does not coincide with the peoples of other countries of the world. The list, in addition to Russia and European countries, with which scientists compared such a nationality as the Basques, is huge. However, the researchers came to the conclusion that the Basques are the oldest people whose language is not related to any language of the Indo-European group. Presumably they separated into a separate ethnic group about 16 thousand years ago, during the Paleolithic.

Khoisan

But the Basques are not the last ancient people of other countries of the world. The list, besides Russia (or, more precisely, the Slavic tribes), Jews, Assyrians, Chinese and Basques, can be supplemented by the Khoisan peoples. According to scientists, the Khoisans appeared about 100 thousand years ago. This vast ethnic group belongs to African peoples who speak unusual "click" languages. The Khoisans include the Bushmen and the Hottentots.

The researchers concluded that for the first time the Khoisan people separated from the common tree of peoples about 100 thousand years ago. In other words, this happened even before people settled from the Black Continent around the globe. 43 millennia ago, the Khoisan people underwent another change - they were divided into northern and southern tribes. Some of the Khoisan tribes have retained their origins. Others mixed with neighboring Bantu tribes. Genetic analysis of the Khoisan DNA shows that they are significantly different from other peoples. They have been found genes that are responsible for high physical endurance, vulnerability to sunlight.

National composition of the population distribution of people according to ethnicity. An ethnos (or people) is a historically established, stable community of people, united by the unity of language, territory, economic life and culture, and national self-consciousness. The forms of ethnic community change and become more complex in the process of development of human society - from tribal and tribal associations in the primitive system, nationalities in early class societies to independent nations - in the context of the merger of local markets into a single national market. If, for example, the formation of nations has long been completed, then in some underdeveloped, and (, etc.) tribal associations are widely represented.

To date, there are 2200 - 2400 ethnic groups in the world. Their number varies greatly - from a few dozen people to hundreds of millions. The largest nations include (in million people):

• Chinese - 11 70,
• Hindustanis (the main people of India) - 265,
• Bengalis (in India and) - 225,
• Americans - 200,
• Brazilians - 175,
• Russians - 150,
• Japanese - 130,
• Punjabis (the main people) - 115,
• Mexicans - 115,
• Biharis - 105.

Thus, at the beginning of the 21st century, 10 ethnic groups account for about 45% of all mankind.

In many states and regions of the world, different ethnic groups are represented differently. Therefore, the main peoples are usually singled out, that is, the ethnic groups that make up the bulk of the population, and national minorities.

According to their origin and social status, national minorities are usually divided into two types:
autochthonous, i.e., indigenous peoples, ethnic groups born of immigration.

So, the following proportions are typical for the national composition of the modern. The main ethnic group - the British - make up 77% of the total population; autochthonous ethnic groups, including Scots, Irish, etc. - 14% and immigrants from different countries - 9%.

Constantly evolving as a result of the territorial heterogeneity of the natural movement of the population, migration, as well as the processes of consolidation and assimilation of ethnic groups.
The consolidation of ethnic groups is the merger of several related ethnic groups into one, larger ethnic community.

Assimilation of ethnic groups- this is the loss by peoples of their native language and national identity as a result of prolonged communication with other ethnic groups, that is, a kind of dissolution of ethnic groups in a multinational environment. This process is especially widespread in countries of immigration, which include the United States, Australia, and many countries in Europe. As a result of the processes of consolidation and assimilation of ethnic groups, the total number of peoples is gradually decreasing.

One of the main signs of ethnic unity is the spoken language. On this basis, all the peoples of the world are divided into 15 language families and more than 45 language groups, which, in turn, are divided into language branches. In addition, there are isolated languages ​​that do not belong to any language family. These include, for example, Japanese, Korean, the Basque language, and some others.

More than 40% of the world's population speaks the languages ​​of the Indo-European family, which includes 11 language groups: Romance (French, Italians, Spaniards, Moldavians, Romanians, Latin Americans); Germanic (Germans, British, Swedes, Danes, Americans); Slavic (Russians, Poles, Czechs, Bulgarians, Slovenes); Baltic ( , ); Iranian (, Kurds, Afghans, Tatars, etc.).

About 20% of the world's population communicates in languages ​​of the Sino-Tibetan or Sino-Tibetan family. Its weight is determined by the Chinese language group. The distribution of these languages ​​is almost completely localized by the Asian continent.

About 8% of humanity uses the languages ​​​​of the Niger-Kordofenian family, which are represented exclusively in Africa. Within this family, the main language group is the Niger-Congo group.

Another 5 - 7% of the world's population speaks the languages ​​​​of the Afro-Asiatic (or Semitic-Hamitic) family, which have become widespread mainly in Africa and Asia. The main language of this family is Arabic.

Thus, the languages ​​of these four families are spoken by almost 4/5 of all mankind.

The exact number of languages ​​in the world has not been determined. Some experts believe that there are about 3 thousand of them, others - more than 5 thousand. This discrepancy is explained by the fact that some linguists consider the same dialects as different languages, while another part of scientists recognize them as dialects of the same language. The problem of classifying ethnic groups and languages ​​is greatly complicated by the fact that many peoples speak the same languages. So, for example, English is spoken not only by the British, but also by many Australians, New Zealanders, Americans, USA, Canadians, many peoples of the Caribbean, etc. Spanish is native not only for Spaniards, but for most of the peoples of Latin America . The same language is spoken by Germans, Austrians, part of the population of Switzerland. These most common languages ​​serve as a means of interethnic communication.
Some languages ​​develop, become more and more widespread, others die, lose their former meaning. For example, in Africa, the Swahili, Hausa, and Yoruba languages ​​are becoming more widespread, which are used as a means of communication for many tribes and nationalities, gradually crowding out the languages ​​of the colonialists that have taken root here. The highest concentration of languages ​​\u200b\u200b(up to 1 thousand) is on Novaya Island, where a large number of original tribes live.

A significant part of all languages ​​of the world does not have a written language. In order to facilitate communication between representatives of different ethnic groups, the number of attempts to create an artificial international language is growing. The most famous of them is Esperanto.

The most widely spoken languages ​​in the world are:

• Chinese - more than 1 billion people,
• English - 400 - 500 million people,
• Hindi - more than 350,
• Spanish - about 300,
• Russian - about 200,
• Bengali - about 170,
• Indonesian - about 170,
• Arabic - 160,
• Portuguese - 140,
• Japanese - 125,
• German - about 100,
• French - more than 100 million people.

Thus, only 12 languages ​​are spoken practically by 2/3 of all mankind. Of these most widely spoken languages, six are official and working languages ​​of the UN (English, French, Russian, Spanish, Arabic and Chinese).

In accordance with the nature of the national (ethnic) composition of the population, five types of states can be distinguished.

1 type. These are uninational states. There are most of these states in Europe, the Middle East and Latin America.

And Russia, Although it can also be attributed, some countries of West and South Africa.

In recent years, inter-ethnic contradictions have become aggravated in countries with a complex national composition.

Do you know how many peoples there are in the world? Probably, few people can accurately answer this question, even among scientists and historians. In Russia alone, there are 194 positions of the peoples of the world (the list goes on and on). All people on Earth are completely different, and this is the biggest advantage.

General classification

Of course, everyone is interested in quantitative data. If you collect all the peoples of the world, the list will be endless. It is much easier to classify them according to certain criteria. First of all, this is done depending on what language people speak within the same territory or within the same cultural traditions. An even more generalized category is language families.

Preserved for centuries

Every nation, no matter what its history, is trying with all possible strength to prove that their ancestors built the Tower of Babel. It is flattering for everyone to think that he or she belongs to those roots that originate in far, far away times. But there are ancient peoples of the world (the list is attached), whose prehistoric origin is beyond doubt by anyone.

Largest nations

There are many large nations on Earth that have the same historical roots. For example, there are 330 nations in the world, numbering one million people each. But those with more than 100 million people (in each) - only eleven. Consider the list of peoples of the world by number:

1. Chinese - 1.17 million people.
2. Hindustanis - 265 million people.
3. Bengalis - 225 million people.
4. Americans (USA) - 200 million people.
5. Brazilians - 175 million people.
6. Russians - 140 million people.
7. The Japanese - 125 million people.
8. Punjabis - 115 million people.
9. Biharis - 115 million people.
10. Mexicans - 105 million people.
11. Javanese - 105 million people.

Unity in Diversity

Another classification characteristic that makes it possible to distinguish between the population of the world is three. These are Caucasoid, Mongoloid and Negroid. Some Western historians give a little more, but these races still became derivatives of the three main ones.

In the modern world, there are a large number of contact races. This led to the emergence of new peoples of the world. The list has not yet been given by scientists, because no one has done an exact classification. Here are some examples. The Ural group of peoples originated from a mixture of some branches of the northern Caucasians and northern Mongoloids. The entire population of southern insular Asia arose as a result of the relationship of Mongoloids and Australoids.

Endangered ethnic groups

There are peoples of the world on Earth (the list is attached), the number of which is several hundred people. These are endangered ethnic groups that are trying to preserve their identity.

conclusions

It can be interpreted in different ways. Some will argue that this is a population within the state, others will insist that it does not matter where people live, the main thing is that they are united by some common features that determine their belonging to the same historical origins. Still others will consider that the people are an ethnic group that has existed for centuries, but has been erased over the years. In any case, all people on Earth are very diverse and it is a pleasure to study them.

Russia is famous as a multinational state, more than 190 peoples live on the territory of the country. Most of them ended up in the Russian Federation peacefully, thanks to the annexation of new territories. Each nation is distinguished by its history, culture and heritage. Let us analyze in more detail the national composition of Russia, considering each ethnic group separately.

Large nationalities of Russia

Russians are the most numerous indigenous ethnic group living in Russia. The number of Russian people in the world is equated to 133 million people, but some sources indicate a figure of up to 150 million. More than 110 (almost 79% of the total population of the country) millions of Russians live in the Russian Federation, most of the Russians also live in Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus. If we consider the map of Russia, then the Russian people are distributed in large numbers throughout the entire territory of the state, living in every region of the country ...

Tatars, compared with Russians, make up only 3.7% of the total population of the country. The Tatar people have a population of 5.3 million people. This ethnic group lives throughout the country, the most densely populated city of Tatars is Tatarstan, more than 2 million people live there, and the most sparsely populated region is Ingushetia, where there are not even a thousand people from the Tatar people ...

The Bashkirs are the indigenous people of the Republic of Bashkortostan. The number of Bashkirs is about 1.5 million people - this is 1.1% of the total number of all inhabitants of the Russian Federation. Of the one and a half million people, most (about 1 million) live on the territory of Bashkortostan. The rest of the Bashkirs live throughout Russia, as well as in the CIS countries ...

Chuvash are the indigenous inhabitants of the Chuvash Republic. Their number is 1.4 million people, which is 1.01% of the total national composition of Russians. According to the census, about 880 thousand Chuvashs live on the territory of the republic, the rest live in all regions of Russia, as well as in Kazakhstan and Ukraine ...

Chechens are a people who settled in the North Caucasus, Chechnya is considered their homeland. In Russia, the number of the Chechen people was 1.3 million people, but according to statistics, since 2015 the number of Chechens in the territory of the Russian Federation has increased to 1.4 million. This people makes up 1.01% of the total population of Russia ...

The Mordovian people have a population of about 800 thousand people (about 750 thousand), which is 0.54% of the total population. Most of the people live in Mordovia - about 350 thousand people, followed by the regions: Samara, Penza, Orenburg, Ulyanovsk. Least of all, this ethnic group lives in the Ivanovo and Omsk regions, and 5 thousand belonging to the Mordovian people will not gather there ...

The Udmurt people have a population of 550 thousand people - this is 0.40% of the total population of our vast Motherland. Most of the ethnic group lives in the Udmurt Republic, and the rest is dispersed in neighboring regions - Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Sverdlovsk Region, Perm Territory, Kirov Region, Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug. A small part of the Udmurt people migrated to Kazakhstan and Ukraine ...

The Yakuts represent the indigenous population of Yakutia. Their number is equal to 480 thousand people - this is about 0.35% of the total national composition in the Russian Federation. Yakuts make up the majority of the inhabitants of Yakutia and Siberia. They also live in other regions of Russia, the most densely populated regions of Yakuts are the Irkutsk and Magadan regions, the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Khabarovsk and the Primorsky District ...

According to statistics available after the census, 460,000 Buryats live in Russia. This is 0.32% of the total number of Russians. Most of the Buryats (about 280 thousand people) live in Buryatia, being the indigenous population of this republic. The rest of the people of Buryatia live in other regions of Russia. The most densely populated territory by Buryats is the Irkutsk Region (77 thousand) and the Trans-Baikal Territory (73 thousand), and the less populated territory is the Kamchatka Territory and the Kemerovo Region, even 2000 thousand Buryats cannot be found there ...

The number of the Komi people living on the territory of the Russian Federation is 230 thousand people. This figure is 0.16% of the total population in Russia. For living, this people chose not only the Komi Republic, which is their immediate homeland, but also other regions of our vast country. The Komi people are found in the Sverdlovsk, Tyumen, Arkhangelsk, Murmansk and Omsk regions, as well as in the Nenets, Yamalo-Nenets and Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrugs ...

The people of Kalmykia are indigenous to the Republic of Kalmykia. Their number is 190 thousand people, if compared as a percentage, then 0.13% of the total population living in Russia. Most of these people, not counting Kalmykia, live in the Astrakhan and Volgograd regions - about 7 thousand people. And least of all Kalmyks live in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug and the Stavropol Territory - less than a thousand people ...

Altaians are the indigenous people of Altai, therefore they live mainly in this republic. Although some of the population has left the historical habitat, they now live in the Kemerovo and Novosibirsk regions. The total number of the Altai people is 79 thousand people, in percentage - 0.06 of the total number of Russians ...

The Chukchi are a small people from the northeastern part of Asia. In Russia, the Chukchi people have a small number - about 16 thousand people, their people make up 0.01% of the total population of our multinational country. This people is scattered throughout Russia, but most of them settled in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Yakutia, the Kamchatka Territory and the Magadan Region ...

These are the most common peoples that you can meet in the vastness of Mother Russia. However, the list is far from complete, because there are also foreigners in our state. For example, Germans, Vietnamese, Arabs, Serbs, Romanians, Czechs, Americans, Kazakhs, Ukrainians, French, Italians, Slovaks, Croats, Tuvans, Uzbeks, Spaniards, British, Japanese, Pakistanis, etc. Most of the listed ethnic groups make up 0.01% of the total, but there are peoples with more than 0.5%.

You can continue endlessly, because the vast territory of the Russian Federation is capable of accommodating many peoples under one roof, both indigenous and those arriving from other countries and even continents.

It is connected with their resettlement during the era of colonial conquests. Negroids in North and South America appeared in the era of the slave system, when they were brought here to work on plantations.

It is wrong to think that the entire population of the world belongs to these races. They make up only 70% of the world's population, and the other 30% are racial groups resulting from the mixing of these four races. Especially intense racial mixing occurred in North and South America. As a result of marriages of representatives of different races, groups such as mulattoes, mestizos and sambos arose. Descendants from marriages of Caucasians with Indians belonging to the Mongoloid race are called mestizos. Mulattos arose from the mixing of Caucasians with Negroids imported from Africa. As a result of the marriages of Negroids with Indians (Mongoloids), Sambo groups were formed.

Within the races, smaller groups are distinguished: tribes, nationalities, nations. In the modern world, 3-4 thousand different peoples are distinguished. The number of each of them is different. For example, the Chinese, of which there are already more than 1.1 billion, and the Vedda tribe, which numbers less than 1,000 people. The bulk of the world's population is still made up of large nations.

As a rule, the commonality of each of the ethnic groups is characterized by a combination of a large number of features, the main of which are the territory, features of life, culture, language. The classification of various peoples by language is based on the principle of their kinship. Languages ​​are grouped into language families, which in turn are divided into language groups. The most common of all language families is Indo-European. About half of all the peoples of the world speak the languages ​​of this family. Of the languages ​​​​of the Indo-European family, the most common are English (425 million people), Hindi (350 million people), Spanish (340 million people), Russian (290 million people), Bengali (185 million people), Portuguese (175 million people), German (120 million people), French (129 million people).

The second significant language family is Sino-Tibetan, the main language of which is Chinese (over 1 billion people). The Chinese language has several main dialects, the differences between which are so great that when speaking, the inhabitants of the northern and southern provinces hardly understand each other. For explanation, they use a single script, which has 50 thousand characters. Each Chinese character is pronounced with a specific musical tone. Depending on the tone, many words pronounced with the same sounds can have completely different meanings.

The wide spread of Chinese and Russian languages ​​is explained by the significance of the territory of these states. But why are English and Spanish so common? Their wide distribution, sharply exceeding the population itself and, is explained by the colonial past of the countries of Asia, Africa and. So, until now, the official language of some is English, and almost everything (except) speaks Spanish.

National criteria underlie the division of mankind into states. If national borders coincide with state borders, then a one-national state is created. It's about half. In them, the main nationality is over 90%. These are many states of Latin America. Sometimes a state is created by two nations. This , . Along with all these countries, there are many states that are multinational. This , . Up to a hundred peoples live in such countries, and very often such a state has a federal structure.

In many multinational states, there are problems of interethnic relations, which are very acute in many regions of the world and from time to time give rise to hot spots on our planet, which often leads to serious consequences in economic and social life.

In the modern world, there are still manifestations of nationalism, which is characterized by the idea of ​​national superiority of any people. Racial and national discrimination has not been completely eradicated. So, for many years conflicts in Canada between Anglo-Canadians, who occupy key positions in the economy, and French-Canadians, who feel their social and economic infringement and advocate the creation of an independent state, have not subsided; For several years, the Middle East hotbed of tension connected with the Arab confrontation and giving rise to the problem of Palestinian refugees has not subsided. There are also “hot spots” in Europe: the Turkish-Greek conflict on, which actually led to the division of this one. There are also "hot spots" associated with national conflicts in the republics of the former USSR.

The most acute national conflicts occur in, where the policy of discrimination until the beginning of the 90s was elevated to the rank of state.

At the end of the 1980s, interethnic relations in Eastern Europe also became very complicated. These include, in particular:

a) the desire of the Polish national minority (about 260 thousand people, or 8% of the country's population) to create their own autonomy;

e) the collapse of Yugoslavia.

It is quite obvious that without solving these and other similar problems it is difficult to develop normal relations between countries.

The largest language families in the world