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Monoethnicity

{{short description|Existence of a single ethnic group in a region or country}}

{{Multiple issues|

{{disputed|date=April 2023}}

{{Original research|date=April 2025}}

}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}

Monoethnicity is the existence of a single ethnic group in a given region or country. It is the opposite of polyethnicity.

An example of a largely monoethnic country is Japan. It is a common belief in Japan that the entire country is monoethnic, but a few ethnic minorities live in Japan (e.g. Koreans, Ainus, and Ryukyuans).{{Citation |first=Osamu |last=Arakaki |title=Refugee Law and Practice in Japan |date=2008 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing |isbn=978-0754670094 |page=36}} They represent around 1% of the whole population.{{in lang|ja}} [http://www.moj.go.jp/content/000108878.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014124020/http://www.moj.go.jp/content/000108878.pdf|date=14 October 2013}} {{lang|ja|平成２４年末現在における外国人登録者統計について}}].

South Korea is another monoethnic country. There are small ethnic minorities that exist in South Korea, where they account for around 1% of the South Korean population. These include around 650,000 Chinese immigrants.{{Citation |title=Trying to teach South Korea about discrimination |date=24 February 2009 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-feb-24-fg-korea-teach24-story.html |work=The Los Angeles Times}}

Most African countries have what would be considered a mono-racial society, but it is common to find dozens of ethnic groups within the same country.

The Yugoslav Wars are noted as having made Yugoslavia's successor states "de facto and de jure monoethnic nation-states",{{Citation |first=Gary |last=Dempsey |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EG_jyoDpN1EC&pg=PA91 |title=Exiting the Balkan Thicket |publisher=Cato Institute |year=2002 |isbn=978-1-930865-17-4 |pages=91–}} with Bosnia and Herzegovina further diving itself into mono-ethnic enclaves.{{cite newspaper |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/bosnia-herzegovina-discrimination-enshrining-how |last=Memisevic |first=Ehlimana |title=How Bosnia and Herzegovina is enshrining discrimination |newspaper=Middle East Eye |date=5 December 2022 |access-date=17 March 2023}}

Because not all countries collect data on ethnicity, and the collection of data usually relies on self-reporting, it can be difficult to discern how monoethnic a country is.

Monoethnic countries with more than 85% homogenity

{{incomplete list|date=December 2016}}

Sovereign states

class="wikitable sortable"
Rank

! Country

! Population

! Dominant group

! %

! class="unsortable"|Notes

!class="unsortable" style="width:3em"| {{Tooltip|Ref|References}}

1

|{{flag|Egypt}}

|111,247,248

|Egyptian

|99.7%

|

|style="text-align:center;"|{{Citation |title=Egypt - CIA World Factbook|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/egypt/#people-and-society}}

2

|{{flag|Lesotho}}

|2,227,548

|Basotho

|99.7%

|

| style="text-align:center;"|{{Citation | title=Lesotho - CIA World Factbook|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/lesotho/#people-and-society}}

3

|{{flag|Algeria}}

|47,022,473

|Arab-Amazigh

|99%

| Although almost all Algerians are Amazigh in origin and not Arab, only a minority identify themselves as primarily Amazigh

| style="text-align:center;"|{{Citation |title=Algeria - CIA World Factbook |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/algeria/#people-and-society |access-date=25 November 2024 |website=www.cia.gov |language=en}}

4

|{{flag|Bangladesh}}

|168,697,184

|Bengali

|99%

|

| style="text-align:center;"|{{Citation |title=Bangladesh - CIA World Factbook |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/bangladesh/#people-and-society |access-date=25 November 2024 |website=www.cia.gov |language=en}}

5

|{{flag|Morocco}}

|37,387,585

|Arab-Amazigh

|99%

|Does not include data from Western Sahara

| style="text-align:center;"|{{Citation |date=25 November 2024 |title=Morocco - CIA World Factbook |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/morocco/#people-and-society|website=CIA.gov}}

6

| {{flag|Vanuatu}}

| 318,007

| Ni-Vanuatu

| 99%

|

| style="text-align:center;"|{{Citation |date=25 November 2024 |title=Vanuatu - CIA World Factbook|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/vanuatu/#people-and-society |website=The World Factbook |publisher=CIA |quote=Ni-Vanuatu 99%, other 1% (European, Asian, other Melanesian, Polynesian, Micronesian, other) (2020 est.))}}

7

| {{flag|Armenia}}

| 2,976,765

| Armenian

| 98.1%

|

| style="text-align:center;"|{{Citation |date=25 November 2024 |title=Armenia - CIA World Factbook |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/armenia/#people-and-society |website=The World Factbook |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency}}

8

| {{flag|Tunisia}}

| 12,048,847

| Arab-Amazigh

| 98%

|

| style="text-align:center;"|{{Citation |date=25 November 2024 |title=Tunisia - CIA World Factbook |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/tunisia/#people-and-society |website=The World Factbook |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency}}

9

|{{flag|Albania}}

|3,107,100

|Albanian

|98%

|

|style="text-align:center;"|{{Citation |title=Minority Rights and the Republic of Albania: Missing the Implementation |url=https://lup.lub.lu.se/luur/download?func=downloadFile&recordOId=1555225&fileOId=1563588 |website=lup.lub.lu.se |page=11 |language=en |quote=From the ethnic point of view, according to the Albanian government's reports, 98 percent of the population is Albanian and only two percent consist of Greek, Macedonian, Montenegrin recognized as national Minorities and Roma, Aromaninan recognized as ethnic - linguistic Minorities by the Albanian state.}}

10

|{{flag|Japan}}

|123,201,945

|Japanese

|97.5%

|

| style="text-align:center;"|{{Citation |date=25 November 2024 |title=Japan - CIA World Factbook|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/japan/#people-and-society |website=The World Factbook |publisher=CIA}}

11

|{{flag|Poland}}

|38,746,310

|Polish

|96.9%

| This number represents the percentage of people who indicated Polish as their primary ethnicity

| style="text-align:center;"|{{Citation |date=25 November 2024 |title=Poland - CIA World Factbook|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/poland/#people-and-society |website=The World Factbook |publisher=CIA |quote=represents ethnicity declared first}}

12

| {{flag|Tonga}}

| 104,889

| Tongan

| 96.5%

|

| style="text-align:center;"|{{Citation |date=25 November 2024 |title=Tonga - CIA World Factbook|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/tunisia/ |website=The World Factbook |publisher=CIA}}

13

| {{flag|Kiribati}}

| 116,545

| I-Kiribati

| 95.78%

|

| style="text-align:center;"|{{Citation |date=15 November 2024 |title=Kiribati - CIA World Factbook|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/kiribati/ |website=The World Factbook |publisher=CIA}}

14

|{{flag|Marshall Islands}}

| 82,011

|Marshallese

|95.6%

|

| style="text-align:center;"|{{Citation | title=Marshall Islands- CIA World Factbook|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/marshall-islands/#people-and-society}}

15

|{{flag|Cambodia}}

|17,063,669

|Khmer

|95.4%

|

| style="text-align:center;"|{{Citation | title=Cambodia- CIA World Factbook|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cambodia/#people-and-society}}

16

|{{flag|Solomon Islands}}

|726,799

|Melanesian

|95.4%

|

| style="text-align:center;"|{{Citation | title=Solomon Islands- CIA World Factbook|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/solomon-islands/#people-and-society}}

18

| {{flag|Lebanon}}

| 5,364,482

| Levantine

| 95%

|

| style="text-align:center;" |{{Citation |date=25 November 2024 |title=Lebanon - CIA World Factbook |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/lebanon/ |website=The World Factbook |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency}}

19

|{{flag|Portugal}}

|10,207,177

|Portuguese

|95%

|

| style="text-align:center;" |{{Citation |date=25 November 2024 |title=Portugal - CIA World Factbook |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/portugal/ |website=The World Factbook |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency}}

17

|{{flag|South Korea}}

|51,217,221

|Koreans

|94.8%

|

![https://www.moj.go.kr/moj/2412/subview.do "출입국통계"]. Ministry of Justice (in Korean). Retrieved April 4, 2025.

20

|{{flag|Nauru}}

|9,892

|Nauruan

|94.6%

|

| style="text-align:center;" |{{Citation |date=25 November 2024 |title=Nauru - CIA World Factbook |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/nauru/ |website=The World Factbook |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency}}

21

|{{flag|Azerbaijan}}

|10,650,239

|Azerbaijani

|91.6%

|

| style="text-align:center;" |{{Citation |date=25 November 2024 |title=Azerbaijan - the World Factbook |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/azerbaijan/#people-and-society}}

22

|{{flag|Croatia}}

|4,150,116

|Croatian

|91.6%

|

| style="text-align:center;" |{{Citation |date=25 November 2024 |title=Croatia - the World Factbook |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/croatia/#people-and-society}}

23

|{{flag|China}}

|1,416,043,270

|Han Chinese

|91.1%

|

| style="text-align:center;" |{{Citation |date=25 November 2024 |title=China - the World Factbook |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/china/#people-and-society}}

24

|{{flag|Italy}}

|58,947,905

|Italian

|91%

|

![https://www.istat.it/it/files//2021/05/REPORT_INDICATORI-DEMOGRAFICI-2020.pdf "Indicatori demografici, anno 2020" (PDF).] [https://web.archive.org/web/20210503091112/https://www.istat.it/it/files//2021/05/REPORT_INDICATORI-DEMOGRAFICI-2020.pdf Archived] (PDF) from the original on 3 May 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2021.

25

|{{flag|Saudi Arabia}}

|36,544,431

|Arab

|90%

|

| style="text-align:center;" |{{Citation |date=25 November 2024 |title=Saudi Arabia - the World Factbook |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/saudi-arabia/#people-and-society}}

26

|{{flag|Finland}}

|5,603,851

|Finns

|89.8%

|

!{{Cite web |date=2024-04-26 |title=Population growth biggest in nearly 70 years {{!}} Statistics Finland |url=https://stat.fi/en/publication/cln1i2dtgwknt0cut9yem67se |access-date=2025-03-13 |website=stat.fi |language=en}}

27

|{{flag|Romania}}

|18,148,155

|Romanian

|89.3%

|Data represents only those who declared an ethnicity in the 2021 census

| style="text-align:center;" |{{Citation |date=25 November 2024 |title=Romania - the World Factbook |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/romania/#people-and-society}}

28

|{{flag|Turkmenistan}}

|5,744,151

|Turkmen

|87.6%

|

| style="text-align:center;" |{{Citation |date=25 November 2024 |title=Turkmenistan - the World Factbook |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/turkmenistan/#people-and-society}}

29

|{{flag|Georgia}}

|4,900,961

|Georgian

|86.8%

|

| style="text-align:center;" |{{Citation |date=25 November 2024 |title=Georgia - the World Factbook |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/georgia/#people-and-society}}

30

|{{flag|Vietnam}}

|105,758,975

|Viet

|85.3%

|

| style="text-align:center;" |{{Citation |date=25 November 2024 |title=Vietnam - the World Factbook |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/vietnam/#people-and-society}}

=Unrecognized states and dependent territories=

class="wikitable sortable"
Country

! Population

! Dominant group

! %

!class="unsortable" style="width:3em"| {{Tooltip|Ref|References}}

{{flag|Palestine}}

|5,483,450

|Palestinian

|91%

|{{Citation |title=Gaza Strip |date=2023-11-28 |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/gaza-strip/#people-and-society |work=The World Factbook |access-date=2023-12-04 |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |language=en}}{{Citation |title=West Bank |date=2023-11-14 |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/west-bank/#people-and-society |work=The World Factbook |access-date=2023-12-04 |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |language=en}}

{{flag|Northern Cyprus}}

|265,100

|Turkish Cypriots

|99.2%

| style="text-align:center;"|{{Citation |title=Tablo – 8 : Yaş Grubu, Milliyet ve Cinsiyete Göre Sürekli İkamet Eden (de-jure) KKTC Vatandaşı Nüfus. TOPLAM |url=http://nufussayimi.devplan.org/Nufus-nitelikleri_main.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314011919/http://nufussayimi.devplan.org/Nufus-nitelikleri_main.html |archive-date=14 March 2016 |access-date=12 February 2019}}

{{flag|Somaliland}}

|3,500,000

|Somalis

|99%

|style="text-align:center;"|{{Citation |date=1 October 2017 |title=A look at Somaliland between clan politics, regional turmoil and November elections |url=https://newint.org/columns/country/2017/10/01/somaliland |access-date=12 July 2021 |website=New Internationalist |language=en}}

{{flag|Republic of China (Taiwan)}}

|23,347,374

|Han Chinese

|97%

|{{Cite web |date=2011-12-01 |title=中華民國行政院全球資訊網 |url=https://www.ey.gov.tw/state/99B2E89521FC31E1/2820610c-e97f-4d33-aa1e-e7b15222e45a |access-date=2023-05-11 |website=2.16.886.101.20003 |language=zh-tw}}{{Cite web |date=2018-05-01 |title=中華民國 內政部戶政司 全球資訊網 |url=https://www.ris.gov.tw/app/portal/346 |access-date=2023-05-11 |website=中華民國內政部戶政司}}

{{flag|Hong Kong}}

|7,249,907

|Cantonese people and Taishanese people

|92%

| style="text-align:center;"|{{Citation |title=Hong Kong |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/hong-kong/ |access-date=16 February 2020 |website=The World Factbook |publisher=CIA}}

{{Flag|Kosovo}}

|1,586,659

|Albanians

|92%

|style="text-align:center;"|https://askapi.rks-gov.net/Custom/1d268e37-5934-4bd5-bbd1-34a9965cff92.pdf

{{flag|Greenland}}

|55,877

|Inuit

|89.7%

| style="text-align:center;"|{{Citation |title=North America :: Greenland – The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/greenland/ |access-date=7 February 2020 |website=www.cia.gov}}

{{flag|South Ossetia}}

|53,532

|Ossetians

|89.9%

| style="text-align:center;"|{{Citation |title=South Ossetia – Ethnic composition: 2015 census |url=http://pop-stat.mashke.org/rso-ethnic2015.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180706014845/http://pop-stat.mashke.org/rso-ethnic2015.htm |archive-date=6 July 2018 |access-date=16 July 2018}}

{{flag|Macau}}

|614,458

|Cantonese people and Macanese people

|88.7%

|style="text-align:center;"|{{Citation |title=Macau |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/macau/ |access-date=9 June 2020 |website=The World Factbook |publisher=CIA}}

{{flag|Åland}}

|30,696

|Ålanders

|86.5%

|style="text-align:center;"|{{Citation |title=Åland |url=https://www.asub.ax/en/ |access-date=5 Nov 2024 |website=ÅSUB}}

See also

References

{{reflist}}

{{Ethnicity}}

Category:Ethnicity