DEK

All it took was a dispute in a toy factory to unleash riots this week in China's Xinjiang province that killed 156 and injured 1,100. Ethnic minorities like the Uighurs, and their more famous counterparts to the south in Tibet, often coexist badly with the majority--and it's not just a Chinese phenomenon. In many cases, the people crave a measure of autonomy, and some elements demand outright self-determination, agitating for it violently. While a few minorities, such as Rwanda's Tutsis, resolve to live with their antagonists even after ethnic conflict, others strive for an entirely separate state--citing religious, linguistic, or simply cultural divisions.  From the Balkans to Latin America, the quest to secede has elicited several of the world's worst conflicts. Some, like the Bengalis of East Pakistan, have succeeded in forming an independent state (Bangladesh); others, like Sri Lanka's Tamils, have been defeated. Most, though, coexist uneasily with the majority and nurse simmering resentments, much as the Uighurs have done. Click through for a primer.

 
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Member Comments

  • Posted By: tanzerian @ 08/09/2009 4:35:24 PM

    It appears that Newsweek has corrected number 13 about the ETA. Please now disregard my earlier comment as the issue has been rectified.

  • Posted By: mian138 @ 07/28/2009 2:50:17 AM

    The separatist movements in India which are about 16 (maximum in any one country of the world) have not been mentioned. These movements have claimed thousands of innocent lives so far. such reaserches should be more deliberate. In addition author has concentrated more on Russia, China and muslim countries which make the study look somewhat biased.

  • Posted By: Vigilance @ 07/14/2009 12:47:47 PM

    No mention of Texas? Rick Perry deserves a photo, I think, for all that I consider the Texas secession movement to be ill-advised, overly idealistic, and insufficiently concerned with major issues like how to establish their own embassies and currency without slagging the economy they're trying to protect in the process..

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