Cultural Traits as Defining Elements of Minority Groups

Integration policies are intended to have the dual aim of providing immigrants with the means to function in the society where they live and develop their potential, while preserving their cultural and ethnic identity, and familiarising the non-immigrant population with the rights of immigrants, their culture, traditions and needs. Integration also appears in documents specifically directed at the protection of traditional national minorities. This paper looks to identify the main cultural traits that define minorities in the institutional language and that are relevant for these integration policies. Language and religion emerge as a widely recognised identity factors in this respect. Other possible cultural identity factors gather around the idea of ethnicity, being more difficult to determine.