Catalan independentist mural in Belfast, an example of ethnic separatism.

In a society, certain people may have ideas that are noticeably different from those of the majority. These people are sometimes called hat the majority (for example, the state or a religious group) recognises that their ideas are different. Very often, they also want autonomy, self-determination, and perhaps secession and independence from the main group. People may support separatism because they are of a different culture, ethnicity, religion, race or gender than the majority. It may also be because they have different ideas about governing, laws or religion.