Minorities at Risk (MAR) tracks 284 politically-active ethnic groups throughout the world from 1945 to 2006, identifying where they are, what they do, and what happens to them. MAR focuses specifically on ethnopolitical groups, defined as non-state communal groups that have "political significance" in the contemporary world because of their status and political actions. 

The MAR project was initiated by Ted Robert Gurr in 1986 and has been based at the University of Maryland's Center for International Development and Conflict Management (CIDCM) since 1988.

The project has developed over four distinct phases:

  • Phase I covered 227 communal groups which met the criteria for classification as a minority at risk for the years 1945-1990;
  • Phase II covered 275 groups from 1990-1996;
  • Phase III covered 275 groups from 1996-1999; and
  • Phase IV covered 284 groups from 1998-2003.

The last update was completed in February 2009 for the years 2004-2006.

For more information about the MAR project, please visit http://www.mar.umd.edu/