指國內一群擁有自己獨特認同的某少數族群，追求一定程度的自主性，甚至建立獨立國家。

引發分離主義的原因很多，包含民族、宗教、經濟，甚至是對現有政權的不滿。當今世界中有許多主權國家就是從分主義運動中獨立出來的，例如孟加拉、東帝汶、南蘇丹、斯洛伐克等。目前在全球各地都有活躍的分離主義運動，就連美國也有相當多分離主義團體。

分離主義可小可大，可以像加泰隆尼亞或蘇格蘭透過民主公投解決，嚴重的可能會引發大規模內戰。例如中東的庫德族獨立運動便同時引發土耳其、伊拉克、伊朗三個國家出兵壓制。近年來緬甸、查德、衣索比亞等地也都爆發當地政府與分離主義團體大打出手的新聞。

Separatism occurs when a minority group of people in a country with their own unique identity pursue an elevated level of autonomy or even to establish an independent state. 

There are many things that can lead to separatism, such as differences in ethnicity or religion, economic disagreements, or even dissatisfaction with the current regime. Many of today’s currently sovereign countries came into existence by declaring independence through separatist movements, including Bangladesh, East Timor, South Sudan, and Slovakia and the United States of America. Separatist movements are active all around the world, with many separatist groups in the United States alone. 

Separatist movements could be catalyzed for serious or minor reasons. For example, issues could be resolved through a democratic referendum like in Catalonia or Scotland, while the serious differences can lead to large-scale civil wars as in the independence movements of the Kurds in the Middle East which drew in forces from Turkey, Iraq, and Iran. There has also been news of local governments engaging in physical confrontations with separatist groups in Myanmar, Chad, and Ethiopia in recent years.