It also matters in places with a history of discrimination by one ethnic group against another. I t's based on members of a group having a firm understanding that they are in some way fundamentally different from others who do not share their distinguishing characteristics or cultural heritage. Geographers are interested in where ethnicities are distributed and where they came from, and how they got to where they are now. Our ethnic identity is immutable. We can't change where we came from.
Ethnicity lacks the tension frequently associated between local diversity and globalization.
Despite attempts to preserve local languages, we might be able to imagine a world in which virtually all educated people speak English. And universalizing religions continue to gain adherents around the world at the expense of some ethnic religions and traditional religions. So with the spread of English and universalizing religions, ethnicity is likely the best single attribute for the preservation of local diversity. We'll concentrate on Anglo-America. It was originally occupied by many culturally and linguistically different people who were overwhelmed by immigrants and their descendants from the Old World.