bicommunal

adjective

bi·com·mu·nal | \ (ˌ)bī-kə-ˈmyü-nᵊl ,

-ˈkä-myə- \

Definition of bicommunal

: involving or including two distinct communities of people : of, relating to, or being a society composed of two distinct or separate communities often with conflicting interests In the Canadian federation, there is a strong bicommunal element, given the fundamental English-speaking and French-speaking division. —Ronald L. Watts, Autonomy and Ethnicity: Negotiating Competing Claims in Multi-ethnic States, 2000 In any case, neither the EU nor any supranational structure would possess any innate advantage in attempts to resolve bicommunal disputes such as that in Northern Ireland. —Derek W. Urwin, Regions and Regionalism in Europe, 2004 Perhaps most importantly, Rwanda can be described as a bicommunal society. This term refers to a society where over 80 percent of the population belongs to one of two well-defined identity groups. Also, the two groups in Rwanda are not in balance. Bicommunal societies are marked by social differentiation and segregation, which often results in political separation or conflict. —John James Quinn et al., Ethnic Conflict and International Politics, 2004