In recent years, he said, two large farms in the area were returned to ethnic Korean families.

Its lucrative fur trade and much of the economy was originally dominated by ethnic French families.

The village is now home to some 200 ethnic Croatian families from other parts of Bosnia.

The Mayor's house, just down the street, is occupied by two ethnic Croat families.

However, the area remains to be a major settlement of various ethnic tribal families, earning for livelihood.

It is now acknowledged that the educational, health and social welfare systems are often not adequate or appropriate for the needs of most ethnic families.

"Usually," he said, "the other ethnic families have one specialty, and they stick to that."

As a result, the displaced ethnic Polish families were forced to take up residences outside.

Born in an ethnic Armenian family in 1926 and was the third of seven siblings.

More than 100 shops and businesses owned by ethnic Chinese families in the city were said to have been vandalized.