LANGUAGE POLICY TOWARDS ETHNIC-MINORITIES IN NORTHERN NORWAY AND ON THE ATLANTIC COAST OF NICARAGUA

The development of language policy in Norway and Nicaragua is here com pared by means of a linguicism continuum. Historically, there is no si gnificant difference in the treatment of the minorities. The assimilat ionist tendencies follow mainly the same pattern, but Norway has been clearly more active and has used more covert methods in its assimilati on policy. Self-government processes in Norway and Nicaragua, initiate d in the 1980s, have improved the linguistic rights of the minorities in both countries, but only Nicaragua has guaranteed the rights of all its ethnic minorities by law.