In demographics, clustering refers to the gathering of various populations based on ethnicity, economics or religion.

In countries which hold equality as important clustering occurs between groups because of polarizing factors such as religion, wealth or ethnocentrism. Clustering is often considered an enriching part of free cultures in which one can visit a chinatown or a French quarter for restaurant choices. However in other cases it can lead to near genocidal politics as in the Israeli Palestinian conflict / Arab Israeli conflict.