Segregation means keeping groups of people apart from each other, usually by law or strict social rules. When places are segregated, different groups cannot share the same spaces, facilities, or opportunities.

Throughout history, many countries have practiced segregation. South Africa's apartheid system separated people by race for decades. Some countries have segregated people by religion or social class. In the United States, laws in many states forced Black Americans and white Americans to use separate schools, restaurants, buses, and other public places for nearly a century after the Civil War. These “separate but equal” facilities were never truly equal, and this unjust system lasted until the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

The word can describe other divisions too. Some schools use gender segregation, separating boys and girls for certain classes. A segregated neighborhood is one where people of different backgrounds live in completely separate areas.

Segregation differs from ordinary separation. When your school groups students by grade level, that's not segregation because it serves an educational purpose and doesn't deny anyone rights. Segregation involves forcing groups apart in ways that harm people and treat them as unequal.