refers to the evolution of cultural diversity within a jurisdiction, introduced by its selection policies and institutionalized by its settlement policies.
As a descriptive term, multiculturalism refers to the selection policies that formed the demography of a specific place. This may have come about endogenously through the conjunction of two or more ethnic groups into one jurisdiction (e.g. Quebec and Canada) or exogenously through immigration from different jurisdictions around the world (e.g. Australia, Brazil, Mexico, the United States, and many other countries).