Thread: между, среди

I am pretty sure that you crossed by with questions many times.
In English we have:
(a) between = two parts
(b) among = more than two parts.

Например: XXX Ltd является стратегическим альянсом среди различных компании
this means that I cannot use между разными компаниями

And by the way: why различный а не разный

"различный" and "разный" are the same here.
"между" and "среди" in russian differs in this way: "между" can have role of implying connection between parts, but "среди" cannot.
"была альянсом между кампаниями" = "was alliance of some companies" (connection is implied, if we talk in this way, we are talking about inner structure here)
"была альянсом среди кампаний" = "was (one) alliance among (any others) companies (and/or alliances)" (we are relating to the environment here)
"между" can be about position only though, if context implies: "он стоял меж(ду) двух гор"
two/manies don't have role here.

Alex80, looks like компания is a correct spelling in Antonio's example.
I would also suggest to change the phrase:
"XXX Ltd является стратегическим альянсом различных компаний"

Now we don't need to know the difference between "между" and "среди" (btw, translation of last words is: разница между "между" and "среди" )