Nation

A nation is a form of social organisation distinguished by the emergence of a shared national identity among a population. This identity may be rooted in common language, culture, history, territory, religion, ethnicity or a combination of these features. Some nations understand themselves through ethnic descent and cultural inheritance, while others are bound by shared political values and civic institutions. Nations are generally more explicitly political than ethnic groups, and their rise is closely linked to the development of modern statehood.

Definitions and conceptual foundations

Modern scholarship typically regards nations as socially constructed, historically contingent and organisationally flexible communities. Benedict Anderson influentially described the nation as an “imagined community”: a community whose members will never know or meet most of their compatriots, yet envision themselves as part of a shared collective. This perspective emphasises the symbolic, cultural and political processes that give rise to national belonging.
Although human societies have long formed attachments to kinship groups, local traditions and territorial authorities, nationalism—the doctrine that each nation should have its own state—did not become a widespread political ideology until the late eighteenth century. The nation, then, is closely linked to modernity, mass literacy, and the rise of centralised, bureaucratic state structures.

Etymology and linguistic history

The English word nation derives from Middle English nacioun, used from the thirteenth century to describe a people with common lineage or origin. Its roots lie in Old French nacion and Latin natio, meaning birth, breed or tribe, from nasci, “to be born”. Classical Latin used natio to refer to groups of common descent, and medieval Latin writing maintained this flexible application.

Nations in historical context

While most scholars emphasise that nations are a modern phenomenon, some historical analyses identify earlier forms of national consciousness. These interpretations highlight cases in which pre-modern groups displayed cohesive identities tied to shared language, religion or customary law, though not always fully aligned with the modern concept of nationalism.
Several historians have proposed examples of early nations:

• Ancient Israel is frequently cited, particularly by Adrian Hastings, as an early case of a community resembling a nation due to its strong cultural and religious cohesion.
• The Jewish people maintained a distinctive collective identity throughout the diaspora, providing a rare case of long-term cultural continuity.
• Bulgaria during the medieval period consolidated cultural and linguistic identity through the adoption of the Cyrillic script and the spread of Old Church Slavonic literacy.
• Byzantium, according to Anthony Kaldellis, evolved into a form of medieval nation-state, with an identity rooted in Roman heritage and Christian tradition.
• China, Korea and Japan have been identified by some scholars, such as Azar Gat, as having developed early forms of national cohesion long before modern nationalism.

Other historians caution against projecting modern concepts onto earlier societies. Patrick Geary argues that medieval group identities were variable, context-dependent and frequently reshaped by political elites. Sami Zubaida stresses that many empires governed multi-ethnic populations, and shared ethnicity was not necessarily central to political identity. Paul Lawrence notes that elite historical writings cannot be taken as evidence of widespread popular self-identification.

Medieval uses of the term natio

In the medieval university context, nationes denoted groups of students or clerics who shared linguistic, geographic or legal backgrounds. At the University of Paris, students were divided into French, Norman, Picard and English nations, each with its own representatives. Similar divisions existed at Charles University in Prague and within the administrative structures of the Knights Hospitaller, where “nations” determined lodging, communal organisation and legal treatment.
While these groupings employed the term natio, they signified administrative and linguistic categories rather than modern national identities.

Early modern transformations

By the early modern period, new forms of collective identity began to take shape. The Dutch Republic has been described as the first fully modern nation-state, formed through resistance to Habsburg rule and grounded in a civic, biblically infused political nationalism. Similar movements appeared across Reformation-era Europe, where biblical models of peoplehood and covenant were adapted into emerging state ideologies.
Scholars such as Liah Greenfeld argue that England was the first modern nation, claiming that concepts of popular sovereignty and national identity had already taken root by 1600. Others highlight the broader influence of religious, cultural and political upheavals in creating conditions for the modern nation-state.

Modern interpretations and contemporary significance

Modern nations are usually defined by features such as mass communication, centralised administration, literacy, national education systems and institutionalised political identity. They rely on shared narratives, collective memory and symbolic boundaries. Anthony D. Smith has emphasised the role of myths, memories and shared heritage in shaping national consciousness, while also acknowledging the modern transformations that distinguish nations from earlier ethnic communities.
The rise of nations has profoundly influenced global politics. The alignment of nation and state—a core principle of nationalism—has structured international relations, legitimised new states and contributed to conflicts where competing national identities overlap or diverge from existing state boundaries.