Nationality

Nationality is the legal relationship between a person and a state. This relationship places obligations on the state—such as protection of citizens within and outside its borders—while conferring rights and obligations on the person, including the right to enter and reside in the country.

The term is sometimes used in another sense: a community of people sharing customs, language, or history, even without a separate state. These two meanings—the legal and the cultural—must be distinguished, as a person may possess an ethnic or cultural identity that differs from their legal nationality.

Nationality and citizenship

In most countries, nationality and citizenship refer to the same thing. Some systems use nationality to denote the international relationship through which the state represents a person abroad, while citizenship denotes domestic rights such as voting and holding office. Consequently, a person may hold a nationality without possessing all political rights.

How it is acquired

Two principal rules are common. The first is jus sanguinis (descent): a child inherits the nationality of their parent regardless of birthplace. The second is jus soli (territory): a person acquires the nationality of the country in which they are born. Many countries combine both rules, subject to conditions such as the legal residence of the parent.

Naturalization and loss

Nationality may be acquired through naturalization following a period of residence, language proficiency, and examination of cultural and civic knowledge, along with an oath of loyalty. Marriage to a citizen, birth of children, and voluntary return to the country may also provide pathways. Conversely, a person may renounce nationality, and the state may withdraw it under circumstances defined in law, though international law restricts such deprivation if it renders the person stateless.

Dual nationality and statelessness

Some states permit a person to hold multiple nationalities; others prohibit this and require renunciation of one. The opposite condition is statelessness (the absence of any nationality), which can result from border changes, conflicting laws, or lack of birth registration. Stateless persons commonly face difficulty obtaining documents, travel, employment, and state services.