A nation is a community of people composed of one or more ethnicities and possessing a more or less defined territory and government, usually formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society.
This national identity is typically based on shared culture, religion, history, language or ethnicity. Thus, the nation is a group of people having a strong sense of unity and common consciousness.
Nation-state vs State-Nation vs Stateless nation:
- Nation-State: A state comprising or dominated by a single nation is often called a nation-state. It is a place where the territorial boundaries of a state and the cultural boundaries of a nation coincide. For example, Modern France is considered as Nation-state.
- State-nation: It allows for a multiplicity of “imagined communities” to coexist beneath a single democratic roof. It recognises that citizens can have multiple, overlapping identities that need not contradict a larger sense of national unity.
- Stateless nation : These are cultural communities which failed or could not establish their own nation-states. For example, The Kurds currently reside in Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Turkey, but they have not established an internationally-recognized state based on their national identity.
