What is the Difference Between Nation and Nation State

The main difference between nation and nation state is that a nation is a large body of people united by a common origin, history, culture, ethnicity, or language while nation state is a state where people with a common identity live inside a country with firm borders and a single government.

The term nation refers to a group of people who share common cultural characteristics, including language, heritage, ethnicity, and religion. A state, on the other hand, is an independent political entity with fixed geographic boundaries. When these two concepts coincide, a nation state is formed, i.e.,  a group of people who share common cultural characteristics living in an independent political entity with fixed geographic boundaries.

Key Areas Covered

1. What is a Nation 
     – Definition, Characteristics
2. What is a Nation State
     – Definition, Characteristics
3. Difference Between Nation and Nation State
     – Comparison of Key Differences

Key Terms

Nation, Nation State

What is a Nation

Nation is a large body of people united by a common origin, history, culture, ethnicity, or language.  To be more specific, it is a cultural-political community. Moreover, it is the strong bond between people and common elements like ethnicity, language, and descent that keeps the nation together.

Factors like a common language, common race, common culture, common history, common territory, etc. form a nation. However, these are not absolute essentials. The factors or elements that result in a nation are not always constant. For instance, a nation can survive without a territory, but love for a common territory may unite the nation.  Moreover, a nation is always the result of evolution.  It is also possible for two or more nations to exist within a single state. Furthermore, not every nation has a state.

What is a Nation State

A nation state is a system of organization where people with a common identity live inside a country with firm borders and a single government. It is a system of geographic, political and cultural organization. Moreover, a nation state is held together by the government, the physical boundaries of the state/country, and people’s belief that they are connected to each other.

The basic elements of a nation state are state and nation. State is the body of government – this includes all the laws, government officials, and physical boundaries. On the other hand, the nation refers to people. It is created by the shared feeling that people in the country are connected to each other. Furthermore, nation states usually have a shared national culture, which is achieved through common history, language, education, and holidays.

In an ideal nation state, the entire population of the state pledges allegiance to the national culture. Therefore, we can say that this population is homogenous. Moreover, every member of the nation is a permanent resident of the nation state. There are no pure nation states. Japan and Iceland are examples of countries that come close to the concept of a pure nation state.

Relationship Between Nation and Nation State

The concept of nation state has two fundamental aspects: nation and state. Nation describes the people while state describes the governing body and physical borders.

Difference Between Nation and Nation State

Definition

Nation is a large body of people sharing a common origin, history, culture, ethnicity, or language while nation state is a system of organization where people with a common identity live inside a country with firm borders and a single government.

State

Not every nation has a state, but in the concept of nation state, each state has one nation.

Conclusion

Nation is a large body of people sharing a common origin, history, culture, ethnicity, or language while nation state is a system of organization where people with a common identity live inside a country with firm borders and a single government. Thus, this is the main difference between nation and nation state.  

Reference:

1. “Nation-State.” New World Encyclopedia, Available here.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Japanese women” By Masahiro Hayata from Tokyo, Japan – Kimono Women (CC BY-SA 2.0) via Commons Wikimedia

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