Encyclopedia of Opinion
Question
What is a Nation?
Position1 of 4›

Nations are natural communities

This position holds that nations are natural communities, not modern inventions. It argues they rest on long-standing ethnic ties, shaped by territory and kinship, and on a shared cultural heritage — language, religion, myth, values — that binds a people across continuous history.

Supporting arguments · 2

  1. Nations are natural cultural communities
    Nations are defined by a cultural unity between people.
  2. Nations are natural ethnic communities
    Nations are bound together by a common ethnicity. They are shaped by specific territorial and biological factors; these factors also contribute to the development of unique cultures within these nations.