A nation is a large group of people who share a common identity, such as language, culture, or history, and often live in the same territory. The word is also used for a country with its own government.
From Old French *nacion*, from Latin *natio* “birth, race, people,” from *nasci* “to be born.” Originally it referred to groups of common origin before becoming tied to political territories and states.
The root idea of a nation is who you’re “born with,” not lines on a map. That’s why people talk about nations without states and states with many nations inside them. Modern passports hide how messy and emotional national identity really is.
Nations have often been personified as women (e.g., 'Motherland') while political power remained male-dominated, and nationalist rhetoric has used women's bodies as symbols of purity or honor. Women's actual political and economic contributions to nation-building were frequently erased.
Avoid gendering nations or using women's bodies as metaphors for national honor; speak concretely about populations, governments, and institutions.
["country","state","polity","population"]
Women have been central to independence movements, reconstruction, and everyday nation-building labor, though official histories often list mostly male leaders.
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