nazioni

Nazioni, in political and social terms, are communities organized around a shared sense of identity—often rooted in language, culture, history, or ethnicity—that seeks or maintains political governance and self-determination. The term is distinct from the legal entity of a state and from individual citizenship; when a nation corresponds to its own sovereign government, the result is often described as a nation-state.

A nation is thus a cultural-political community, while a state is a sovereign political unit with defined borders and institutions. A group may be a nation without a state, a multinational state may contain several nations, and a state may encompass multiple national communities. The concept of nationality relates to membership in a political community, whereas a nation may be based on broader cultural affinity.

The modern idea of nations developed with early modern and Enlightenment thought and became central to 19th-century nation-building. The 20th century’s decolonization and the dissolution of empires increased the number of self-identified nations. In many states, national communities coexist with others within a single political framework, leading to arrangements of autonomy, federalism, or regional rights. Proponents of self-determination argue that nations have the right to frame their political future, while opponents warn of fragmentation.

In international practice, recognition, borders, and governance are matters of state sovereignty, tempered by international law and institutions, such as the United Nations. Stateless nations—groups that identify as nations but lack their own recognized state—include communities such as the Kurds, among others. Multinational states, like Canada, Spain, and the United Kingdom, host several national communities.