A society is an organized group of people living together under shared institutions and norms. It is not just a population. It is a population with a common culture, territory, and identity. Societies can be small, like a hunter-gatherer band, or large, like a modern nation-state.

Sociologists classify societies by subsistence strategy: hunting and gathering, horticultural, pastoral, agricultural, industrial, and post-industrial. Each type has different social structures, family forms, and levels of inequality. As societies change, so do the rules of belonging.

Features of society

• Shared culture: language, values, norms
• Institutions: family, economy, government, education
• Territory: a geographic area
• Identity: a sense of belonging
• Social structure: roles and hierarchies

Societies are not static. They evolve, conflict, and merge. Globalization has created connections between societies that once were separate. But the nation-state remains the primary unit of political organization. Society is both a container and a work in progress.