A community of people who share a sense of common identity—often rooted in language, culture, history, or descent—forms a nation. The nation is a cultural and psychological entity that may or may not coincide with the boundaries of a state.

National identity can mobilize people for self-government, resistance to foreign rule, or internal solidarity. It can also exclude minorities and justify aggression against outsiders. Nations are imagined communities in the sense that most members will never meet, yet they sustain a powerful sense of shared fate through symbols, education, and media.

The relationship between nation and state is a central theme of modern politics. Nation-states claim to embody a single nation; multinational states manage several; nationalist movements seek states of their own. Globalization and migration continually reshape what national belonging means in practice.

Flags, anthems, and shared historical narratives keep the idea of the nation alive across generations.