Nation

In scientific literature there are variety of definitions. The world nation has a Latin origin and the term exists in various Anglo-Roman languages, deriving from the world native. In it’s wider sense, the world nation refers to unity of people, social group – sharing historical memory and common myth of origins. Common blood, language, culture, religion and other factors contribute to unity of nation and the members of a nation have a strong devotion towards it (nation). As Walker Connoer notes: “the essence of nation is in it’s psychological bonds, unifying, and at the same time, separating the group of people from non-members, through subconsciosnes of it’s members”[1]. The same characteristics are offered by I.B.Stalin. According to his definition a nation is a hostorically constituted, stable community of people, formed on the basis of a common language, territory, economic life, and psycological make-up manifested in a common culture. It is only when all these characteristics are present together that we have a nation[2]..
For a long time the term nation depicted the population of a particular country. It was used to describe a people, residing on one and the same territory under the exclusive political government, in spite of their origins. In 16th-17th centuries more strict and aristocratic meaning of the term was dominating: the usage of the term nation was restricted and it was used to describe the nobility/aristocracy, while the term people refered to the lower classes of society.The term nation maintained it’s elitist connotation previous to the French Revolution[3].
[1]Conversi D. Conceptualizing nationalism: An introduction to Walker Connor’s work
[2]Stalin J. The Nation. Nationalism. Edited by John Hutchinson and Anthony D.Smith; Oxford-New York, Oxford University Press 1994. pp. 18-21.
[3]Ghelabi V.Y. Ethnicity in International Conflicts: Revisiting an Elusive Issue