What's the difference between a nation and a country?

Question

What's the difference between a nation and a country?

Answer 1

While the terms country (synonomyous with "State") and nation are often used interchangeably, there is a difference. A country is a self-governing political entity while a nation is a tightly-knit group of people which share a common culture.

Answer 2

The two concepts are not identical. A country is a territory defined by borders, with some more complicated versions like the UK/Britain, as has been mentioned.

"Nation" is a much more complex and controversial term: It usually defines a collective of people, defined by their culture (customs, language, race). For example, the Hungarians are a "nation", but almost half of them live in countries bordering on Hungary (Romania, Serbia, Slovakia etc.). A "nation state" is a country with just one cultural group / ethnicity living in it.

The n***s used the "German nation" as their main argument to occupy territories outside Germany, which had a majority or big minority of Germans living in them. Another example: Arabs often refer to themselves as the "Arab nation", encompassing all countries with a majority of Arabs (Morocco to Iraq).

Answer 3

A country is the territory occupied by a nation.

A nation is a politically organized lot of people under a single government.

Answer 4

Technically there is no difference. However the useage of nation sometimes is a bit broader use mean people who share a common heritage or belief but may not share a common geographical location such as Sioux nation for example.

Answer 5

a country is a single country, but a nation can be more than one seperate countries united.

for example, england is a country. but GBR/UK is a nation.

i nation can be a single country too though.

Answer 6

An example: England, Wales, Scotland  are nations. The United Kingdom is a country made of those nations (plus Northern Ireland).

Answer 7

countrey isa land

nationa is the people that live in that land

Answer 8

a country is the physical boundary.

a nation is the people that live within it.

Answer 9

The name.