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Question

Recently I had been thinking about nationalities, and what makes a person Greek, Spanish, Scandinavian..etc. I feel like besides the fact that some people are from a certain country and share the same facial features...what makes a person a certain nationality? We are all humans..so what makes one body a certain nationality?

Answer 1

I find fantasia's answer very interesting, but wonder if there are certain inherent traits and characteristics that are more pronounced in certain nationalities.  Take for instance my family.  I am just 4th generation German.  My grandmother was very strict.  She had an attitude that either you agreed with her or you were against her.  I have noticed in another family I am close to that is also German heritage similar behavior.  Especially in the family matriarch.  This is a family that really doesn't identify with their German heritage either.  If you ask them what nationality they will always just say "American".  I have also had more than a few people remark that I have a fiery temper, most likely due to my Scotch/Irish/German heritage.

Answer 2

A shared culture.  Genetically, there's very little difference between anyone, really, although populations do have similar casts of features, much like families do.  Culturally, though, there can be a vast difference even between people who live right next door to one another.  Language, mores, traditions, cuisine, architecture, and so many other things like that all define a nationality.

Answer 3

I think it just has to do with the culture and the customs.  When people say to me that they're Italian or Polish but know nothing about those groups of people I don't even count it as their nationality.  It has to do with food, language, and so much more.  Saying you have _____ heritage does not make you _____.

Answer 4

It depends on what theory you are willing to believe. Through the theory of evolution we know that there were different decedents that modern humans came from (cro-magnum, neanderthal, etc.) And through thousands of years of inbreeding and fetal diseases we are who we are now. 'Races' very from appearance because those cultures stuck together.

If you believe in creationism then you probably already know that in Babylon there was a tower built in defiance to God and that God struck them down and created the chaos of defining differences amongst races.

Just a guess, but it could lead you to whatever answer you're looking for. Try reading Guns Germs and Steel, prehistorical geology books, or the bible, depending on what answer you want.

Answer 5

I guess you won't like my answer but actually a nationality is nothing else than a legal status. You gain your nationality out of the legal norms that provide rules for membership of a nation. Basically being born within the borders of said nation, but there are a number of rules that can apply depending on the nations laws.

Your confusion (very common in the USA) stems from the idea that one nation equals one culture, which is a very old idea about national identity.

For example: Spanish nationality (which you mentioned) includes Basques, Andalusians, Catalans, and other cultures properly speaking. So how would you choose objective features that sum up to the Spanish nationality?

Answer 6

Your nationality is where your descend from not necessarily meaning you share any of its customs etc. its just like a way to distinguish people from each other due to differences in culture nothing more :D o-o

Answer 7

I think it just boils down to being identified to which nationality one belong too and that includes culture, tradition, heritage etc..  Yes, this gives a person a strong sense of an identity and to the people one belong to.