The nation - community of the people united on social, political, cultural and economic features. The nation can be interpreted in two contexts - as political and as ethnic community. In the latter case such term as the ethnonation is used.
Instruction
1. The nation - a phenomenon first of all political, and already then ethnic. In particular, the academic science does not allocate a concept the ethnonation. And the nation is defined as set of the people united by the general nationality. Ethnologists understand the nation as the new qualitative level of development of ethnic group. It succeeded such communities as a sort, the tribe, nationality. The early studies devoted to this subject believed that there is a special irrational beginning or national spirit which it is descended. It is distinctive feature of the nation and forms its identity and differences from other nations. From this position the nation is a community which occurs from the general ancestors. Thus, according to this concept the general roots are also the main sign of the nation.
2. Further development of science showed that the nation cannot be identified only with the general relationship or to reduce them to a certain race. In fact there is no nation which all representatives were one race. So, for example, the French nation was formed only after the Great French revolution as a result of connection of various people — Gascons, Burgundians, Bretons and so forth. Modern concepts understand the nation more widely. Refer not only the common sociocultural ground and identical national interests, but also community of language, the territory and economic life to number of its signs.
3. The economic or political relations and ethnic groups are interconnected. So, they acquire the national contents only if are directed to the solution of certain ethnic problems. On the other hand, economic and political consolidation promoted formation of national culture, language, the territory.
4. Some researchers believe that the nations are artificial formations which are specially designed by intellectual elite. As the only sign of the nation in this case the territory limited within the state acts. Ethnic signs and distinctions on this approach do not matter. Thus, only those ethnic groups which have the state can be called the nations. However most of researchers see in the territory only one of signs of ethnic groups as in its limits and certain cultural interrelations, the system of values and language were formed.
5. One more sign which does the nation by the nation is the national consciousness. On its basis the person carries himself to any given community. If the people itself do not consider itself the nation, then to call it that, despite ethnic community, the total area, economy, it is impossible. If the national consciousness is absent, then it is possible to speak only about the general ethnic origin. The national consciousness includes ethnic memory, knowledge and respect of national customs and traditions, knowledge of language, feeling of national advantage.
6. Most of the nations of a polietnichna, i.e. are formed at the expense of several ethnic groups. They are non-uniform on the structure and include various subethnic groups. Within one nation various ethnic groups which can have the language can remain. For example, the French, Germans, Italians within the Swiss nation. They can keep also the psychological features (for example, British and Scots within Great Britain).