Tuesday 17 July 2012

Citizenship

Citizenship denotes the link between a person and a state or an association of states. It is normally synonymous with the term nationality although the latter term is sometimes understood to have ethnic connotations. Possession of citizenship is normally associated with the right to work and live in a country and to participate in political life. A person who does not have citizenship in any state is said to be stateless.

Nationality is often used as a synonym for citizenship – notably in international law – although the term is sometimes understood as denoting a person's membership of a nation.