<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationality" rel="nofollow noreferrer">&quot;Nationality&quot;</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>... establish[es a] person as a subject, a national, of a sovereign state</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nation" rel="nofollow noreferrer">A &quot;nation&quot;</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>... is a stable community of humans formed on the basis of a common language, territory, history, ethnicity, or psychological make-up manifested in a common culture</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I think this is where the confusion comes in between the two Chinese terms.</p>
<ul>
<li>民族 is sometimes confusingly translated as &quot;nationality&quot; in the sense of belonging to a <em>nation</em> in that broader sense (though the usual English word for this is actual &quot;ethnicity&quot; or &quot;ethnic group&quot;).</li>
<li>国籍 is what's usually referred to as &quot;nationality&quot; in English - being a national of a country or territory. This has legal meaning and would be written on passports and other official documents.</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-07-22T11:45:07.317Z
2020-07-22T11:45:07.317Z
Lionel Rowe
<p>国籍（nationality）指的是哪国人，对于中国人国籍是中国；民族（nation）指的是你所在的民族，比如中国有56个民族，其中汉族是人数最多的民族.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-07-22T17:06:09.323Z
你好，感谢你的回答！根据本论坛的社区规则和习惯，希望问题和答案两者的语言能够保持一致，以确保提问者以及其他中文水平为初级的朋友们都能看懂。这次提问语言以英文为主，请你尽量用英文回答。如果你的英文水平不足，我们可以帮你修改
blackgreen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-07-22T16:20:30.187Z
2020-07-22T16:20:30.187Z
StephennQin
<ul>
<li>国籍 = nationality (as based on what nation you are from)</li>
<li>民族 = ethnic group </li>
</ul>

<p>For the majority of Chinese people their:</p>

<ul>
<li>国籍 = 中国 (Chinese)</li>
<li>民族 = 汉 (Han)</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-07-22T04:54:10.277Z
As a matter of interest, how would 华人 be classified？
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-07-22T08:28:22.530Z
@WayneCheah 族裔?
Mou某
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-07-22T08:52:01.520Z
Thanks. I suppose so.
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-25T17:53:37.803Z
2020-01-25T17:53:37.803Z
Mou某
<p>I'm revising vocabulary for HSK4 and I found many words with similar meanings. A pair I found today was: 国籍 and 民族. What's the difference between them?</p>

<word-choice><difference>
What's difference between 国籍 and 民族?
# What's difference between 国籍 and 民族?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-01-25)

I'm revising vocabulary for HSK4 and I found many words with similar meanings. A pair I found today was: 国籍 and 民族. What's the difference between them?

**Tags:** word-choice, difference


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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2020-01-25. Score: 10 | Accepted answer

* 国籍 = nationality (as based on what nation you are from)
* 民族 = ethnic group

For the majority of Chinese people their:

* 国籍 = 中国 (Chinese)
* 民族 = 汉 (Han)

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: As a matter of interest, how would 华人 be classified？  
> **username_4**: @username_5 族裔?  
> **username_5**: Thanks. I suppose so.  

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### Answer by username_1 on 2020-07-22. Score: 1

["Nationality"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationality):

> ... establish[es a] person as a subject, a national, of a sovereign state

[A "nation"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nation):

> ... is a stable community of humans formed on the basis of a common language, territory, history, ethnicity, or psychological make-up manifested in a common culture

I think this is where the confusion comes in between the two Chinese terms.

* 民族 is sometimes confusingly translated as "nationality" in the sense of belonging to a *nation* in that broader sense (though the usual English word for this is actual "ethnicity" or "ethnic group").
* 国籍 is what's usually referred to as "nationality" in English - being a national of a country or territory. This has legal meaning and would be written on passports and other official documents.


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### Answer by username_2 on 2020-07-22. Score: 0

国籍（nationality）指的是哪国人，对于中国人国籍是中国；民族（nation）指的是你所在的民族，比如中国有56个民族，其中汉族是人数最多的民族.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: 你好，感谢你的回答！根据本论坛的社区规则和习惯，希望问题和答案两者的语言能够保持一致，以确保提问者以及其他中文水平为初级的朋友们都能看懂。这次提问语言以英文为主，请你尽量用英文回答。如果你的英文水平不足，我们可以帮你修改  

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