Citizenship | Definition, History, & Facts

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[{"p":1,"t":118828},{"p":1,"t":283562},{"p":1,"t":1916862},{"p":19,"t":467746},{"p":13,"t":275840},{"p":3,"t":405644},{"p":1,"t":1916876},{"p":1,"t":404238},{"p":9,"t":291011},{"p":1,"t":2068552}], "sequence": 1, "topics": {} }); </script> <article class="article-content container-lg qa-content px-0 pt-0 pb-40 py-lg-20 content " data-topic-id="118828"> <div class="grid gx-0"> <div class="col-auto"> <div class="topic-left-rail md-article-drawer position-relative d-flex border-right-sm border-left-sm open"> <div class="drawer d-flex flex-column open"> <div class="left-rail-section-content"> <div class="topic-left-rail-header text-truncate bg-gray-50 position-relative text-right d-flex align-items-center"> <div class="tlr-title px-20 py-15 text-left"> <em class="material-icons text-gray-400 d-lg-none" data-icon="toc"></em> <a class="font-serif font-weight-bold text-black link-blue" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/citizenship">citizenship</a> </div> <button aria-label="Close" class="js-sections-close-button btn-link btn-sm btn d-lg-none position-absolute top-0 p-10 right-0" > <em class="material-icons font-26" data-icon="close"></em> </button> </div> <div class="section-content pl-10 pr-20 pl-sm-50 pr-sm-60 pl-lg-5 pr-lg-10 pt-10 pt-lg-0 bg-gray-50 clear-catfish-ad"> <div class="toc mb-20"> <div class="font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-15 mb-15 mt-20"> Table of Contents </div> <span class="toc-extra-link selected link-gray-900 mt-15"> Introduction </span> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/citizenship/additional-info">References & Edit History</a> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="/facts/citizenship">Related Topics</a> </div> <div class="tlr-media-slider pb-10 mb-30"> <a class="section-header link-gray-900 font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mb-10 mx-10" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/citizenship/images-videos">Images & Videos</a> <div class="slider js-slider position-relative 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Jackson</a></dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Related Topics: </dt> <dd><a href="/topic/refugee" topicid="495765">refugee</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/alien-law" topicid="15390">alien</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/civitas" topicid="119502">civitas</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/naturalization" topicid="406487">naturalization</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/freedman" topicid="218490">freedman</a></dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> <div class="text-center"> <a class="btn btn-sm btn-link p-0" href="/facts/citizenship"> See all related content </a> </div> </div> </div> </div><div class="bg-gray-50 p-15 rounded module-spacing recent-news d-flex flex-column float-false"> <div> <h2 class="font-weight-bold font-14 m-0 d-inline"> News <span class="text-gray-600">•</span> </h2> <div class="recent-news-item first-recent-news-item d-inline"> <a class="font-14 gtm-ap-news-link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/29/world/europe/citizenship-rules-debate.html" rel="nofollow">Citizenship by Birthright? By Bloodline? Migration Is Complicating Both.</a> <span class="font-14 text-gray-600"> <span>•</span> Jan. 29, 2025, 10:19 AM ET (New York Times) <button class="btn btn-link d-inline p-0 font-12 js-toggle-recent-news"> <span class="text-gray-500">...</span><span>(Show more)</span> </button> </span> </div> </div> <div class="rest-of-recent-news-items"> <div class="recent-news-item mt-5"> <a class="font-14 gtm-ap-news-link" href="/news/118828/9ac27b234c854a68a9b9f8c0d6cd8a1c" rel="nofollow">A federal judge temporarily blocks Trump’s executive order redefining birthright citizenship</a> <span class="font-14 text-gray-600"> <span>•</span> Jan. 23, 2025, 6:47 PM ET (AP) </span> </div> <button class="js-toggle-recent-news d-flex btn btn-unstyled font-14 pr-10 rounded-sm mt-10" aria-label="Toggle additional news items"> Show less <em class="material-icons" data-icon="expand_less"></em> </button> </div> </div><span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref1"><span class="marker PREMOD1 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph"><strong><span id="ref22248"></span>citizenship</strong>, relationship between an individual and a <span id="ref1332656"></span>state to which the individual owes <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="allegiance" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/allegiance" data-type="MW">allegiance</a> and in turn is entitled to its protection. Citizenship implies the status of freedom with accompanying responsibilities. Citizens have certain rights, duties, and responsibilities that are denied or only partially extended to<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/alien-law" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true"> aliens</a> and other noncitizens residing in a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/nation-state" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">country</a>. In general, full political rights, including the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/suffrage" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">right to vote</a> and to hold public office, are <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="predicated" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/predicated" data-type="MW">predicated</a> upon citizenship. The usual responsibilities of citizenship are allegiance, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/money/taxation" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">taxation</a>, and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/armed-force" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">military service</a>.</p><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Citizenship is the most privileged form of <span id="ref22249"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/nationality-international-law" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">nationality</a>. This broader term denotes various relations between an individual and a state that do not necessarily confer political rights but do imply other privileges, particularly protection abroad. It is the term used in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/international-law" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">international law</a> to denote all persons whom a state is entitled to protect. Nationality also serves to denote the relationship to a state of entities other than individuals; corporations, ships, and aircraft, for example, possess a nationality.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The concept of citizenship first arose in towns and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/city-state" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">city-states</a> of <span id="ref22250"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/ancient-Greece" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">ancient Greece</a>, where it generally applied to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/money/property-legal-concept" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">property</a> owners but not to women, slaves, or the poorer members of the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="community" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/community" data-type="MW">community</a>. A citizen in a Greek <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/city-state" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">city-state</a> was entitled to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/election-political-science" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">vote</a> and was liable to taxation and military service. The <span id="ref22251"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/ancient-Rome" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Romans</a> first used citizenship as a device to distinguish the residents of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/city" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">city</a> of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Rome" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Rome</a> from those peoples whose territories Rome had conquered and incorporated. As their empire continued to grow, the Romans granted citizenship to their allies throughout <span id="ref22252"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Italy" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Italy</a> proper and then to peoples in other Roman provinces, until in 212 <span class="text-smallcaps">ce</span> citizenship was extended to all free inhabitants of the empire. Roman citizenship conferred important legal privileges within the empire. (See <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/civitas" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true"><em>civitas</em></a>.)</p><a class="link-module shadow-sm d-block qa-quiz-module" href="/quiz/can-you-answer-these-questions-from-the-united-states-citizenship-test" data-link-module-iframe-link=""> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/61/93061-131-ABCDE075/Statue-of-Liberty-Island-New-York-Bay.jpg" alt="Statue of Liberty in front of the skyline of Manhattan, New York City, New York." class="rounded-sm mr-15" width="70" /> <div class="line-clamp clamp-5"> <div class="module-title bg-green">Britannica Quiz</div> <div class="font-weight-semi-bold mt-5">Can You Answer These Questions from the United States Citizenship Test?</div> </div> </a><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD4 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The concept of national citizenship virtually disappeared in Europe during the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Middle-Ages" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Middle Ages</a>, replaced as it was by a system of feudal rights and obligations. In the late Middle Ages and the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Renaissance" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Renaissance</a>, the holding of citizenship in various cities and towns of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Italy" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Italy</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Germany" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Germany</a> became a guarantee of immunity for merchants and other privileged persons from the claims and <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="prerogatives" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prerogatives" data-type="MW">prerogatives</a> of feudal overlords. Modern concepts of citizenship crystallized in the 18th century during the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/American-Revolution" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">American</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/French-Revolution" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">French</a> Revolutions, when the term <em>citizen</em> came to suggest the possession of certain liberties in the face of the coercive powers of absolutist monarchs.</p><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD5 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In <span id="ref22253"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">England</a> the term <em>citizen</em> originally referred to membership of a borough or local municipal corporation, while the word <em>subject</em> was used to emphasize the individual’s subordinate position relative to the monarch or state. The word <em>subject</em> is still used in preference to citizen in British common-law usage and nationality legislation, but the two terms are virtually equivalent, since the British <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/constitutional-monarchy" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">constitutional monarchy</a> is now a ceremonial one that has lost its former political powers over its subjects.</p><span class="marker MOD5 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD6 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The principal grounds for <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="acquiring" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/acquiring" data-type="EB">acquiring</a> citizenship (apart from international transactions such as transfer of territory or option) are birth within a certain territory, descent from a citizen parent, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/marriage" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">marriage</a> to a citizen, and <span id="ref1332655"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/naturalization" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">naturalization</a>. There are two main systems used to determine citizenship as of the time of birth: <span id="ref22254"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/jus-soli" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">jus soli</a>, whereby citizenship is acquired by birth within the territory of the state, regardless of parental citizenship; and <span id="ref22255"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/jus-sanguinis" class="md-crosslink ">jus sanguinis</a>, whereby a person, wherever born, is a citizen of the state if, at the time of his or her birth, his or her parent is one. The <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/United-States" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">United States</a> and the countries of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Commonwealth-association-of-states" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">British Commonwealth</a> adopt the jus soli as their basic principle; they also recognize <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="acquisition" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/acquisition" data-type="EB">acquisition</a> of nationality by descent but subject it to strict limitations. Other countries generally adopt the jus sanguinis as their basic principle, supplementing it by provisions for acquisition of citizenship in case of combination of birth and domicile within the country, birth within the country of parents born there, and so on. The provisions of nationality laws that overlap often result in dual nationality; a person may be a citizen of two countries. Alternatively, the lack of uniform rules on citizenship acquisition and loss have sometimes produced lack of citizenship (<span id="ref1332657"></span>statelessness).</p><div class="one-good-fact-module"> </div><span class="marker MOD6 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD7 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The acquisition of citizenship by a <span id="ref22256"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/women" class="md-crosslink ">woman</a> through marriage to a citizen was the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="prevailing" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/prevailing" data-type="EB">prevailing</a> principle in modern times until after <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/World-War-I" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">World War I</a>. Under this system, the wife and children shared the nationality status of the husband and father as head of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/family-kinship" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">family</a>. From the 1920s, under the impact of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/woman-suffrage" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">women’s suffrage</a> and ideas about the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/gender-equality" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">equality</a> of men and women, a new system developed in which a woman’s nationality was not affected by marriage. The resulting mixed-nationality marriages sometimes create complications, particularly in regard to the nationality status of the children, and accordingly various mixed systems have been devised, all stressing the woman’s and child’s freedom of choice.</p><div class="module-spacing"> <DIV class="marketing-INLINE_SUBSCRIPTION marketing-content" data-marketing-id="INLINE_SUBSCRIPTION"><style> .student-promo-banner-wrapper { container-type: inline-size; margin-bottom: 15px; } @container (min-width: 475px) { .student-promo-banner { flex-direction: row; } .student-promo-banner-img-wrapper { margin-bottom: 0; margin-right: 10px; justify-content: flex-start; } .student-promo-banner-text-wrapper { text-align: left; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 10px; } .student-promo-banner-button-wrapper { margin-right: 0; } }</style> <div class="student-promo-banner-wrapper"> <div class="student-promo-banner d-flex flex-column align-items-center bg-blue rounded p-20"> <div class="student-promo-banner-img-wrapper mb-20 mr-0 d-flex justify-content-center"> <img class="rounded" style="max-width: 100px; min-width: 80px" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/marketing/BlueThistle.webp" /> </div> <div class="student-promo-banner-text-wrapper ml-0 mb-10 text-center text-white"> <div class="h2 mb-10">Get Unlimited Access</div> <div class="h4 font-weight-semi-bold">Try Britannica Premium for free and discover more.</div> </div> <div class="student-promo-banner-button-wrapper d-flex justify-content-center align-items-center ml-auto mr-auto"> <a class="btn btn-m btn-orange" href="https://premium.britannica.com/premium-membership/?utm_source=premium&utm_medium=inline-cta&utm_campaign=august-2024">Subscribe</a> </div> </div> </div> </DIV></div><span class="marker MOD7 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="md-signature"><a href="/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419">The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</a></span><span class="md-signature">This article was most recently revised and updated by <a href="/editor/Amy-Tikkanen/6393">Amy Tikkanen</a>.</span><span class="marker end-of-content"></span><span class="marker after-article"></span></div> <div id="chatbot-root"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ai-dialog-placeholder"></div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article> </div> </div> </div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Topic","templateName":"DESKTOP","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":1,"pageId":118828,"pageLength":787,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-133/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.133.9"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-133/dist/topic-page.js?v=3.133.9' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"B","adLeg":"B","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","pageSubtype":null,"articleTemplateType":"MEDIUM","gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":true} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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Citizenship | Definition, History, & Facts | Britannica