National origin is the

nation A nation is a type of social organization where a collective Identity (social science), identity, a national identity, has emerged from a combination of shared features across a given population, such as language, history, ethnicity, culture, t ...

where a person was born, or where that person's ancestors came from. It also includes the

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of birth, place of origin. The word is used in reference to people who identify with a specific geographic location, but currently resi ...

of multi-ethnic states and societies that have a shared sense of common identity identical to that of a nation while being made up of several component ethnic groups. National origin can be the same, different from, or a combination of a person's

national identity National identity is a person's identity or sense of belonging to one or more states or one or more nations. It is the sense of "a nation as a cohesive whole, as represented by distinctive traditions, culture, and language". National identity ...

, which is the nation with which a person subjectively identifies with; in some cases, such as children born to expatriates, temporary residents or diplomatic and consular staff, a person may not identify with the nation in which they were born. National origin and national identity which can be tied to each other should also be distinguished from a person's

nationality Nationality is the legal status of belonging to a particular nation, defined as a group of people organized in one country, under one legal jurisdiction, or as a group of people who are united on the basis of culture. In international law, n ...

citizenship Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state. Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationalit ...

which is a legal status in which a sovereign state recognizes someone as belonging to their country.

Discrimination

In Europe, discrimination against a person on the basis of national origin is considered a type of racial discrimination. The UK's Race Relations Act 1976 names discrimination on the basis of national origin as discrimination on racial grounds. The European Union's Racial Equality Directive prohibits discrimination on the basis of national origin. In the US, it is illegal to discriminate against a person on the basis of national origin in education, employment,

housing Housing refers to a property containing one or more Shelter (building), shelter as a living space. Housing spaces are inhabited either by individuals or a collective group of people. Housing is also referred to as a human need and right to ...

, lending, or other specified areas. For example, employers cannot refuse to hire job applicants or treat employees differently because of where they were born, their ancestry, their

culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

, the languages they speak, or speaking with an accent. Workplace rules that require employees in the US to speak only English on the job can be a form of discrimination on the basis of national origin, but employers may have a legitimate business need for employees to speak English at work, such as to provide adequate supervision or to prevent the isolation and alienation of employees and customers that do not speak the same non-English language. Under Australian law, discrimination on the basis of national origin is illegal, whereas discrimination on the basis of

is not; national origin is determined only by the situation at an individual's time of birth (their birthplace or the national origin of their parents), not by factors subsequent to their birth (such as

naturalisation Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

Renunciation of citizenship Renunciation of citizenship is the voluntary loss of citizenship. It is the opposite of naturalization, whereby a person voluntarily obtains citizenship. It is distinct from denaturalization, where citizenship is revoked by the state. Histori ...

References

{{Ethnicity Racism National identity Employment discrimination Ethnology Ethnicity