Tag: Homeland

A homeland (rel. country of origin and native land) is the concept of the place (cultural geography) to which an ethnic group holds a long history and a deep cultural association with —the country in which a particular national identity began. As a common noun, it simply connotes the country of one’s origin. When used as a proper noun, the word, as well as its cognates in other languages (i.e. Heimatland in German) often have ethnic nationalist connotations. A homeland may also be referred to as a fatherland, a motherland, or a mother country, depending on the culture and language of the nationality in question.
Patria remains the common term for “homeland, native land” in many languages, based on the Greek πατρίδα (patrída) “native / ancestral land”. Hence also the English terms patriot, patriotism.
Motherland may refer to a mother country, i.e. the place of one’s birth, the place of origin of an ethnic group or immigrant, or a Metropole in contrast to its colonies. People from…