What Makes a Country?

When you think of a country, what comes to mind?
A flag? A language? Borders?

For most of history, people didn’t think of themselves as part of a nation. They felt loyal to tribes, villages, religions, or kingdoms—groups they saw every day.
The idea that you’re deeply connected to millions of strangers just because you share a border?
That’s new!

And yet—it’s a shared feeling around the globe now. How did THAT happen?

From Local to National

Starting in the late 1700s, three big shifts stretched people’s sense of “us” from the village to the whole nation:

Urbanization packed thousands of former farmers into fast-growing cities, where daily life worked only if strangers shared the same language and public rules—forcing minds to picture a community larger than family or tribe.
New technology then collapsed distance: railroads turned week-long trips into a single afternoon, while cheap newspapers and, later, radio blasted the same headlines to breakfast tables hundreds of miles apart, giving millions one common story.
Finally, industrial war bound everyone to that shared story; conscription, rationing, and mass propaganda taught factory workers and rural families alike that the nation’s fate was their own.

Together, these changes rewired our mental maps, replacing small circles of loyalty with a single, nationwide “we.”

tripfest_Subject_Six_silhouettes_walking_clockwise_around_an__5c449caf-4f45-4cd8-8c8a-3287664ec702_3.png

Why National Identity Mattered

As life grew more connected and complex, people needed something to hold them together.
National identity gave them:

A common language
A shared flag
A powerful story

Governments used schools, holidays, maps, and anthems to spread this idea. Even when countries had many different groups inside, national identity helped blur those differences.

It made people say:

“We’re different, but we’re one.”

Myths: Bringing People Together

So how do you make all these different people feel like one nation?

You tell a shared story—often called a myth.

Not a lie, but a story that simplifies the past to make the present feel unified.
These myths often say:

“We’ve always been one people.”
“We’ve always spoken this language.”
“We’ve always lived within these borders.”

But in reality, most nations were formed out of many languages, cultures, and histories.

Many were fluid, ever-changing, and dynamic!

Creating a “We”—and a “They”

Myths like these are powerful. They help turn strangers into teammates. They create a “we.”

But to define a “we,” there also has to be a “they.”
National identity doesn’t just say who belongs—it can also suggest who doesn’t.

People who don’t fit the story—like minorities, immigrants, or outsiders—might be left out or pushed away.
That’s the double edge of national myths:
They unite, but they also divide.

The Shared Story Matters

Even if it isn’t fully true, a national story gives people something to believe in.
It helps them feel part of something bigger than themselves.

That’s why national identity is so powerful. It’s not just about borders or governments.
It’s about belonging.
And the stories we choose to tell—about who we are, and who we’re not.

Fun Fact: The ‘Digital Nations’ network is a voluntary alliance of the world’s most tech-forward governments that share code, standards, and best practices to accelerate citizen-centric digital services.