Citizen by Birthplace or Blood

Becoming a citizen of a nation someone can take multiple paths. In many nations if you are a foreigner you have to live there for so many and some other requirements then you can apply to be come a citizen. But most people are born and get some citizenship automatically and there are two ways this can happen. There are the practices of jus sanguinis, meaning right of blood in Latin, and jus soli, meaning right of soil.

Jus sanguinis is the practice that almost every country uses when it comes to citizenship. When a child is born their are giving the same citizenship as their parents or by their ethnic ancestry. For example in the United Kingdom someone born their of foreign parents does not gain automatic citizenship, but the parents must apply for their child if they have permanent residence in the country, but if both parents are British citizens the child will receive citizenship. By this way citizenship is passed down the blood line. However jus soli is a bit different.

Jus soli is the practice of giving citizenship to someone when they are born on that countries land. Countries that practice jus soli also practice jus sanguinis. For example someone can become a citizen of the United States by either being born on US territory or being born of paretns who are US citizens. Out of the 194 nations in the world, only 30 of them practice jus soli. Many countries used to practice jus soli, but have modified it to discourage illegal immigration. In some cases at least one parent must have be a citizen of said nation or at least a permanent residence. In a way these modifications have turned into jus sanguinis. Other countries have completely abolished jus soli. In the case of India jus soli was abolished to help stop illegal immigration from its neighbor Bangladeshi.

Almost no country in Europe, Asia, Africa, or Australia fully practices jus soli. The only countries that still practice Jus soli are all in North and South America, or if you want to put it a different way just the western hemisphere. Canada and the United States are the only devolved countries in the world that still practice jus soli. In way you can see the difference between the New World and the Old World still with jus soli. The nations of today in what we considered the Old World do not practice jus soli. While the Americas or the New World continues to practice it It seems that the idea of being a nation instead of a colony might be the reason the countries of the Americas still follow this. Settlers and colonists coming to the Americas voluntary or by force either wanted to be separate entities than their mother country or have forgotten their heritage and created a new one. By implementing jus soli the people can enforce their new national identity.

Other articles regarding nationality - Nationality Laws Must Knows