Loading…
In depth
Statelessness is the condition of a person who is not considered a national by any state under the operation of its law. The UN estimates that 4-5 million people are stateless worldwide.
Statelessness can result from: (1) conflict of nationality laws between countries, (2) loss of citizenship due to marriage or naturalization in a country that requires renunciation, (3) denationalization by the state, or (4) state dissolution (e.g., the breakup of the USSR or Yugoslavia).
The 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness establish international standards for the protection of stateless persons and the prevention of statelessness.
Related terms
Nationality is the legal relationship between a person and a state, conferring rights and obligations; in most contexts it is synonymous with citizenship, though some countries distinguish the two.
Denaturalization is the legal revocation of a person's citizenship, typically on grounds of fraud, disloyalty, or — historically — persecution.
Citizenship by descent (CBD) is the legal right to acquire a country's citizenship through one's ancestors — typically a parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent — without being born in that country, based on the principle of jus sanguinis.
Jus sanguinis (Latin for 'right of blood') is the principle that grants citizenship based on the citizenship of one's parents or ancestors, regardless of where one is born.
Jus soli (Latin for 'right of the soil') grants citizenship based on being born in the territory of the state, regardless of the parents' citizenship.
Dual citizenship (also called multiple citizenship) is the status of being a citizen of two or more countries simultaneously, with the rights and obligations of each.