The word "ethnos" is translated from Greek as "people" and means a group of people who are united by subjective or objective attributes. These include culture, language, territory of residence and self-awareness. In 1923, the Russian scientist S. M. Shirokogorov, who emigrated abroad after the October Revolution, introduced the term "ethnos" into the Russian language. True, its significance is much broader than just "people."
The main signs of an ethnos, according to some scientists, are language and culture. Others add ethnic identity and a common area of residence here. Still others add to these signs the general psychological essence of people. In other words, an ethnos may consist of biological and socio-economic characteristics of a particular people or nation. It began to form 100,000 years ago. Before its emergence, there were such concepts as a family, then a clan and a clan.
Ethnic groups include tribes, nationalities, and complete this chain of nation. Unlike states, they do not disintegrate, but move independently in any territory. It is necessary to highlight such signs of an ethnic group as statehood, the general economy and social development. This concept gradually evolves and passes stages from a tribe and nationalities, subsequently becoming a nation. The biological community of the ethnos is changing to socio-political.
The first step in its formation is a tribe. Initially, it consisted of people who spoke the same language and lived in the same territory. This was inherent in the tribal system, after the collapse of which a new community of people under the name "nationality" is formed.
For the first time nationalities began to arise during the slave system and feudalism. The signs of the ethnos that distinguished them are not only language and common territory, but also culture and economics. The nationality is much larger than the tribe, and the kinship in it is different than that observed in the tribe.
Ethnic groups unite in states, which may include completely unrelated ethnic groups. Nationalities themselves are unstable and in the era of feudalism often disintegrated, forming new groups. In large numbers, they arose during the formation of states.
The signs of the ethnic group of a nation are, first of all, national identity. The last, highest type of ethnos is the nation.
Nations began to emerge during the period of the emergence of capitalism. At this time, the general economic structure and market relations began to take shape, and their own art and literature appeared.
Nations have hundreds of millions of people, and thanks to a common language, territory and economy, a single psychotype and national character are formed. Nations arose as a result of the industrialization and capitalization of society. Throughout history, they have been actively fighting for their sovereignty, which is manifested in ethnic conflicts and in ethnic hatred.
Signs of a nation are not only the social and economic unity of people, but also cultural, religious, and spiritual affinity. A community of people cannot be a nation if it does not speak the same language or does not have a socio-economic union.
Signs of a nation are mandatory so that a nation can consider itself a nation. Peoples who do not have a spiritual or religious community, culture or territory have no signs of a nation.
The main types of ethnic groups are a tribe, nationality and nation. Concepts such as nation and nationality should not be confused. In Russia, nationality is a narrow concept of a person’s belonging to a certain nationality; in other countries, the concept of nationality is associated with citizenship. For a deeper understanding of issues related to the development of human society, it is necessary to study these types of ethnos more deeply.