Nasie

The Afrikaans word for Nation, derived from the Dutch "natie", . The term Volk was long also used in a similar sense.

However, in Afrikaans the words both have specific meanings and strong emotive qualities, notably so in certain periods of the history of the Afrikaners (e.g. 1880-1961), when the Afrikaans-speaking white population of the country were striving towards a sense of nationhood and a cotrol over their destiny. For a long while thus it was broadly defined as a grouping of people who share a common history, language and ethnic origin, and usually govern themselves or strive for it.

This definition is of course one of the underlying principles that led to the evolution of Apartheid.

Under the new, far more complex ethnic, linguistic and historic circumstances of the "New South Africa" of 1994, this definition is being challenged on a number of fronts, and in fact the country itself is faced with the dilemma of re-defining nationhood per se.