List of nationalities in English

When we refer to a nation or region, we can use:

The name of the country or region: Turkey, Japan, Germany, Brazil, Asia
a singular noun that we use for a person from the country or region: a Turk, a Japanese, a German, a Brazilian, an Asian
the plural expression the … used for the whole population of a country or region: the Turks, the Japanese, the Germans, the Brazilians, the Asians
an adjective: Turkish, Japanese, German, Brazilian, Asian

The name of a national language is commonly the same as the national adjective. In this case, the words are nouns and may be modified by adjectives. We don’t use the or the word language:

Do you speak Chinese?
Not: ~~Do you speak the Chinese? or Do you speak Chinese language?~~
Russian is difficult to learn, isn’t it, especially the alphabet?
She speaks fluent French.

We use a capital letter when we refer to a nationality, a language, a country and a region:

They have studied American literature.
Not: They have studied american literature.

COUNTRY	ADJECTIVE	NOUN
Africa	African	an African
America	American	an American
Argentina	Argentinian	an Argentinian
Austria	Austrian	an Austrian
Autralia	Australian	an Australian
Bangladesh	Bangladesh(i)	a Bangladeshi
Belgium	Belgian	a Belgian
Brazil	Brazilian	a Brazilian
Britain	British	a Briton/Britisher
Cambodia	Cambodian	a Cambodian
Chile	Chilean	a Chilean
China	Chinese	a Chinese
Colombia	Colombian	a Colombian
Croatia	Croatian	a Croat
the Czech Republic	Czech	a Czech
Denmark	Danish	a Dane
England	English	an Englishman/Englishwoman
Finland	Finnish	a Finn
France	French	a Frenchman/Frenchwoman
Germany	German	a German
Greece	Greek	a Greek
Holland	Dutch	a Dutchman/Dutchwoman
Hungary	Hungarian	a Hungarian
Iceland	Icelandic	an Icelander
India	Indian	an Indian
Indonesia	Indonesian	an Indonesian
Iran	Iranian	an Iranian
Iraq	Iraqi	an Iraqi
Ireland	Irish	an Irishman/Irishwoman
Israel	Israeli	an Israeli
Jamaica	Jamaican	a Jamaican
Japan	Japanese	a Japanese
Mexico	Mexican	a Mexican
Morocco	Moroccan	a Moroccan
Norway	Norwegian	a Norwegian
Peru	Peruvian	a Peruvian
the Philippines	Philippine	a Filipino
Poland	Polish	a Pole
Portugal	Portuguese	a Portuguese
Rumania	Rumanian	a Rumanian
Russia	Russian	a Russian
Saudi Arabia	Saudi, Saudi Arabian	a Saudi, a Saudi Arabian
Scotland	Scottish	a Scot
Serbia	Serbian	a Serb
the Slovak Republic	Slovak	a Slovak
Sweden	Swedish	a Swede
Switzerland	Swiss	a Swiss
Thailand	Thai	a Thai
The USA	American	an American
Tunisia	Tunisian	a Tunisian
Turkey	Turkish	a Turk
Vietnam	Vietnamese	a Vietnamese
Wales	Welsh	a Welshman/Welshwoman
Yugoslavia	Yugoslav	a Yugoslav

Note: We use the + nationality adjective ending in -ese or -ish with a plural verb, to refer to all people of that nationality:

The Chinese are very hard-working.
The Spanish often go to sleep in the afternoon.

Maybe you don't know:

When we talk about the United Kingdom (UK), English is not the same as British. English is not used for Scottish or Welsh or Northern Irish people. (Great) Britain refers to the territory of England, Scotland and Wales. The United Kingdom refers to England, Scotland, Wales and the six counties of Northern Ireland. Some people from Northern Ireland refer to themselves as British in the context of the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland. However, everyone from Northern Ireland has the right to Irish nationality and can hold an Irish passport. Irish also refers to citizens of the Irish Republic.

The Scots themselves prefer the adjective Scots and it also occurs in the compounds Scotsman and Scotswoman. We use the adjective Scotch to refer only to food and drink from Scotland e.g. Scotch broth (broth is a kind of soup).

Nowadays we use the noun Briton only to refer to the ancient tribes that lived in Britain:

The ancient Britons built huge earthworks to bury their kings and leaders.

The short form of British, Brit, is often used as a noun (or less commonly as an adjective) in journalistic style and in informal situations to refer to British people:

The Brits have a bad reputation in some countries.

List of nationalities in English

NATIONALITIES

The name of a national language is commonly the same as the national adjective. In this case, the words are nouns and may be modified by adjectives. We don’t use the or the word language:

We use a capital letter when we refer to a nationality, a language, a country and a region:

Maybe you don't know:

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