Jus soli

Jus soli (), means "right of the soil".jus soli, definition from merriam-webster.com. This is often called birthright citizenship. This is the right of anyone born in a country to have nationality or citizenship.

Jus soli was part of the common law. It was different to jus sanguinis, from the Roman law that became part of the civil-law systems of continental Europe.Ayelet Shachar, The Birthright Lottery: Citizenship and Global Inequality (Harvard University Press, 2009), p. 120.Rey Koslowski, Migrants and Citizens: Demographic Change in the European State System (Cornell University Press, 2000), p. 77. Where it exists, there are often conditions.  For example, some countries deny citizenship to children of foreign diplomats. 

Almost all states in Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania grant citizenship at birth based upon the principle of jus sanguinis (right of blood). Citizenship is inherited through parents not by birthplace. Sometimes it can be a version of jus soli in which citizenship by birthplace is automatic only for the children of certain immigrants.

As of 2025, Canada and the United States are the only advanced economies (according to IMF) of the world that still grant unrestricted birthright citizenship, including to children from illegal immigrant parents.

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Category:Philosophical concepts