People on the [[stairs to the
Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago ]]
In general, the English word
people refers to a specific group of
humans, or to
persons in a general sense.
A
people may also be a group of humans which possess a common characteristic such as nationality, skin colour or a common culture. In the case of nationality, the group might be a
nation.
The
Old Testament refers to
the people of Moses, who are considered a nation, a religion, and a culture. The individuals were assumed to share values, beliefs and a group identity. In practice, it was often hard to define such a group precisely, due to its static nature. As this type of racial identity is a compelling
concept, such notions are often subverted as
propaganda an attempts to promote political issues. In the West, a notable example is the
German Nazi Party's propaganda against the
Jews in the
1930s and
1940s.
See also
cv:Халăх
de:Volk
eo: Popolo
nah:Tlaca
simple:People
tl:Mga Tao
nl:Volk