Civics Reporting Category 2 Practice Test

This question tests understanding of how nationality is determined at birth—by birthplace. That idea is known as jus soli, the law of the soil, where being born in a country grants or influences citizenship based on the place of birth. The other pathway, jus sanguinis or law of blood, bases nationality on a person’s parents, not where they are born. Naturalization is a process to become a citizen later in life, and being a resident refers to where someone lives, not how birth determines citizenship. So, the principle that ties birth location to nationality is the law of soil.