"Nationality" can take on different meanings depending on the country, language and culture in question. For example, someone of Italian descent may be called "Italian" even if the individual, a member of the Italian diaspora, has no right to an Italian passport and citizenship. In past centuries, the usual meaning of "nationality" was not political, but rather meant membership in an ethnic group. In modern cases such as in airports, when officials ask your "nationality," they are asking to see the passport you use for travel to foreign countries.