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A multinational state is a state (country) in which the population consists of two or more ethnically distinct nations (peoples) that are of significant size. This contrasts with a nation-state where a single nation comprises the bulk of the population. An example is the United Kingdom of England (English people), Wales (Welsh), Scotland (Scottish), and Northern Ireland (Irish)[1]. Another example is Belgium, which is made up of a Flemish region (Dutch speaking), Walloon region (French speaking) and Brussels-Capital Region (bilingual), a German speaking community in the east is also recognised.

The phrase refers to the objective existence of distinct ethnic groups in a country; whereas multiculturalism refers to an official policy of acknowledging the equality of these distinct groups. A country may be, or may have been, multi-national but not multicultural.

Multinational states differ from states where an overwhelming majority of the population is ethnically homogeneous. Many of the largest countries in the world by population and area are multinational, having many recognised ethnicities.^{[citation needed]} Multinational states differ from Empires as no one nation or ethnic group is dominant.

Empires may be dominated by one particular nation, sometimes organized as a nation-state. For example, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which consisted of Austrian Germans, Magyars (Hungarians), Czechs, Slovaks, Romanians, Slovenes, Poles, Bosnians, Croats, Serbs, Ruthenians and Italians.

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