10 most populous nations that don’t have birthright citizenship: list
6. Russia
The largest country by area in the world, with a population of approximately 143 million, Russia mostly does not allow for birthright citizenship.
According to Global Citizen Solutions, Russia does allow jus soli citizenship “to those born in Russia in specific circumstances,” namely being born “in Russia to at least one Russian parent who held citizenship at the time of birth” or being born “in Russia to foreign parents or stateless persons and cannot obtain their parents’ citizenship.”
In 2023, the Global Citizenship Observatory reported that Russia passed a law expanding the ability of people to gain citizenship by birth by creating “a new pathway” for any person “born to stateless or foreign parents on a vessel flying the Russian flag to acquire Russian citizenship if they would otherwise remain stateless.”
