The first people to identify themselves as world citizens were the Stoic philosophers (see Zeno of Citium). Zeno of Citium Zeno of Citium (The Stoic) (333 BC-264 BC) was a Hellenistic philosopher from Citium, Cyprus. ...

World citizens are people who transcend the geopolitical divisiveness inherent in the national citizenships of the various sovereign states and countries. In this respect the concept differs from internationalism that is still based on the idea of nations. By refusing to accept a patriotic identity dictated by any national government, they assert their independence as citizens of the earth, the world, or the cosmos. Internationalism is a political movement which advocates a greater economic and political cooperation between nations for the benefit of all. ... In philosophy, it is important to distinguish between two senses of identity, qualitative identity and numerical identity. ... For other uses of the word, see cosmos (disambiguation) The cosmos is the universe, especially when thought of as an orderly or harmonious system. ...

The perspective of a world citizen has affinities with an existentialist philosophical outlook in that world citizens: Existentialism is a philosophical movement that views the individual, the self, the individuals experience, and the uniqueness therein as the basis for understanding the nature of human existence. ...

• do not want to be categorized by any artificially imposed categories

and/or

• wish to identify themselves first and foremost as human beings and then by any groupings to which they may seem to belong.

Flag of the United Nations

Some world citizens may also: Binomial name Homo sapiens Linnaeus, 1758 Subspecies Homo sapiens idaltu (extinct) Homo sapiens sapiens Human beings define themselves in biological, social, and spiritual terms. ... Subject: Flag of the United Nations Source: United Nations web site [1] Notes: According to this web site the background colour is Pantone 279C. This is 6689CC in 8 bit Hex RGB code. ... Subject: Flag of the United Nations Source: United Nations web site [1] Notes: According to this web site the background colour is Pantone 279C. This is 6689CC in 8 bit Hex RGB code. ...

• work for a reformed, strengthened, yet sufficiently decentralized United Nations which represents and responds to the will of the people of the world, more than to intergovernmental hagglings, and adheres to the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, similar to a federal system on the national scale

and/or

• work toward other developments to strengthen a common identity and harmony between their fellow world citizens on the planet, while respecting local and national loyalties and diversity.

World citizens are not limited to any specific faith or ideology, but will often adhere to the following: The United Nations, or UN, is an international organization established in 1945 and now made up of 191 states. ... Intergovernmentalism is a method of decision-making in international organizations, where power is possessed by the member_states and decisions are made by unanimity. ... The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (also UDHR) is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (A/RES/217, December 10, 1948), outlining a view on basic human rights. ... This article discusses faith in a religious context. ... An ideology is a collection of ideas. ...

Beliefs

• freedom from all national, ethnic, racial, and religious prejudices
• belief in the basic equality of all sexes

Statue of Liberty - Liberty is one meaning of freedom. For proper-noun uses of Freedom, see Freedom (disambiguation). ... Nationality is, in English usage, a legal relationship existing between a person and a state. ... This article or section should be merged with ethnic group Ethnicity is the cultural characteristics that connect a particular group or groups of people to each other. ... A race is a distinct population of humans distinguished in some way from other humans. ... Religion—sometimes used interchangeably with faith or belief system—is commonly defined as belief concerning the supernatural, sacred, or divine, and the moral codes, practices, values, and institutions associated with such belief. ... For with(out) prejudice in law, see Prejudice (law). ... EQUAL is a popular artificial sweetener Equal (sweetener) Equality can mean several things: Mathematical equality Social equality Racial equality Sexual equality Equality of outcome Equality, a town in Illinois See also Equity Egalitarianism Equals sign This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise... Look up Sex in Wiktionary, the free dictionary The members of many species of living things are divided into two or more categories called sexes (or loosely speaking, genders). ...

Support for

• democratic globalization
• elimination of poverty
• international auxiliary languages
• uniform system of weights and measures
• universal currency
• universal education
• universal health care

Democratic globalization is a movement towards an institutional system that expands globalization by giving world citizens a say in world organizations. ... Poverty is the state of being without, often associated with need, hardship and lack of resources across a wide range of circumstances. ... An international auxiliary language (sometimes abbreviated as IAL or auxlang) is a language used (or to be used in the future) for communication between people from different nations who do not share a common native language. ... The definition, agreement and practical use of units of weights and measures have played a crucial role in human endeavor from early ages up to this day. ... Health care or healthcare is an industry associated with the the prevention, treatment, and management of illness along with the promotion of mental, physical and spiritual well-being through the services offered by the medical and allied health professions. ...

Some proposed means to promote the value of world citizenship

• Promotion of the concept and its implications in public schools among students toward their building a sense of world identity and building support among them for the development of and progressive adherence to justly constituted global institutions and international law, just as national identity and loyalty has historically been promoted in most if not all countries
• Advocacy of the concept in media, drawing attention to the perceived inadequacy of attempts to rally people together sustainably solely under a national flag or identity

The term public school has two contrary meanings: In England, one of a small number of prestigious historic schools open to the public which normally charge fees and are financed by bodies other than the state, commonly as private charitable trusts; here the word public is used much as in... International law deals with the relationships between states, or between persons or entities in different states. ...

A list of some famous persons who have identified themselves as world citizens

• Socrates
• Zeno of Citium
• Diogenes of Sinope
• Erasmus
• Bahá'u'lláh
• Thomas Paine
• Bertrand Russell
• Linus Pauling
• Lord Boyd Orr
• Eugene V. Debs
• Garry Davis
• Albert Einstein
• Jules Verne
• Leonardo da Vinci
• Charles Chaplin
• Hugh Schonfield