The individuality of a being or entity. National identity may be based on myths; ‘like cultural identities, diasporic national identities are actively constructed’ (Mavroudi (2007) Glob. Networks 7, 4), but Nairn (2003) New Left Rev. 23 observes that ‘for growing masses of people…issues of identity are not metaphorical but [are] treasured, if deplorable, bits of cheap plastic: everyday life and death’. Identity may emerge from the production and reproduction of space; see Saarinen (2004) Tourist Studs 4 on tourist destinations and their identity, and try M. Tewdwr-Jones and P. Allmendinger (2006). Dittmer and Larsen (2007) Soc. & Cult. Geog. 8, 5 write that national identity is constructed by the interpellation of subjects from competing discourses that all emphasize different aspects of the lived experience of the inhabitants. The use of the term ‘interpellate’ is questionable.
In physical geography, identity is established using ‘methods of ontology based on meaningful collections of attributes’ (Raper and Livingstone (2001) TIBG 26).