Motherland is a term that may refer to a mother country, i.e. a Metropole in contrast to its colonies, or the origin of an ethnic group or immigrant. This usage is sometimes seen also in English, maybe more often in the social sciences.

Motherland is otherwise a synonym for fatherland, though perhaps carrying different psychological associations. It especially has the connotation of one's country of birth and growing up, with the country being respectfully viewed as a benign mother nurturing its citizens as her children.

The term "Motherland" is very often associated with Russia, and many Russians and various Slavs around the world refer to the country as such, even if they do not harbor their ancestry directly from the country.

In other languages:

• Amharic: እናት ሀገር (Ənat hagär)
• Bulgarian: родина (rodina), отечество (otechestvo)
• Czech: Vlast
• Danish: Moderland
• Dutch: Moederland
• French: Mère patrie (slightly contradictory, since "patrie" means "fatherland")
• German: Mutterland
• Greek: Μητέρα-πατρίδα(Mitera-patrida) or, colloquially, Μαμά-πατρίδα (Mama-patrida)
• Hindi, Marathi and Sanskrit: (devanagari: मातृभूमि)
• Hungarian: Anyaföld
• Indonesian : Tanah Airku
• Japanese: 母国
• Korean: 모국
• Malaysian : Ibu Petiwi or Tanah Air
• Polish: Macierz
• Portuguese: Mãe-Pátria, or simply Pátria
• Romanian: Patria Mamă
• Russian: Родина (Rodina), also Родина-мать
• Spanish: Madre Patria
• Turkish: Anavatan
• Filipino: Inang Bayan
• Italian: Madre Patria
• Tamil: Thainadu (literally, 'mother country') or Thaimannu (literally, 'mother soil')

Mutterland