Expatriate

Expatriate French voters queue in Lausanne, Switzerland, for the first round of the presidential election of 2007.

An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country.

The term often refers to a professional, skilled worker or artist from a wealthy country. It may also refer to retirees and other individuals who have chosen to live outside their native country. Students are usually not referred to as expats.

The International Organization for Migration of the United Nations defines the term as "a person who voluntarily renounces his or her nationality". Historically, it has also been used to refer to exiles.

The UAE is the country with the highest percentage of expatriates in the world after the Vatican City, with expatriates in the United Arab Emirates representing about 88% of the population.

This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.