In general, a native-born citizen of a country is a person who was born within the country's territory and has been legally recognized as a citizen of that country since birth. In some countries, being a native-born citizen provides certain privileges and rights not afforded to naturalized or foreign-born citizens, such as being able to hold certain offices or being able to pass on citizenship to one's offspring.

In some countries, native birth is a requirement for certain high offices, such as the head of state

Head of State

A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...

 or head of government

Head of government

Head of government is the chief officer of the executive branch of a government, often presiding over a cabinet. In a parliamentary system, the head of government is often styled prime minister, chief minister, premier, etc...

.

Being a native-born citizen is not exactly the same as the principle of jus soli

Jus soli

Jus soli , also known as birthright citizenship, is a right by which nationality or citizenship can be recognized to any individual born in the territory of the related state...

 (that is, citizenship due to place of birth). For example, a person born in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 to Japanese parent(s) is clearly a native-born citizen of Japan. However, such a person became a citizen of Japan

Japanese nationality law

Japanese nationality is a legal designation and set of rights granted to those people who have met the federal criteria for citizenship by parentage or by naturalization...

 due to jus sanguinis

Jus sanguinis

Ius sanguinis is a social policy by which citizenship is not determined by place of birth, but by having a parent who are citizens of the nation...

(i.e., citizenship through descent) as Japan does not recognize the principle of jus soli. That is, if parent(s) who are not Japanese citizens visit Japan just to give birth to a person, that person will not be entitled to a Japanese citizenship.

In many countries (such as Japan), being native-born is not sufficient to confer citizenship.