Final answer:
People with common cultural traits such as language, religion, and other traditions typically share the same ethnicity, a concept rooted in shared culture and common ancestry, and distinguishable from race.
Step-by-step explanation:
People who have common ancestry and generally are similar in language, religion, and other cultural patterns belong to the same ethnicity. Ethnicity is based on shared culture which encompasses practices, norms, values, and beliefs of a group. It may include language, religion, traditions, and is inheritable but can also encompass self-identified characteristics that evolve over time. While some use ethnicity interchangeably with race, they are distinct concepts, as race is usually associated with physical characteristics, whereas ethnicity relates more to cultural identity tied to common ancestry and cultural traits like language and religion.
National heritage is also frequently connected to ethnicity, commonly expressed in the United States through hyphenated identities such as Chinese-American or Mexican-American. Nevertheless, nation-states use additional elements like language and shared history to foster national identities. These dimensions of identity help us to understand and navigate the complex frameworks of human societies and their diverse cultural landscapes.