federation vs nation

federation and nation both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
federation	Yes	No	No	No
nation	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, nation is a hyponym of federation; that is, nation is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than federation:

Other hyponyms of federation include Creek Confederacy, Hanseatic League.

federation (noun)	nation (noun)
the act of constituting a political unity out of a number of separate states or colonies or provinces so that each member retains the management of its internal affairs	a politically organized body of people under a single government
a union of political organizations	the people who live in a nation or country
an organization formed by merging several groups or parties	a federation of tribes (especially Native American tribes)