Nation-building is often proposed as a device for integration in ethnically divided societies. The determinants of national sentiment, however, remain imperfectly understood. This paper analyses the role of interethnic contact in the process of nation formation within multiethnic Yugoslavia, just before its disintegration in 1991. Using a variety of data sources and empirical strategies, I find that interethnic contact stimulated the formation of the Yugoslav nation. I argue that ethnic intermarriage is the key mechanism through which ethnic diversity influenced the adoption of a shared Yugoslav identity. These results illustrate the powerful effect that interethnic contact can have in reducing ethnic division even in a tense ethnic environment on the verge of conflict, like that of Yugoslavia.

国家建设经常被提议作为融合种族分裂社会的一种手段。然而，人们对民族情绪的决定因素仍知之甚少。本文分析了种族间接触在多民族南斯拉夫国家形成过程中的作用，就在南斯拉夫于 1991 年解体之前。使用各种数据源和实证策略，我发现种族间接触刺激了南斯拉夫国家的形成。我认为种族通婚是种族多样性影响采用共同的南斯拉夫身份的关键机制。这些结果表明，即使在处于冲突边缘的紧张种族环境中，种族间接触也可以在减少种族分裂方面产生强大的影响，例如南斯拉夫。