good question..

"祖國，從字麵意義上可以理解為祖先的國家。中華民國教育部解釋，祖國即為祖籍所在的國家^[1]。但對於移民來說，祖國與母國是相對應的，祖國可能是指居住國，或僑居國，母國是指移民來源國，祖籍地所在的國家。^[2]《現代漢語詞典》的解釋，祖國就是自己的國家；而祖籍地所在的國家是祖籍國^[3]。馬克思主義者則信奉“工人無祖國”，故中國共產黨所稱的祖國僅僅是統戰用語。也有“商人無祖國”一說，用來說明商業行為的逐利性。"

http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/%E7%A5%96%E5%9C%8B

"A homeland (rel. country of origin and native land) is the concept of the place (cultural geography) with which an ethnic group holds a long history and a deep cultural association —the country in which a particular national identity began. As a common noun, it simply connotes the country of one's origin. When used as a proper noun, the word, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often have ethnic nationalist connotations. A homeland may also be referred to as a fatherland, a motherland, or a mother country, depending on the culture and language of the nationality in question."