World similar to our own but not quite - how to describe different nationalities

I think you can use the most visible traits, that is, nose/eye shape, hair color and type(curly/straight/thin/thick) as well as skin tone. Height, body-type.
But you said you don't want to use that. May I ask why? Describing physical characteristics is the easier and faster way in discerning one ethnic group from the other. And unless the society is very advanced, that will always be some racism, either prejudicial to said group or putting then in higher stats. (I don't want to use real life examples, but I hope I haven't being that confusing.)

 

Just use good descriptive language and don't worry about the possible weird racist-y hangups of some of your readers, the hangups are their problems, not yours.

The ebony skin of the barely-clad dancer proved a wonderful backdrop for the gleaming candle-lit dagger she held low, moments before she shoved it into my guts. See ... easy :wink:

 

I'd say you want to mention both the obvious traits and the in-world term for them, paired so the reader thinks "Oh, ebony skin means an African look until I see different, and the book just called them 'Gorodans' so..."

 

It's not racist to say someone has dark skin, or narrow eyes, black hair or any other racial trait. It is implying that these traits make them inferior to you because of these traits.

In dating that, it is said that people of African decent have longer more explosive muscles meaning they can run faster and jump higher. It's not racist is science. It's evolution.

 

If I understand you correctly, your worry is like this:

Here's a Gorodan (to use the earlier term). She has black skin, curly hair, and a blunt little nose.

Here's a Samatan. She has pale skin. There's no attempt to describe her hair or her nose, because it's assumed that she looks "like the reader" (that is to say, Western European.)

This is something I see all the time, and I've seen arguments that it qualifies as racist. But if you know the problem exists, it seems easy to avoid. Describe your Samatan as having pale skin, straight hair, and a hooked nose. If you want, you can even mix and match, giving each ethnicity traits from two or more real-life peoples.

 

Well, I like to describe how they clothes and carry themselves. Culture will have a bigger influence on distinguishing nationalities. I usually mention their physical attributes offhandedly when the view-point character had a reason to focus on them.