国债券也被称为国库券、国家债券、中央政府债券、联邦政府债券，是一个国家的中央政府或联邦政府发行的公共债券。

历史上第一个发行国债券的国家是英格兰王国，1693年，为筹集对法兰西王国作战的军费，英格兰银行发行了国债券。后来其他国家也发行国债券来支付军费或其他政府开支。

A government bond is a bond issued by a national government, generally with a promise to pay periodic interest payments and to repay the face value on the maturity date. Government bonds are usually denominated in the country's own currency. Another term similar to government bond is "sovereign bond". Technically any bond issued by a sovereign entity is a sovereign bond but sometimes the term is used to refer to bonds issued in a currency other than the sovereign's currency. If a government or sovereign is close to default on its debt the media often refer to this as a sovereign debt crisis.