Why aren't python nested functions called closures?

Question

I have seen and used nested functions in Python, and they match the definition of a closure. So why are they called nested functions instead of closures<

Answer 1

I'd like to offer another simple comparison between python and JS example, if this helps make things clearer.

JS:

function make () {
  var cl = 1;
  function gett () {
    console.log(cl);
  }
  function sett (val) {
    cl = val;
  }
  return [gett, sett]
}

and executing:

a = make(); g = a[0]; s = a[1];
s(2); g(); // 2
s(3); g(); // 3

Python:

def make (): 
  cl = 1
  def gett ():
    print(cl);
  def sett (val):
    cl = val
  return gett, sett

and executing:

g, s = make()
g() #1
s(2); g() #1
s(3); g() #1

Reason: As many others said above, in python, if there is an assignment in the inner scope to a variable with the same name, a new reference in the inner scope is created. Not so with JS, unless you explicitly declare one with the var keyword.