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State, Country, and Nation

Thecriteriathat define a country, anindependentState, and a nation

by Liz Olson

Thereis a differencebetweenthetermsnation, state, and country,eventhoughthewords are oftenusedinterchangeably.

Country and State are synonymous termsthatbothapplytoself -governingpoliticalentities. A nation, however, is a group of peoplewhoshare thesame culture but do nothavesovereignty.

Whenthe ³s´ of stateislowercase, itconstitutes a part of a wholecountry, such as thedifferentstates of the UnitedStates of America .Whenthe ³S´ of Stateisuppercaseitsignifiesanindependent country.

Howwerecountriesdefined in thepast?

In thepast, governmentsoftenusedtwoopposingtheoriesto define a

country²the Montevideo Conventiontreatyortheconstitutivetheory of statehood.

In 1933, at the Montevideo Convention in Uruguay, atreatywassignedontheRights and Duties of States. Thetreatydefined aStateusingfourcriteria²a permanentpopulation, a definedterritory, agovernment, and a capacitytoenterintorelationswithotherStates.

Theconventionalsodeclaredthat a Statedidnothaveto berecognizedbyotherStates, meaning a country couldexistevenifothercountriesdidnotrecogni zeit.

Conversely, theconstitutivetheory of statehoodsaidthat a country existedifitwasrecognized as sovereignbyothercountries. Therefore,ifothercountriesrecognized a country as independent, itwas, evenifthecountry didnothave control of itsterritoryor a pe rmanentpopulation.

WhatmakesanindependentStateor a country today?

y Has internationallyrecognizedland and bordersevenifborder disputes exist;

y Has permanentresidents;y Has sovereignty so that no other country has

poweroveritsterritory;y Has organizedeconomic activitythatregulatesforeign and

domestictrade and issuesmoney;y Has a transportationnetworkformovinggoods and people;y Has aneducationsystem;y Has recognitionfromotherindependentstates

Howmanycountries are there in theworld?



Today, there are 195 independentcountriesorstatesrecognized intheworld. Kosovo, whichdeclaredindependencefrom Serbia in February 2008isthenewest count ry. Territories, such as Hong Kong , Bermuda, PuertoRico, and Greenlandthatbelongtoothercountries arenotconsideredcountries.

Disputes oftenarisewhen a territoryclaimsto be a country,

butisnotrecognizedbyanyothercountries. Taiwan, forexample, claimsto beanindependent country, but ChinastatesthatTaiwanis a part of China.Therefore, othercountriesthatdon¶twanttoupset China also donotrecognizeTaiwan a s independent.

What are a nation and a nation -state?

A nationis a group of peoplewho share thesame culture, language,institutions, religion, and history ²usually a group of

peoplelargerthan a tribeorcommunity. When a nation of people hasanindependentState of theirownitisoftencalled a nation -state. The Kurdsare a nationwithout a State, but France, Germany, and Japan areexamples of nation -states.

http://www.infoplease.com/world/statistics/state -country-nation.html#ixzz1BXdiph3t

http://www.infoplease.com/world/statistics/state -country-nation.html

Country, State, an d Nation

DefinininganIndependent Country

ByMattRosenberg , About.com Guide

Whiletheterms country, state, and nation are oftenusedinterchangeably,thereis a difference.

A State (note the capital "S") is a self -governingpoliticalentity.ThetermState can be usedinterchangeablywith country.

A nation, however, is a tightly -knitgroup of peoplewhich share acommon culture. A nation -stateis a nationwhich has thesameborders as aState.

Let'sstartwithwhat defines a Stateoranindependent country.AnindependentState:

y Has spaceorterritorywhich hasinternationallyrecognizedboundaries (boundary disputes are OK).

y Has peoplewholivethereonanongoingbasis.y Has economicactivity and anorganizedeconomy. A coun try

regulatesforeign and domestictrade and issuesmoney.y Has thepower of social engineering, such as education.y Has a transportationsystemformovinggoods and people.y Has a governmentwhichprovidespublicservices and policepower.



y Has sovereignty. NootherStateshouldhavepoweroverthecountry'sterritory.

y Has externalrecognition. A country has been "votedintothe club"byothercountries.

There are currently 195 independentcountriesorStat esaroundtheworld.Territories of countriesor individual parts of a country are

notcountries in theirownright.

Examples of entitiesthat are notcountriesinclude: Hong Kong, Bermuda,Greenland, Puerto Rico, and mostnotablytheconstituentparts of theUnitedKingdom. (NorthernIreland, Wales, Scotland, and England arenotcountries.)

A "state" (with a lower -case "s") isusually a division of a federalState (such as thestates of theUnitedStates of America).

Nations and Nation -States

Nations are culturallyhomogene ousgroups of people, largerthan a single

tribeorcommunity, which share a commonlanguage, institutions,religion, and historicalexperience.

When a nation of peoplehave a Stateor country of theirown, itiscalled a nation-state. Places like France, Egypt, Germ any, and Japan areexcellentexamples of nation -states. There aresomeStateswhichhavetwonations, such as Canada and Belgium. Evenwithitsmulticultural society, theUnitedStatesisalsoreferredto as a nation -statebecause of theshared American "culture."

There are nationswithoutStates. Forexample, theKurds arestatelesspeople.

http://geography.about.com/cs/politicalgeog/a/statenation.htm

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