Political Units and Nations

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States

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States are political units with defined territories, a permanent population, and are fully independent and sovereign.

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states

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States that are part of a federal government and have limited independence or sovereignty.

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Country

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The term "country" is roughly equivalent to "state."

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Nations

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Nations are communities or groups of people with a common culture, sense of unity, shared beliefs and customs, and usually a strong attachment to a place.

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Nation-States

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A state occupied by a single nation, considered ideal. No perfect examples, but some like Japan, Norway, and Lesotho come fairly close.

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Multinational State

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A state whose population is made up of two or more nations. Examples include Cyprus and Russia.

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Part-Nation State

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A state whose population is only a portion of a nation. Examples: Egypt, Syria.

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Stateless Nation

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A nation that has no state or sovereignty, or is divided among several states. Examples: Basques, Kurds, Gypsies.

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The Rise of States

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Nations have existed from time immemorial. States have existed for thousands of years, with examples like "City-States" in Mesopotamia and Greece, and early political empires like Agade, Egypt, Chin, Rome. The modern nation-state concept dates back to Europe in the 17th-19th centuries.

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Number of Recognized Countries in 1950

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As recently as 1950, there were only about 50 internationally recognized independent countries; now there are nearly 200.