• An independent political territory

• Administered by a sovereign government

• Recognized by a significant portion of the international community.

• A state usually contains:

– a permanent resident population

– an organized economy

– a functioning internal circulation system

State

• Some examples of stateless nations: the Cherokee Nation, the Palestinians, the Kurdish ethnic minority of Iraq & Turkey, no current territorial borders

Nation

Kurdish Region Must a nation be a

place?

Is a Nation a State?

Nation-state• “nation-state” idealistically contains

ethnically-linguistically-culturally cohesive population. Minority populations may be assimilated into the main culture voluntarily or forcibly.

• Power of nation-states depend on ability of government to use humans and natural resources to influence the behavior of other states.

• A country whose population possesses a substantial degree of cultural homogeneity and unity

Nation - state

An example of a nation-state:

Japan

Other examples:ChinaN. Korea, S. KoreaRussia in proximity