How does a nation differ from a state

It is very common for various nations to have countries of their own, known as nation-states. Thus, the country of France serves as the nation-state of the French people; Spain serves as the nation-state of the Spanish people; Italy is the nation-state of the Italian people, and so forth. Not all nations, however, have a nation-state of their own. For instance, the Kurdish people, or Kurds, who are native to the Middle East, do not have a nation-state of their own.

Instead, the territory in which they live is spread among several countries, including Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran. Many Kurds contend that they should have a nation-state of their own, since they have common characteristics such as a common language, ethnicity and territory.

Some argue that it is not necessary for people to share the same ethnicity, language, or religion in order to be considered a nation. Instead, they argue that a nation can be based simply on shared values. Thus, they would contend, for example, that the United States is a nation because Americans supposedly share common values, even though they descend from many different places around the world, and in many cases, do not share a common language, ethnicity, or religion.

Unlike the concept of the nation, the concept of the state has legal standing in international law. According to this law, a state needs to fulfill certain criteria before it can be recognized as such. Among these criteria are a defined territory with defined borders, a permanent population, and a government that has effective control over the defined territory and its borders. Thus, the U. It is the element of sovereignty which makes the state different from all other associations of the people.

It is not essential for a nation to possess sovereignty. The basic requirement of a nation is the strong bonds of emotional unity among its people which develop due to several common social cultural elements. Before , India was a nation but not a State because it did not have sovereignty. After her independence in , India became a State because after the end of British imperial rule it became a sovereign entity.

However, each nation always aspires to be sovereign and independent of the control of every other nation. The State is limited to a fixed territory. Its boundaries can increase or decrease but the process of change is always very complex. However a nation may or may not remain within the bounds of a fixed territory.

Nation is a community based on common ethnicity, history and traditions and aspirations. Obviously its boundaries can easily extend beyond the boundaries of the State. For example in a way the French nation extends even to Belgium, Switzerland and Italy because people in these countries belong to the same race to which the French claim to belong.

There can be two or more than two nations within a single State. Most of the modern states are multinational states. A nation is more stable than the State. When sovereignty ends, the State dies, but not the nation. A nation can survive even without sovereignty. For example, after their defeat in the World War II, both Germany and Japan lost their sovereign statuses and outside powers began to control them.

They ceased to exist as States. But as nations they continued to live as nations, which after some months regained their sovereign statuses and became sovereign independent states. A State can be created with the conscious endeavors of the people. Physical elements play an important role in the birth of a State. But Germans remained emotionally as one nation.

Ultimately in Oct. In Pakistan was created out of India as a separate State. A nation is a unity of the people which emerges slowly and steadily.

No special efforts go into the making of a nation. The State uses police power force for preserving its unity and integrity, the Nation is bound by strong cultural and historical links:. State has police power. Those who dare to disobey it are punished by the state. A nation does not have police power or force or coercive power. It is backed by moral, emotional and spiritual power. A nation survives on the power of sense of unity of the people.

A nation appeals, the State orders; a nation persuades, a States coerces; and a nation boycotts, the State punishes. Updated February 11, Infoplease Staff. The criteria that define a country, an independent State, and a nation by Liz Olson.

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