What is a State?
When you hear the term "state", you likely think of one of the 50 states that make up the United States. However, politically-speaking a "state" has a broader definition. A state is defined as a body of people living in a defined territory with a sovereign government. For a state to truly be considered a state, it must have four things:
- People
- Territory
- Sovereignty
- Government
People
A state must have people, otherwise there wouldn’t even be a reason to have a state. However, it does not matter how many or how few people make up the state. For example, the Vatican is the least populous state in the world with less than one thousand people. Meanwhile, China is the most populous state in the world with over 1.4 billion people.
The people that make up a state may or may not be similar. Sometimes they will share one language, or they may speak several. This often depends on the history of the state. Throughout history the territory that a state occupies can change, which then changes the people that make up the state.
Territory
A state must have territory in the form of land. However, a state can’t have just any land. A state must have their own land, which is not ruled by any other state. Additionally, the land must have known and recognized boundaries that are acknowledged by other states.
Just like with population, it does not matter how much or how little land a state has. For example, the Vatican has the smallest territory with under .2 square miles, and Russia has the largest territory with over 6.6 million square miles.
Sovereignty
A state must be considered sovereign. Sovereignty means that a government has the supreme power and authority to govern itself within its own territory. This includes deciding foreign policy, implementing taxes, creating laws, and much more. This is one of the main characteristics that distinguishes a state from smaller political units such as a province or a county.
Government
The last thing a state needs is a government. Each state must have some sort of politically organized agency that organizes the state. The type of government that a state has does not matter, just that it exists. From the federal republic model in the United States, to socialist republic in Cuba, to the constitutional monarchy in Sweden, each government contributes to a state.
Common Misconceptions of a State
When discussing a state, people often use the terms state, nation, and country interchangeably. While these worlds are in fact very similar, they actually have slight differences in their meaning. As a reminder, a state is a body of people living in a defined territory with a sovereign government.
The term “nation” is used to refer to a large group of people united by their history, culture, language, territory, or other inherited factors. A nation has no defined connection to a government, is not necessarily defined by a territory, and does not require sovereignty. For example, Puerto Rico is a nation because it is united in its history, culture, and language. However, Puerto Rico is not currently a state because it does not have sovereignty.
The term “country” is used to refer solely to the geographic area that a government controls. A country has no defined connection to sovereignty, or people. For example, a country is the land that the United States governs and controls.
Additionally, in the United States we often become a little confused when we use the term “state” to refer to China or Sweden rather than Nevada or Michigan. This is because of how the United States was founded. The founders of our government sought to form a “firm league of friendship” between several sovereign territories. Each territory was considered to truly be its own state originally, and each retained its sovereignty and freedom.
