Geography
Nation vs Nation State
A nation is a group of people who share a common identity, culture, and history, while a nation-state is a political entity that governs a specific territory and is comprised of a single nation. Not all nations have their own nation-state, as some may be part of a larger political entity, while some nation-states may be home to multiple nations.
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6 Key excerpts on "Nation vs Nation State"
eBook - PDFHuman Geography
People, Place, and Culture
- Erin H. Fouberg, Alexander B. Nash, Alexander B. Murphy, Harm J. de Blij(Authors)
- 2015(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
Because a nation is identified by those who are able to define and control membership, we cannot simply define a nation as the people within a territory. Indeed, rarely does a nation’s extent correspond precisely with a state’s borders. For example, in the country of Belgium, two nations—the Flemish and the Walloons—exist within the state borders. While some groups who envision themselves as nations do not seek territo- rial control and autonomy, there are numerous examples of groups seeking independence and the creation of their own ter- ritorially defined nation-state—for example, the Kurds of Iraq, Turkey, Syria, and Iran; Tamils in northern Sri Lanka; and the Québécois in the province of Quebec. • Political geographers are interested in nations and states, their territorial organization and boundaries, and nationalist ideologies. Political geographers are also interested in the political organization of space from the global to the local. • Borders are never natural. They are always socially con- structed; they are products of social practice, historical context, and are often the result of conflict. • A state is not a “natural” organizational structure. It is a particular form of political and social order created by hu- mans. The state is a politically organized territory with a per- manent population, a defined territory, and a government. It must be recognized as such by the international commu- nity in accordance with international law. • States need to establish boundaries and do so in a number of different ways. Disputes between countries about boundaries take a number of different forms including definitional, locational, operational, and allocational. • A nation is a group of people who collectively understand themselves as having a shared history and a common cul- ture attached to a particular homeland. Some states are made up of many nations, and many nations do not have their own state.
eBook - PDF- Barney Warf(Author)
- 2006(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications, Inc(Publisher)
NATION-STATE The nation-state is an ideal concept rather than one that is an actual or real geographic phenomenon. The nation-state is the ideological belief that the population of one state consists entirely of the members of one national group. Nearly all states in the world contain multinational populations and so violate the nation-state ideal. For example, Great Britain is home to the English, Welsh, Scottish, Ulster, and Irish nations. Those pressing for Scottish independence from Great Britain are acting in the nationalist belief that the Scottish people have a right to their own state, a Scottish nation-state. Although nation-states are practically nonexistent in the world, nationalist politics, or the desire to create nation-states, has been the most effec-tive and powerful ideology of modern times and is the cause of the ever changing boundaries of the world political map. Despite the fact that the nation-state is an ideal concept, everyday language usually denies the prob-lematic difference between political reality and rhetoric. Politicians usually convey the impression that their country is a nation-state, in other words, that their population shares a common national identity. However, contemporary geographic analysis is more focused on the national diversity within states and on how the geography of collective identity transcends state spaces in the form of networks. The nation-state was the fundamental geographic unit of the modern period. The Treaty of Westphalia of 1648 established the principle of state sovereignty, that is, a singular authority to rule over a territorial area defined by state boundaries. In Europe, the system of nation-states replaced feudal empires in which a hierarchy of sovereignty through baronial and majestic rule was played out over a network of fuzzy political boundaries. In addition, the ideal of the nation-state emphasized the ideal that sovereignty lay within the people rather than within a royal divine right to rule.
eBook - PDFVisualizing Human Geography
At Home in a Diverse World
- Alyson L. Greiner(Author)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
and the people share a sense of political unity. A narrow understanding of the nation-state concept means that a nation-state possesses a fairly homogeneous population. For example, Icelanders make up 94% of the population of Iceland, and Japanese account for 99% of the popu- lation of Japan. But very few of the states in the world meet this strict definition of nation-state. Thus, a broader understanding of the nation-state concept helps us see that even a multinational state can develop an identity as a nation-state by socially, economically, and politically integrating its people. Let’s consider the United States. Because of its Native American nations, such as the Chickasaw Nation and the Navajo Nation among others, the United States is multinational in terms of its popula- tion composition. Nevertheless, the United States func- tions as a nation-state through the creation of a political identity that sees the American nation and the state of the United States as identical and indivisible. by its long struggle to gain independence and statehood, among other factors. For the French-speaking Québécois in Canada, a shared language and experience as a minority group have shaped their national identity. In the media, the terms nation and state are fre- quently used interchangeably, but political geographers and other scholars are careful to note that the terms are not synonymous. Simply stated, a nation refers to a people and a state refers to a political unit. Nationalism, then, is the expression of loyalty to and pride in a nation, whereas patriotism is the expression of love for and devo- tion to one’s state. In a multinational state, the population consists of two or more nations. Most countries in the world are mul- tinational states, including, for example, Brazil, Canada, China, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, Spain, Sudan, and the United Kingdom.
eBook - PDFThe Nation and Nationalism in Europe
An Introduction
- Ireneusz Pawel Karolewski, Andrzej Marcin Suszycki(Authors)
- 2011(Publication Date)
- EUP(Publisher)
In 1936 Luis Wirth argued that a nation could be defined as The Nation and Nationalism in Europe 16 people who, because of the belief in their common descent and their mission in the world, by virtue of their common cultural heritage and historical career aspire to sovereignty over a ter-ritory or seek to maintain or enlarge their political or cultural influence in the face of opposition. 3 Here, influence and mission in the world seem to be essential in determining the existence of the nation, features which are not necessarily common to every nation nowadays. The missionary zeal is likely to describe some nations of large countries (prob-ably with colonial experience and empire-like structure of power), rather than smaller nations striving for their independence from an empire or against the resistance of more powerful neighbours. However, there are also other, more common definitions such as that proposed by Anthony D. Smith, according to whom ‘nation’ includes the territorial boundedness of separate cultural popula-tions in their own ‘homelands’; the shared nature of myths of origin and historical memories of the community; the common bond of a mass standardised culture; a common territorial division of labour, with mobility for all members and ownership of resources by all members in the homeland; and the possession by all members of a unified system of common legal rights and duties under common laws and institutions. 4 Here, the economic, legal, cultural and ter-ritorial integration appears to be central to this definition. This, however, might not apply to the growing number of multi-ethnic and multicultural nations such as Canada, Belgium or even the US. In addition, in this definition there is a conflation of reasons for the emergence of a nation (a shared historic territory or a common legal system) with the results of the nation-building process (histori-cal memories or a standardised culture).
eBook - PDF- Joseph P. Stoltman(Author)
- 2011(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications, Inc(Publisher)
15 POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY AND NATIONAL BOUNDARIES REECE JONES University ofHawai 'i at Manoa trol mine map the define B 21 the ies ritoriality-the politically. sovereign differences nowhere," field and This as over century. decolonization ways boundaries came Despite histories, "Without ies 17th st citizens century. emerged of national into simple both if political eign ou states examines chapter sovereignty this and n use they The Similar a particular became boundaries, idea of d the in between a The apparent school r in in the territory use by that states i fourth boundaries are terms e to describes of s geography. the next the what state. are over the section demonstrating section immutable of the using and followed modem mid-20th textbooks geographic medieval of boundaries adage dominant changes fundamental history permanency, century Contemporary you've a of the the fixed a The have clearly field state examines briefly World sovereign states third how been might "Without era, and political represent got area-and to way and of defined to of the of War have define the territorially section outlines approached and roughly be the the states, II. after nothing." political political national borders national in concept organizing current people geography, explains political contemporary the study since always it store territory explains Furthermore, the the maps, would of different boundar- period geography. to ofter- Boundaries in for who con- space defined mid- deter- boundar- political existed. you're sover- why the the the only state are be of boundaries are the most efficient way to communicate authority over something. The fifth and sixth sections trace the institutionalization of the contemporary political map through decolonization and the creation of the United Nations. The seventh section explores the future of national boundaries through the lenses of two contradic- tory ways they are represented today.
eBook - PDF- John A. Agnew, Katharyne Mitchell, Gerard Toal, John A. Agnew, Katharyne Mitchell, Gerard Toal(Authors)
- 2008(Publication Date)
- Wiley-Blackwell(Publisher)
Progress in Human Geography , 7, 502±18. Yiftachel, O. 1997. Nation-building or ethnic fragmentation? Frontier settlement and collect-ive identities in Israel. Space and Polity , 1, 149±69. Yuval-Davis, N. 1997. National Spaces and Collective Identities: Borders, Boundaries, Citi-zenship and Gender Relations . Inaugural Lecture Series, The University of Greenwich. 122 ANSSI PAASI Chapter 9 Boundaries David Newman Definitions (the Merriam-Webster OnLine Dictionary ) border: an outer part or edge borderland: a territory at or near a border boundary: something that indicates or fixes a limit or extent edge: the line where an object or area begins or ends frontier: a border between two countries a line of division between different or opposed things Boundaries, the lines that enclose state territories, have constituted a major theme in the study of political geography. If there is anything that belies notions of a deterritorialized and borderless world more, it is the fact that boundaries, in a variety of formats and intensities, continue to demarcate the territories within which we are compartmentalized, determine with whom we interact and affiliate, and the extent to which we are free to move from one space to another. Some boundaries may be disappearing, or at the very least are becoming more permeable and easy to traverse, but at the same time many new boundaries ± ranging from the state and territorial to the social and virtual ± are being established at one and the same time. Boundaries are not only static, unchanging, features of the political landscape, they also have their own internal dynamics, creating new realities and affecting the lives of people and groups who reside within close proximity to the boundary or are obliged to transverse the boundary at one stage or another in their lives. Neither are boundaries simply territorial and geographic phenomena.
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