Nation state

A state that encompasses the territory inhabited by an identifiable nation, or people with traditional cultural, linguistic, economic, or political ties, more commonly known as countries. Nation-states as independent entities arose as an answer to states governed by an external religious leader, the format of international politics in Europe that gave rise to the Thirty Years War, resulting in the death of one third of the European populace.

Nation-states are a Western concept which arose particularly after the French Revolution, and around the world at the end of decolonization.

Before the idea of a nation state arose, many countries were defined as being the lands that belonged to a particular ruler or rulers, won either by conquest, treaty or inheritance, regardless of the people who inhabited those lands. With the nation state came the idea that people of a particular cultural background have a right to self-determination. This same concept is still relevant to the modern world, as it forms the basis of recent independence movements such as those in East Timor and Kosovo.

The modern state of Israel is another example of a nation state. Although it was founded in the twentieth century, the state has its roots in the Old Testament of the Bible; so as an idea, it predates the modern concept of the nation state by thousands of years. This could be considered an example of biblical foreknowledge.

Zbigniew Brzezinski in 1969 wrote, "The nation state as a fundamental unit of man's organized life has ceased to be the principal creative force. International banks and multinational corporations are acting and planning in terms that are far in advance of the political concepts of the nation state."

List of Countries

North America

• Canada
• United States of America
• Mexico

Africa

Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon (also spelled Cameroun) Cape Verde Chad (Tchad) Central African Republic Comoros Republic of the Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) Djibouti Egypt (Misr) Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Ethiopia (Abyssinia) Gabon The Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Kenya Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Morocco (Al Maghrib) Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Rwanda São Tomé and Príncipe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa South Sudan Sudan Swaziland Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe

Europe

Albania Andorra Austria Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Republic of Ireland Italy Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Moldova Monaco Montenegro Netherlands Norway (Norge) Poland (Polska) Portugal Romania Russia San Marino Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Ukraine United Kingdom Vatican City

Asia

Afghanistan - Kabul Armenia - Yerevan Azerbaijan - Baku Bahrain - Manama Bangladesh - Dhaka Bhutan - Thimphu Brunei - Bandar Seri Begawan Cambodia (Kampuchea) - Phnom Penh China - Beijing Taiwan (a.k.a. Republic Of China) - Taipei East Timor (Timor Leste) - Dili India (Hindi: भारत) - New Delhi Indonesia - Jakarta Iran - Tehran Iraq - Baghdad Israel - Jerusalem Palestine - Gaza Japan (Nihon) - Tokyo Jordan (Al Urdun) - Amman Kazakhstan - Astana Kuwait - Kuwait Kyrgyzstan - Bishkek Laos - Vientiane Lebanon (Lubnan) - Beirut Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur Maldives - Malé Mongolia - Ulaanbaatar Myanmar (Burma) - Naypyidaw Nepal - Kathmandu North Korea - Pyongyang Oman - Muscat Pakistan - Islamabad Philippines - Manila Qatar - Doha Russia (Россия) - Moscow Saudi Arabia - Riyadh Singapore - Singapore South Korea - Seoul Sri Lanka - Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, not Colombo now Syria - Damascus Tajikistan - Dushanbe Thailand (Muang Thai) - Bangkok Turkey - Ankara Turkmenistan - Aşgabat United Arab Emirates - Abu Dhabi Uzbekistan - Tashkent Vietnam - Hanoi Yemen - Sana'a

Central America and the Antilles

Antigua and Barbuda Bahamas Barbados Belize Costa Rica Cuba Dominica Dominican Republic El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Haiti Honduras Jamaica Nicaragua Panama (Panamá) Puerto Rico Saint Kitts and Nevi Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago Turks and Caicos

South America

Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Ecuador French Guiana Guyana Paraguay Peru Suriname Uruguay Venezuela

Oceania

Australia New Zealand Fiji Papua New Guinea Solomon Islands Vanuatu Kiribati Marshall Islands Nauru Palau Samoa Tonga Tuvalu

Islam

Islam categorically rejects the concept of nation state and views entities such as the Arab League or Organisation of Islamic Cooperation as tyrannical extensions of Western dominance and imperialism. A citizen of Islam, for instance, should not be required to furnish a passport to fulfill his religious obligation - a journey to Mecca (the Fifth Pilar of Islam) - when entering Saudi Arabia or journeying across other so-called 'Islamic Republics'.