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{{Short description|Political term for a state that is based around a nation}}
{{redirect|Sovereign nation|the use of this term by Native Americans|Tribal sovereignty in the United States}}
{{For-multi|the 2018 Israeli legislation|Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People{{!}}Nation-State Bill|the government simulation browser game|NationStates}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}}

{{Basic forms of government}}
{{Nationalism sidebar|Development}}

A '''nation state''', or '''nation-state''', is a political entity in which the [[State (polity)|state]] (a centralized political organization ruling over a population within a territory) and the [[nation]] (a community based on a common identity) are broadly or ideally congruent.<ref>{{Cite book |last =Cederman |first =Lars-Erik |jstor =j.ctv1416488 |title =Emergent Actors in World Politics: How States and Nations Develop and Dissolve |date =1997 |volume =39 |publisher =[[Princeton University Press]] |isbn =978-0-691-02148-5 |pages =19 |doi=10.2307/j.ctv1416488 |s2cid=140438685 |quote=When the state and the nation coincide territorially and demographically, the resulting unit is a nation-state.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Brubaker |first=Rogers |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PXP7DwAAQBAJ |title=Citizenship and Nationhood in France and Germany |date=1992 |publisher =[[Harvard University Press]] |isbn =978-0-674-25299-8 |page =28 |quote =A state is a nation-state in this minimal sense insofar as it claims (and is understood) to be a nation's state: the state 'of' and 'for' a particular, distinctive, bounded nation. |via =[[Google Books]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Hechter |first=Michael |url =https://books.google.com/books?id=O3jnCwAAQBAJ |title=Containing Nationalism |date= 24 February 2000 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=9780191522864 |language=en |via=[[Google Books]] | quote = The model of the culturally unified nation state may have been inspired by the democratic ''[[polis]]'', which was largely ethnically homogeneous (McNeill 1986)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Gellner |first=Ernest |url =https://books.google.com/books?id=XPHpUSUAsF0C |title=Nations and Nationalism |date=2008 |publisher=[[Cornell University Press]] |isbn=978-0-8014-7500-9 |language=en |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> "Nation state" is a more precise concept than "[[country]]" or "state", since a country or a state does not need to have a predominant national or [[ethnic group|ethnic]] group.

A [[nation]], sometimes used in the sense of a common [[ethnicity]], may include a [[diaspora]] or [[refugee]]s who live outside the nation-state; some dispersed nations (such as the [[Romani people|Roma nation]], for example) do not have a state where that ethnicity predominates. In a more general sense, a nation-state is simply a large, politically sovereign country or administrative territory. A nation-state may or may not be contrasted with:
* An [[empire]], a political unit made up of several territories and peoples, typically established through conquest and marked by a dominant center and subordinate peripheries.
* A [[multinational state]], where no one ethnic or cultural group dominates (such a state may also be considered a [[multicultural]] state - depending on the degree of [[cultural assimilation]] of its various groups).
* A [[city-state]], which is both smaller than a "nation" in the sense of a "large sovereign country" and which may or may not be dominated by all or part of a single "nation" in the sense of a common ethnicity or culture.<ref name="Radan2002">{{cite book |author=Peter Radan |title =The break-up of Yugoslavia and international law |url =https://books.google.com/books?id=-e5ciqlbvcwC&pg=PA14 |access-date =25 November 2010 |year =2002 |publisher =[[Psychology Press]] |isbn =978-0-415-25352-9 |page =14 |via =[[Google Books]]}}</ref><ref name="Boll2007">{{cite book |author =Alfred Michael Boll |title =Multiple nationality and international law |url =https://books.google.com/books?id=Mr6Y45439A0C&pg=PA67 |access-date =25 November 2010 |year =2007 |publisher =Martinus Nijhoff Publishers |isbn =978-90-04-14838-3 |page =67 |via =[[Google Books]]}}</ref><ref name="Elazar1998">{{cite book |author =Daniel Judah Elazar |title =Covenant and civil society: the constitutional matrix of modern democracy |url =https://books.google.com/books?id=EiOpZbl0eXIC&pg=PA129 |access-date =25 November 2010 |year =1998 |publisher =Transaction Publishers |isbn =978-1-56000-311-3 |page =129 |via =[[Google Books]]}}</ref>
* A [[confederation]], a league of sovereign states, which might or might not include nation-states.
* A [[federated state]], which may or may not be a nation-state, and which is only partially self-governing within a larger [[federation]] (for example, the state boundaries of [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]] are drawn along ethnic lines, but those of the [[United States]] are not).

This article mainly discusses the more specific definition of a nation-state as a typically sovereign country dominated by a particular ethnicity.

== Complexity ==
The relationship between a nation (in the ethnic sense) and a state can be complex. The presence of a state can encourage [[ethnogenesis]], and a group with a pre-existing ethnic identity can influence the drawing of territorial boundaries or argue for [[Legitimacy (political)|political legitimacy]]. This definition of a "nation-state" is not universally accepted. "All attempts to develop terminological consensus around 'nation' failed", concludes academic [[Valery Tishkov]].<ref>{{cite journal |first=Valery |last=Tishkov |s2cid=145643597 |title=Forget the 'nation': post-nationalist understanding of nationalism |journal=[[Ethnic and Racial Studies]] |volume=23 |issue=4 |year=2000 |pages=625–650 [p. 627] |doi=10.1080/01419870050033658}}</ref> [[Walker Connor]] discusses the impressions surrounding the characters of "[[nation]]", "[[Sovereign state|(sovereign) state]]", "nation-state", and "[[nationalism]]". Connor, who gave the term "[[ethnonationalism]]" wide currency, also discusses the tendency to confuse nation and state and the treatment of all states as if nation states.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Walker |last=Connor |title=A Nation is a Nation, is a State, is an Ethnic Group, is a... |journal=[[Ethnic and Racial Studies]] |volume=1 |issue= 4|year=1978 |pages=377–400 |doi=10.1080/01419870.1978.9993240}}</ref>

== History ==

=== Origins ===
{{main|Nation}}
[[File:Westfaelischer_Friede_in_Muenster_(Gerard_Terborch_1648).jpg|thumb|Painting of "The Ratification of the [[Peace of Münster|Treaty of Münster]]"; this and other negotiations resulted in the 1648 [[Peace of Westphalia]]]]
The origins and early history of nation-states are disputed. A major theoretical question is: "Which came first, the nation or the nation-state?" Scholars such as [[Steven Weber (professor)|Steven Weber]], [[David Woodward (cartographer)|David Woodward]], [[Michel Foucault]]  and [[Jeremy Black (historian)|Jeremy Black]]<ref>{{cite book |first=Jeremy |last=Black |title=Maps and Politics |pages=59–98, 100–147 |date=1998}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Carneiro |first=Robert L. |s2cid=11536431 |date=21 August 1970 |title=A Theory Of The Origin Of The State |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=169 |issue=3947 |pages=733–738 |doi=10.1126/science.169.3947.733 |pmid=17820299 |bibcode=1970Sci...169..733C}}</ref><ref>Michel Foucault Lectures at the Collège de France Security, Territory, Population 2007</ref> have advanced the hypothesis that the nation-state did not arise out of political ingenuity or an unknown undetermined source, nor was it a political invention; rather, it is an inadvertent by-product of 15th-century intellectual discoveries in [[political economy]], [[capitalism]], [[mercantilism]], [[political geography]], and [[geography]]<ref>International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences. Direct Georeferencing : A New Standard in Photogrammetry for High Accuracy Mapping Volume XXXIX, pp. 5–9, 2012</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=International Archives of the Photogrammetry On Borders: From Ancient to Postmodern Times |volume=40 |pages=1–7 |date=2013}}</ref> combined with [[cartography]]<ref>International Archives of the Photogrammetry Borderlines: Maps and the spread of the Westphalian state from Europe to Asia Part One – The European Context Volume 40 pp. 111–116 2013</ref><ref>International Archives of the Photogrammetry Appearance and Appliance of the Twin-Cities Concept on the Russian-Chinese Border Volume 40 pp. 105–110 2013</ref> and [[Cartography#Technological changes|advances in map-making technologies]].<ref>{{cite news |title=How Maps Made the World |url=http://www.wilsonquarterly.com/article.cfm?AID=1992 |newspaper=[[Wilson Quarterly]] |date=Summer 2011 |access-date=28 July 2011 |url-access=subscription |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811005805/http://www.wilsonquarterly.com/article.cfm?AID=1992 |archive-date=11 August 2011 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite thesis |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2tt0p94m |title= Mapping the Sovereign State: Cartographic Technology, Political Authority, and Systemic Change |last=Branch |first=Jordan Nathaniel |year=2011 |type=PhD thesis |publisher=[[University of California, Berkeley]] |access-date=5 March 2012 |quote=Abstract: How did modern territorial states come to replace earlier forms of organization, defined by a wide variety of territorial and non-territorial forms of authority? Answering this question can help to explain both where our international political system came from and where it might be going. |via=eScholarship }}</ref> It was with these intellectual discoveries and technological advances that the nation-state arose.

For others, the nation existed first. Then nationalist movements arose for [[sovereignty]], and the nation-state was created to meet that demand. Some "[[Modernization theory|modernization theories]]" of nationalism see it as a product of government policies to unify and modernize an already existing state. Most theories see the nation-state as a 19th-century European phenomenon facilitated by developments such as state-mandated education, mass [[literacy]], and [[mass media]]. However, historians{{Who|date=August 2014}} also note the early emergence of a relatively unified state and identity in [[Portugal]] and the [[Dutch Republic]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Richards |first=Howard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9Kw5vLbYq-4C&q=early+emergence+of+a+relatively+unified+state,+and+a+sense+of+common+identity,+in+Portugal+and+the+Dutch+Republic.&pg=PA344 |title=Understanding the Global Economy |date=2004 |publisher=Peace Education Books |isbn=978-0-9748961-0-6 |language=en |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> and some date the emergence of nations even earlier. [[Adrian Hastings]], for instance, argued that [[Ancient Israel]] as depicted in the [[Hebrew Bible]] "gave the world the model of nationhood, and even nation-statehood";  however, after the [[Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE)|fall of Jerusalem]], the Jews lost this status for nearly two millennia, while still preserving their national identity until "the more inevitable rise of [[Zionism]]", in modern times, which sought to establish a [[State of Israel|nation-state]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hastings |first=Adrian |title=The Construction of Nationhood: Ethnicity, Religion and Nationalism |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1997 |isbn=0-521-59391-3 |pages=186–187}}</ref>

[[Eric Hobsbawm]] argues that the establishment of a [[French people|French]] nation was not the result of [[French nationalism]], which would not emerge until the end of the 19th century, but rather the policies implemented by pre-existing French states. Many of these reforms were implemented since the [[French Revolution]], at which time only half of the French people spoke some French{{snd}}with only a quarter of those speaking the version of it found in literature and places of learning.<ref name="hobsbawm1">{{cite book |last1=Hobsbawm |first1=Eric |author1-link=Eric Hobsbawm |title=Nations and nationalism since 1780 |date=1992 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=0521439612 |page=60 |edition=2nd}}</ref> As the number of [[Italian language|Italian]] speakers in Italy was even lower at the time of [[Italian unification]], similar arguments have been made regarding the modern [[Italians|Italian]] nation, with both the French and the Italian states promoting the replacement of various regional dialects and languages with [[Standard language|standardized dialects]]. The introduction of [[conscription]] and the [[French Third Republic|Third Republic]]'s [[Jules Ferry laws|1880s laws on public instruction]] facilitated the creation of a national identity under this theory.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-03-04 |title=French language law: The attempted ruination of France's linguistic diversity. |url=https://trinitycollegelawreview.org/french-language-law-the-attempted-ruination-of-frances-linguistic-diversity/ |access-date=2022-04-08 |website=Trinity College Law Review (TCLR) {{!}} [[Trinity College Dublin]] |language=en-GB}}</ref>

[[File:Europe 1848 map en.png|thumb|upright=1.15|The [[Revolutions of 1848]] were democratic and liberal, intending to remove the old [[Monarchy|monarchical]] structures and to create independent nation-states.]]
Some nation-states, such as [[Germany]] and [[Italy]], came into existence at least partly as a result of political campaigns by [[Nationalism|nationalists]] during the 19th century. In both cases the territory was previously divided among other states, some very small. At first, the sense of common identity was a cultural movement, such as in the [[Völkisch movement|''Völkisch'' movement]] in German-speaking states, which rapidly acquired a political significance. In these cases the nationalist sentiment and the nationalist movement precede the unification of the German and Italian nation-states.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}

Historians Hans Kohn, Liah Greenfeld, Philip White, and others have classified nations such as Germany or Italy, where they believe cultural unification preceded state unification, as ''ethnic nations'' or ''ethnic nationalities''. However, "state-driven" national unifications, such as in France, England, or China, are more likely to flourish in multiethnic societies, producing a traditional national heritage of ''civic nations'' or ''territory-based nationalities''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kohn |first=Hans |author-link=Hans Kohn |orig-date=1955 |date=1965 |title=Nationalism: Its Meaning & History |publisher=Krieger Publishing Company |isbn=978-0898744798 |edition=Reprint}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Greenfeld |first=Liah |author-link=Liah Greenfeld |date=1992 |title=Nationalism: Five Roads to Modernity |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |isbn=978-0674603196}}</ref><ref name="ref1">{{cite book |last=White |first=Philip L. |author-link=Philip L. White |date=2006 |chapter=Globalization and the Mythology of the Nation State |editor-first=A. G. |editor-last=Hopkins |editor-link=A. G. Hopkins |title=Global History: Interactions Between the Universal and the Local |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |pages=257–284 |isbn=978-1403987938}}</ref>

The idea of a nation-state was and is associated with the rise of the modern system of states, often called the "[[Westphalian system]]", following the [[Peace of Westphalia|Treaty of Westphalia]] (1648).  The [[Balance of power in international relations|balance of power]], which characterized that system, depended for its effectiveness upon clearly defined, centrally controlled, independent entities, whether [[empire]]s or nation states, which recognize each other's sovereignty and territory. The Westphalian system did not create the nation-state, but the nation-state meets the criteria for its component states (by assuming that there is no disputed territory).{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}  Before the Westphalian system, the closest geopolitical system was the "Chanyuan system" established in East Asia in 1005 through the [[Chanyuan Treaty|Treaty of Chanyuan]], which, like the Westphalian peace treaties, designated national borders between the independent regimes of China's [[Song dynasty]] and the semi-nomadic [[Liao dynasty]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chen |first=Yuan Julian |date=July 2018 |title=Frontier, Fortification, and Forestation: Defensive Woodland on the Song–Liao Border in the Long Eleventh Century |url=https://www.academia.edu/37471839 |journal=Journal of Chinese History |language=en |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=313–334 |doi=10.1017/jch.2018.7 |s2cid=133980555 |issn=2059-1632 |doi-access=free }}</ref>  This system was copied and developed in East Asia in the following centuries until the establishment of the pan-Eurasian [[Mongol Empire]] in the 13th century.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pakhomov |first=Oleg |title=Political Culture of East Asia – a civilization of total power |date=2022 |publisher=Springer-Verlag, Singapore |isbn=978-981-19-0778-4 |location=[S.l.] |oclc=1304248303}}</ref>

The nation-state received a philosophical underpinning in the era of [[Romanticism]], at first as the "natural" expression of the individual peoples ([[romantic nationalism]]: see [[Johann Gottlieb Fichte]]'s conception of the ''[[People|Volk]]'', later opposed by [[Ernest Renan]]). The increasing emphasis during the 19th century on the ethnic and racial origins of the nation led to a redefinition of the nation-state in these terms.<ref name="ref1"/> [[Racism]], which in [[Henri de Boulainvilliers|Boulainvilliers]]'s theories was inherently anti[[Patriotism|patriotic]] and antinationalist, joined itself with [[Colonialism|colonialist]] imperialism and "continental [[imperialism]]", most notably in [[pan-Germanic]] and [[pan-Slavic]] movements.<ref>{{cite book |first=Hannah |last=Arendt |author-link=Hannah Arendt |title=[[The Origins of Totalitarianism]] |date=1951}}</ref>

The relationship between racism and ethnic nationalism reached its height in the 20th century through [[fascism]] and [[Nazism]]. The specific combination of "nation" ("people") and "state" expressed in such terms as the ''völkischer Staat'' and implemented in laws such as the 1935 [[Nuremberg laws]] made fascist states such as early [[Nazi Germany]] qualitatively different from non-fascist nation-states. [[Minorities]] were not considered part of the people (''Volk'') and were consequently denied to have an authentic or legitimate role in such a state. In Germany, neither [[Jews]] nor the [[Romani people|Roma]] were considered part of the people, and both were specifically targeted for persecution. German [[nationality law]] defined "German" based on German ancestry, excluding ''all'' non-Germans from the people.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tourlamain |first=Guy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nJsWzgEACAAJ |title=Völkisch Writers and National Socialism: A Study of Right-Wing Political Culture in Germany, 1890–1960 |date=2014 |publisher=Peter Lang |isbn=978-3-03911-958-5 |language=en |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

In recent years, a nation-state's claim to absolute [[sovereignty]] within its borders has been criticized.<ref name="ref1"/> A global political system based on [[International law|international agreements]] and supra-national blocs characterized the post-war era. Non-state actors, such as international [[corporation]]s and [[non-governmental organizations]], are widely seen as eroding the economic and political power of nation-states.

According to Andreas Wimmer and Yuval Feinstein, nation-states tended to emerge when power shifts allowed nationalists to overthrow existing regimes or absorb existing administrative units.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Wimmer |first1=Andreas |last2=Feinstein |first2=Yuval |s2cid=10075481 |date=2010 |title=The Rise of the Nation-State across the World, 1816 to 2001 |journal=[[American Sociological Review]] |language=en |volume=75 |issue=5 |pages=764–790 |doi=10.1177/0003122410382639 |issn=0003-1224}}</ref> Xue Li and Alexander Hicks link the frequency of nation-state creation to processes of diffusion that emanate from international organizations.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Li |first1=Xue |last2=Hicks |first2=Alexander |s2cid=147753503 |date=2016 |title=World Polity Matters: Another Look at the Rise of the Nation-State across the World, 1816 to 2001 |journal=[[American Sociological Review]] |language=en |volume=81 |issue=3 |pages=596–607 |doi=10.1177/0003122416641371 |issn=0003-1224|doi-access=free }}</ref>

=== Before the nation-state ===
[[File:Dissolution of Austria-Hungary.png|thumb|upright=1.35|Dissolution of the multiethnic [[Austro-Hungarian Empire]] (1918)]]
In [[Europe]], during the 18th century, the classic non-national states were the ''multiethnic'' [[empire]]s, the [[Austrian Empire]], the [[Kingdom of France]] (and its [[French colonial empire|empire]]), the [[Kingdom of Hungary]],<ref>{{cite book |first=Eric |last=Hobsbawm |author-link=Eric Hobsbawm |title=Nations and Nationalism since 1780: programme, myth, reality |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]], Gallimard |orig-date=1990 |isbn=0-521-43961-2 |chapter=II: The popular protonationalism |pages=80–81 |edition=French |date=1992}} According to Hobsbawm, the main source for this subject is Ferdinand Brunot (ed.), Histoire de la langue française, Paris, 1927–1943, 13 volumes, in particular volume IX. He also refers to Michel de Certeau, Dominique Julia, Judith Revel, Une politique de la langue: la Révolution française et les patois: l'enquête de l'abbé Grégoire, Paris, 1975. For the problem of the transformation of a minority official language into a widespread national language during and after the French Revolution, see Renée Balibar, L'Institution du français: essai sur le co-linguisme des Carolingiens à la République, Paris, 1985 (also Le co-linguisme, PUF, Que sais-je?, 1994, but out of print) ("The Institution of the French language: essay on colinguism from the Carolingian to the Republic. Finally, Hobsbawm refers to Renée Balibar and Dominique Laporte, Le Français national: politique et pratique de la langue nationale sous la Révolution, Paris, 1974.</ref> the [[Russian Empire]], the [[Portuguese Empire]], the [[Spanish Empire]], the [[Ottoman Empire]], the [[British Empire]], the [[Dutch Empire]] and smaller nations at what would now be called sub-state level. The multi-ethnic empire was a monarchy, usually [[absolute monarchy|absolute]], ruled by a king, [[emperor]] or [[sultan]].{{efn|The Dutch Empire of the time was a monarchy in all but name, ruled (mostly) by a hereditary [[stadtholder]].}} The population belonged to many ethnic groups, and they spoke many languages. The empire was dominated by one ethnic group, and their language was usually the language of public administration. The ruling [[dynasty]] was usually, but not always, from that group.

This type of state is not specifically European: such empires existed in Asia, Africa and the Americas. Chinese dynasties, such as the [[Tang dynasty]], the [[Yuan dynasty]], and the [[Qing dynasty]], were all multiethnic regimes governed by a ruling ethnic group. In the three examples, their ruling ethnic groups were the [[Han Chinese|Han-Chinese]], [[Mongolian people|Mongols]], and the [[Manchu people|Manchus]]. In the [[Muslim world]], immediately after Muhammad died in 632, [[Caliphate]]s were established.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/islamitshistoryt0000nigo |url-access=registration |title=Islam: Its History, Teaching, and Practices |last=Nigosian |first=Solomon A. |date=2004 |publisher=[[Indiana University Press]] |isbn=978-0-253-11074-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/islamitshistoryt0000nigo/page/18 18]}}</ref> Caliphates were [[Islamic state]]s under the leadership of a political-religious successor to the Islamic prophet [[Muhammad]].<ref name="khalifate">{{Cite journal |title=Caliph, caliphate |last1=Kadi |first1=Wadad |author1-link=Wadad Kadi |date=2013 |journal=The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought |last2=Shahin |first2=Aram A. |pages=81–86}}</ref> These [[polities]] developed into multi-ethnic trans-national empires.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EAMqBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA3 |title=Demystifying the Caliphate: Historical Memory and Contemporary Contexts |last1=Al-Rasheed |first1=Madawi |author1-link=Madawi al-Rasheed |last2=Kersten |first2=Carool |author2-link=Carool Kersten |last3=Shterin |first3=Marat |author3-link=Marat Shterin |date= 2012 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-932795-9 |page=3 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> The Ottoman sultan, [[Selim I]] (1512–1520) reclaimed the title of caliph, which had been in dispute and asserted by a diversity of rulers and "shadow caliphs" in the centuries of the [[Abbasid]]-[[Mamluk]] Caliphate since the [[Siege of Baghdad (1258)|Mongols' sacking of Baghdad]] and the killing of the [[al-Musta'sim|last Abbasid Caliph]] in Baghdad, Iraq 1258.
The [[Ottoman Caliphate]] as an office of the [[Ottoman Empire]] was abolished under [[Mustafa Kemal Atatürk]] in 1924 as part of [[Atatürk's Reforms]].
[[File:Golden_Bull_of_1356.png|thumb|The [[Holy Roman Empire]] was a limited elective monarchy composed of hundreds of [[List of states in the Holy Roman Empire|state-like entities]].]]

Some of the smaller European states were not so ethnically diverse but were also [[Dynasty|dynastic]] states ruled by a [[dynasty|royal house]]. Their territory could expand by [[royal intermarriage]] or merge with another state when the dynasty merged. In some parts of Europe, notably [[Germany]], minimal territorial units existed. They were recognized by their neighbours as independent and had their government and laws. Some were ruled by [[prince]]s or other hereditary rulers; some were governed by [[bishop]]s or [[abbot]]s. Because they were so small, however, they had no separate language or culture: the inhabitants shared the language of the surrounding region.

In some cases, these states were overthrown by nationalist uprisings in the 19th century. Liberal ideas of [[free trade]] played a role in German unification, which was preceded by a [[customs union]], the [[Zollverein]]. However, the [[Austro-Prussian War]] and the German alliances in the [[Franco-Prussian War]] were decisive in the unification. The [[Austro-Hungarian Empire]] and the [[Ottoman Empire]] broke up after the [[First World War]], but the [[Russian Empire]] was replaced by the [[Soviet Union]] in most of its multinational territory after the [[Russian Civil War]].

A few of the smaller states survived: the independent principalities of [[Liechtenstein]], [[Andorra]], [[Monaco]], and the Republic of [[San Marino]]. ([[Vatican City]] is a special case. All of the larger [[Papal State]]s save the Vatican itself were occupied and absorbed by Italy by 1870. The resulting [[Roman Question]] was resolved with the rise of the modern state under the 1929 [[Lateran treaties]] between [[Italy]] and the [[Holy See]].)

== Characteristics ==
{{more citations needed section|date=October 2015}} 
[[File:Cold War border changes.png|thumb|260px|Changes in national boundaries after the dissolutions of the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union|Soviet Union]] and [[Dissolution of Czechoslovakia|Czechoslovakia]], the [[breakup of Yugoslavia]] and the [[reunification of Germany]]]]
"Legitimate states that govern effectively and dynamic industrial economies are widely regarded today [2004] as the defining characteristics of a modern nation-state."<ref>{{cite book |last=Kohli |first=Atul |author-link=Atul Kohli |year=2004 |title=State-Directed Development: Political Power and Industrialization in the Global Periphery |location=Cambridge |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w_r7wLD--VoC&pg=PA1 |page=1 |isbn=978-0-521-54525-9 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

Nation-states have their characteristics differing from pre-national states. For a start, they have a different attitude to their territory compared to dynastic monarchies: it is semisacred and nontransferable. No nation would swap territory with other states simply, for example, because the king's daughter married. They have a different type of [[border]], in principle, defined only by the national group's settlement area. However, many nation-states also sought natural borders (rivers, mountain ranges). They are constantly changing in population size and power because of the limited restrictions of their borders.

The most noticeable characteristic is the degree to which nation-states use the state as an instrument of national unity in economic, social and cultural life.

The nation-state promoted economic unity by abolishing internal [[customs]] and [[Toll road|tolls]]. In Germany, that process, the creation of the [[Zollverein]], preceded formal national unity. Nation states typically have a policy to create and maintain national transportation infrastructure, facilitating trade and travel. In 19th-century Europe, the expansion of the [[rail transport]] networks was at first largely a matter for [[Private enterprise|private]] railway companies but gradually came under the control of the national governments. The French rail network, with its main lines radiating from Paris to all corners of France, is often seen as a reflection of the centralised French nation-state, which [[History of rail transport in France|directed its construction]]. Nation states continue to build, for instance, specifically national [[motorway]] networks. Specifically, transnational infrastructure programmes, such as the [[Trans-European Networks]], are a recent innovation.

The nation-states typically had a more centralised and uniform [[public administration]] than their imperial predecessors: they were smaller, and the population was less diverse. (The internal diversity of the [[Ottoman Empire]], for instance, was very great.) After the 19th-century triumph of the nation-state in Europe, regional identity was subordinate to national identity in regions such as [[Alsace-Lorraine]], [[Catalonia]], [[Brittany]] and [[Corsica]]. In many cases, the regional administration was also subordinated to the central (national) government. This process was partially reversed from the 1970s onward, with the introduction of various forms of [[regional autonomy]], in formerly [[Centralised government|centralised]] states such as [[Spain]] or [[Italy]].

The most apparent impact of the nation-state, as compared to its non-national predecessors, is creating a uniform national [[culture]] through state policy. The model of the nation-state implies that its population constitutes a [[nation]], united by a common descent, a common language and many forms of shared culture. When implied unity was absent, the nation-state often tried to create it. It promoted a uniform national language through [[language policy]]. The creation of national systems of compulsory [[primary education]] and a relatively uniform [[curriculum]] in secondary schools was the most effective instrument in the spread of the [[national language]]s. The schools also taught national history, often in a [[Historiography and nationalism|propagandistic and mythologised version]], and (especially during conflicts) some nation-states still teach this kind of history.<ref>Council of Europe, Committee of Ministers Recommendation Rec(2001)15 on history teaching in 21st-century Europe (Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 31 October 2001 at the 771st meeting of the Ministers' Deputies)</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.united.non-profit.nl/pages/thema01.htm#4 |title=History Interpretation as a Cause of Conflicts in Europe |publisher=UNITED for Intercultural Action |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061004025938/http://www.united.non-profit.nl/pages/thema01.htm#4 |archive-date=4 October 2006 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first1=Eric |last1=Hobsbawm |author1-link=Eric Hobsbawm |first2=Terence |last2=Ranger |author2-link=Terence Ranger |year=1992 |title=The Invention of Tradition |location=New York |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=0-521-43773-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=Billie |last=Melman |author-link=Billie Melman |s2cid=162362628 |title=Claiming the Nation's Past: The Invention of an Anglo-Saxon Tradition |journal=[[Journal of Contemporary History]] |volume=26 |issue=3/4 |jstor=260661 |year=1991 |pages=575–595 |doi=10.1177/002200949102600312}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=Christopher |last=Hughes |title=Robert Stone Nation-Building and Curriculum Reform in Hong Kong and Taiwan |journal=[[China Quarterly]] |volume=160 |year=1999 |pages=977–991 |doi=10.1017/s0305741000001405 |s2cid=155033800 |url=http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/23033/2/Nation-building_and_curriculum_reform_in_Hong_Kong_and_Taiwan.pdf |archive-date=23 September 2020 |access-date=17 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923075136/http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/23033/2/Nation-building_and_curriculum_reform_in_Hong_Kong_and_Taiwan.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Language and cultural policy was sometimes hostile, aimed at suppressing non-national elements. Language [[prohibition]]s were sometimes used to accelerate the adoption of national languages and the decline of [[minority language]]s (see examples: [[Anglicisation]], [[Bulgarization]], [[Croatization]], [[Czechization]], [[Dutchification]], [[Francisation]], [[Germanisation]], [[Hellenization]], [[Hispanicization]], [[Italianization]], [[Lithuanization]], [[Magyarisation]], [[Polonisation]], [[Russification]], [[Serbization]], [[Slovakisation]], [[Swedification]], [[Turkification]]).

In some cases, these policies triggered bitter conflicts and further ethnic [[separatism]]. But where it worked, the cultural uniformity and homogeneity of the population increased. Conversely, the cultural divergence at the border became sharper: in theory, a uniform French identity extends from the Atlantic coast to the [[Rhine]], and on the other bank of the Rhine, a uniform German identity begins. Both sides have divergent [[language policy]] and educational systems to enforce that model.

== In practice ==
{{original research|section|date=May 2016}}
[[File:Map Europe 1923-en.svg|thumb|260px|Map of [[List of national border changes (1914–present)|territorial changes in Europe]] after [[World War&nbsp;I]] (as of 1923)]]
The notion of a unifying "national identity" also extends to countries that host multiple ethnic or language groups, such as [[India]]. For example, [[Switzerland]] is constitutionally a confederation of [[Cantons of Switzerland|cantons]] and has four official languages. Still, it also has a "Swiss" national identity, a national history and a classic national hero, [[Wilhelm Tell]].<ref>{{cite web |first=Thomas |last=Riklin |date=2005 |title=Worin unterscheidet sich die schweizerische "Nation" von der Französischen bzw. Deutschen "Nation"? |trans-title=How does the Swiss "nation" differ from the French or German "nation"? |url=http://www.federalism.ch/files/documents/Nation.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061013204126/http://www.federalism.ch/files/documents/Nation.pdf |archive-date=13 October 2006 |df=dmy-all |language=de}}</ref>

Innumerable conflicts have arisen where political boundaries did not correspond with ethnic or cultural boundaries.

After World War II in the [[Josip Broz Tito]] era, nationalism was appealed to for uniting [[South Slav]] peoples. Later in the 20th century, after the break-up of the Soviet Union, leaders appealed to ancient ethnic feuds or tensions that ignited conflict between the [[Serbs]], [[Croats]], and [[Slovenes]], as well as [[Bosniaks]], [[Montenegrins (ethnic group)|Montenegrins]] and [[Macedonians (ethnic group)|Macedonians]], eventually breaking up the long collaboration of peoples. Ethnic cleansing was carried out in the Balkans, destroying the formerly [[Socialist state|socialist republic]] and producing the civil wars in [[Croatian War of Independence|Croatia]] and [[Bosnian War|Bosnia and Herzegovina]] in 1992–95, resulting in mass population displacements and segregation that radically altered what was once a highly diverse and intermixed ethnic makeup of the region. These conflicts were mainly about creating a new political framework of states, each of which would be ethnically and politically homogeneous. Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks insisted they were ethnically distinct, although many communities had a long history of intermarriage.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

[[Belgium]] is a classic example of a state that is not a nation-state.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}  The state was formed by [[secession]] from the [[United Kingdom of the Netherlands]] in 1830, whose neutrality and integrity was protected by the [[Treaty of London 1839]]; thus, it served as a [[buffer state]] after the Napoleonic Wars between the European powers [[France]], [[Prussia]] (after 1871 the [[German Empire]]) and the [[United Kingdom]] until [[World War I]], when the Germans breached its neutrality. Currently, Belgium is divided between the [[Flemings]] in the north, the [[French-speaking]] population in the south, and the German-speaking population in the east. The [[Flanders|Flemish]] population in the north speaks Dutch, the [[Wallonia|Walloon]] population in the south speaks either [[French language|French]] or, in the east of [[Liège Province]], German. The Brussels population speaks French or Dutch.

The Flemish identity is also cultural, and there is a strong separatist movement espoused by the political parties, the right-wing [[Vlaams Belang]] and the [[New Flemish Alliance]]. The Francophone [[Wallonia|Walloon]] identity of Belgium is linguistically distinct and [[Regionalism (politics)|regionalist]]. There is also unitary [[Belgian nationalism]], several versions of a [[Greater Netherlands]] ideal, and a [[German-speaking community of Belgium]] annexed from [[Germany]] in 1920 and re-annexed by Germany in 1940–1944. However, these ideologies are all very marginal and politically insignificant during elections.

[[File:Ethnolinguistic map of China 1983.png|thumb|upright=1.35|Ethnolinguistic map of mainland China and Taiwan<ref>Source: United States Central Intelligence Agency, 1983. The map shows the distribution of ethnolinguistic groups according to the historical majority of ethnic groups by region. Note this is different from the current distribution due to age-long internal migration and assimilation.</ref>]]

[[China]] covers a large geographic area and uses the concept of "[[Zhonghua minzu]]" or Chinese nationality, in the sense of [[ethnic group]]s. Still, it also officially recognizes the majority [[Han Chinese|Han]] ethnic group which accounts for over 90% of the population, and no fewer than 55 [[Ethnic minorities in China|ethnic national minorities]].

According to Philip G. Roeder, [[Moldova]] is an example of a Soviet-era "segment-state" ([[Moldavian SSR]]), where the "nation-state project of the segment-state trumped the nation-state project of prior statehood. In Moldova, despite strong agitation from university faculty and students for reunification with [[Romania]], the nation-state project forged within the Moldavian SSR trumped the project for a return to the interwar nation-state project of [[Greater Romania]]."<ref name="Roeder2007">{{cite book |first=Philip G. |last=Roeder |title=Where Nation-States Come From: Institutional Change in the Age of Nationalism |year=2007 |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |isbn=978-0-691-13467-3 |page=126}}</ref> See [[Controversy over linguistic and ethnic identity in Moldova]] for further details.

== Specific cases ==
{{off topic|reason=It's really not clear what this section is contributing to the article, and its inclusion under a title "exceptional cases" reads a bit like [[WP:OR]]. The UK case seems to be the only one worth mentioning, if at all, for its being at once a nation-state and multi-national state|date=March 2024}}

=== Israel ===
[[Israeli Declaration of Independence|Established in May 1948]] as a [[homeland for the Jewish people]], the State of [[Israel]]'s [[Basic Laws of Israel|Basic Laws]] defines itself as a center of Jewish cultural and national identity, while maintaining citizenship and legal rights for people of all religious and ethnic backgrounds.<ref>Ferguson, Niall.  ''Civilization''.  New York: The Penguin Press, 2011.  p. 93.</ref> The [[Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People]] (2018) explicitly specifies the nature of the [[State of Israel]] as the [[nation-state]] of the [[Jews|Jewish people]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/final-text-of-jewish-nation-state-bill-set-to-become-law// |title=Final text of Jewish nation-state law, approved by the Knesset early on July 19 |first=Raoul |last=Wootliff |date=18 July 2018 |work=[[The Times of Israel]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/7/19/israel-passes-controversial-jewish-nation-state-law |title=Israel passes controversial 'Jewish nation-state' law |date=19 July 2018 |work=[[Al Jazeera Media Network|Al Jazeera]]}}</ref> According to the [[Israel Central Bureau of Statistics]], 75.7% of Israel's population are Jews.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3877574,00.html |title=Israel at 62: Population of 7,587,000 |newspaper=Ynetnews |publisher=Ynet.co.il |date=20 June 1995 |access-date=20 February 2013}}</ref> [[Arab citizens of Israel|Arabs]], who make up 20.4% of the population, are the largest ethnic minority in Israel. Israel also has very small communities of [[Armenians in Israel|Armenians]], [[Circassians in Israel|Circassians]], [[Assyrians in Israel|Assyrians]], [[Samaritans]].<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1 May 2019 |title=Israel's Independence Day 2019 |url=https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/mediarelease/DocLib/2019/134/11_19_134b.pdf |journal=[[Israel Central Bureau of Statistics]]}}</ref> There are also some non-Jewish spouses of Israeli Jews. However, these communities are very small, and usually number only in the hundreds or thousands.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lustick |first=Ian S. |date=1999 |title=Israel as a Non-Arab State: The Political Implications of Mass Immigration of Non-Jews |journal=[[Middle East Journal]] |volume=53 |issue=3 |pages=417–433 |jstor=4329354 |issn=0026-3141}}</ref>

=== Kingdom of the Netherlands ===
The [[Kingdom of the Netherlands]] presents an unusual example in which one kingdom represents four distinct countries. The four countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands are:<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.stabroeknews.com/2010/news/regional/10/09/netherlands-antilles-no-more/ |title=Netherlands Antilles no more&nbsp;– Stabroek News&nbsp;– Guyana |newspaper=Stabroek News |date=9 October 2010 |access-date=18 December 2011}}</ref>
* [[Netherlands]] (including the [[Provinces of the Netherlands|provinces in continental Europe]] and the [[Caribbean Netherlands|special municipalities]] of [[Bonaire]], [[Sint Eustatius]] and [[Saba (island)|Saba]])
* [[Aruba]]
* [[Curaçao]]
* [[Sint Maarten]]

Each is expressly designated as a ''land'' in [[Law of the Netherlands|Dutch law]] by the [[Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://lexius.nl/statuut-voor-het-koninkrijk-der-nederlanden/artikel1 |title=Article 1 of the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands |publisher=Lexius.nl |access-date=18 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724160451/http://lexius.nl/statuut-voor-het-koninkrijk-der-nederlanden/artikel1 |archive-date=24 July 2011 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Unlike the German {{lang|de|Länder}} and the Austrian {{lang|de|Bundesländer}}, {{lang|de|landen}} is consistently translated as "countries" by the Dutch government.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://english.minbzk.nl/subjects/aruba-and-the |title=Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations – Aruba |publisher=English.minbzk.nl |date=24 January 2003 |access-date=18 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118183700/http://english.minbzk.nl/subjects/aruba-and-the |archive-date=18 January 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name= SMN>{{cite web |url=http://www.smn-news.com/st-maarten-st-martin-news/5291-the-kingdom-of-the-netherlands-new-constitutional-structure.html |title=St Martin News Network |work=smn-news.com |date=18 November 2010}}</ref><ref name= Newstatus>{{cite web |url=http://english.minbzk.nl/subjects/aruba-and-the/new-status-for-the/@122971/10-10-10-end-of-the |title=Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations&nbsp;– New Status |publisher=English.minbzk.nl |date=1 October 2009 |access-date=18 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110815180310/http://english.minbzk.nl/subjects/aruba-and-the/new-status-for-the/@122971/10-10-10-end-of-the |archive-date=15 August 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Spain ===
{{See also|Spanish nationalism}}
[[File:Reinos Antiguo Régimen.svg|thumb|Iberian monarchies and kingdoms in 1400]]
While historical monarchies often brought together different kingdoms/territories/ethnic groups under the same crown, in modern nation states political elites seek a uniformity of the population, leading to state nationalism.<ref>{{cite book |date=2014 |first=Michel |last=Pastoureau |chapter=Des armoiries aux drapeaux |language=fr |trans-chapter=From coats of arms to flags |edition=du Seuil |isbn=978-2-7578-4106-8 |title=Une histoire symbolique du Moyen Âge |publisher=Ed. du Seuil |trans-title=A symbolic history of the Middle Ages}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |date=1978 |last=Connor |doi=10.1080/01419870.1978.9993240 |issue=4 |first=Walker |journal=Ethnic and Racial Studies |pages=377–400 |title=A Nation is a Nation, is a State, is an Ethnic Group, is a... |volume=1}}</ref> In the case of the Christian territories of the future [[Spain]], neighboring [[Al-Andalus]], there was an early perception of ethnicity, faith and shared territory in the Middle Ages (13th–14th centuries), as documented by the [[Chronicle of Muntaner]] in the proposal of the [[Kingdom of Toledo (Crown of Castile)|Castilian king]] to the other Christian kings of the peninsula: "if these four Kings of Spain whom he named, who are of one flesh and blood, held together, little need they fear all the other powers of the world".<ref>[http://www.yorku.ca/inpar/muntaner_goodenough.pdf#page=206 Muntaner's Chronicle-p.206, L.Goodenough-Hakluyt-London-1921]</ref><ref>Margarit i Pau, Joan: ''Paralipomenon Hispaniae libri decem''.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Cervantes Virtual; f. LXXXIIIv. |url=http://www.lluisvives.com/servlet/SirveObras/jlv/91348064098793506388868/ima0197.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141121190623/http://www.lluisvives.com/servlet/SirveObras/jlv/91348064098793506388868/ima0197.htm |archive-date=21 November 2014 |access-date=4 September 2017}}</ref> After the dynastic union of the [[Catholic Monarchs of Spain|Catholic Monarchs]] in the 15th century, the Spanish Monarchy ruled over different kingdoms, each with its own cultural, linguistic and political particularities, and the kings had to swear by the [[Laws]] of each territory before the respective [[Parliament]]s. Forming the [[Spanish Empire]], at this time the [[Habsburg Spain|Hispanic Monarchy]] had its maximum territorial expansion.

After the [[War of the Spanish Succession]], rooted in the political position of the [[Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares|Count-Duke of Olivares]] and the absolutism of [[Philip V of Spain|Philip V]], the assimilation of the [[Crown of Aragon]] by the [[Crown of Castile|Castilian Crown]] through the [[Nueva Planta decrees|Decrees of Nueva Planta]] was the first step in the creation of the Spanish nation-state. As in other contemporary European states, political union was the first step in the creation of the Spanish nation-state, in this case not on a uniform [[Ethnic group|ethnic]] basis, but through the imposition of the political and cultural characteristics of the dominant ethnic group, in this case the Castilians, over those of other ethnic groups, who became [[Minority group|national minorities]] to be assimilated.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sales Vives |first=Pere |date=2020 |publisher=El Gall editor |isbn=9788416416707 |language=ca |pages=422 |title=L'Espanyolització de Mallorca: 1808–1932 |trans-title=The Spanishization of Mallorca: 1808–1932}}</ref><ref>Antoni Simon, [http://roderic.uv.es/handle/10550/34591 Els orígens històrics de l'anticatalanisme], páginas 45–46, L'Espill, nº 24, Universitat de València</ref> In fact, since the political unification of 1714, Spanish assimilation policies towards [[Catalan Countries|Catalan-speaking territories]] ([[Catalonia]], [[Valencian Community|Valencia]], the [[Balearic Islands]], part of [[Aragon]]) and other national minorities, as [[Basques]] and [[Galicians]], have been a historical constant.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mayans Balcells |edition=del 1979|isbn=978-84-947201-4-7 |language=ca |first=Pere |pages=230 |title=Cròniques Negres del Català A L'Escola |trans-title=Black Chronicles of Catalan at School |year=2019|publisher=Edicions del 1979 }}</ref><ref name="Recopilació d'accions genocides con">{{cite book |last=Lluís |publisher=Base |isbn=9788418434983 |language=ca |first=García Sevilla |pages=300 |title=Recopilació d'accions genocides contra la nació catalana |trans-title=Compilation of genocidal actions against the Catalan nation |year=2021}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{cite book |last=Bea Seguí |publisher=Cossetània |isbn=9788490341339 |language=ca |first=Ignaci |pages=216 |title=En cristiano! Policia i Guàrdia Civil contra la llengua catalana |trans-title=In Christian! Police and Civil Guard against the Catalan language |year=2013}}</ref><ref name="galeusca2">{{cite web |archive-date=19 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080719071429/http://www.escriptors.cat/pagina.php?id_text=1788 |access-date=2 August 2008 |title=Enllaç al Manifest Galeusca on en l'article 3 es denuncia l'asimetria entre el castellà i les altres llengües de l'Estat Espanyol, inclosa el català. |language=ca |trans-title=The link to the Galeusca Manifest in article 3 denounces the asymmetry between Spanish and the other languages of the Estat Espanyol, including Catalan. |url=http://www.escriptors.cat/pagina.php?id_text=1788}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Radatz |first=Hans-Ingo |date=8 October 2020 |title=Spain in the 19th century: Spanish Nation Building and Catalonia's attempt at becoming an Iberian Prussia |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344608600}}</ref>

[[File:Mapa político de España, 1850.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.35|School map of Spain from 1850. On it, the State is divided into four parts: – "Fully constitutional Spain", which includes Castile and the Galician-speaking territories. – "Annexed or assimilated Spain": the territories of the Crown of Aragon, the more significant part of which, except Aragon proper, are Catalan-speaking-, "Foral Spain", which includes Basque-speaking territories, – and "Colonial Spain", with the last overseas colonial territories.]]
The process of assimilation began with secret instructions to the corregidores of the Catalan territory: they "will take the utmost care to introduce the Castilian language, for which purpose he will give the most temperate and disguised measures so that the effect is achieved, without the care being noticed."<ref name="Historia general de España: Llegada">{{cite book |last=de la Cierva |date=1981 |publisher=Planeta |isbn=8485753003 |language=ca |first=Ricardo |pages=78 |title=Historia general de España: Llegada y apogeo de los Borbones |trans-title=General history of Spain: Arrival and heyday of the Bourbons}}</ref> From there, actions in the service of assimilation, discreet or aggressive, were continued, and reached to the last detail, such as, in 1799, the Royal Certificate forbidding anyone to "represent, sing and dance pieces that were not in Spanish."<ref name="Historia general de España: Llegada"/> These nationalist policies, sometimes very aggressive,<ref>{{cite book |last=Sobrequés Callicó |date=2021 |publisher=[[Department of Justice of the Generalitat de Catalunya]] |isbn=978-84-18601-20-0 |language=ca |first=Jaume |page=410 |title=Repressió borbònica i resistència identitària a la Catalunya del segle XVIII |trans-title=Bourbon repression and identity resistance to Catalonia in the 18th century}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Ferrer Gironès |edition=62 |isbn=978-8429723632 |language=ca |first=Francesc |page=320 |title=La persecució política de la llengua catalana |trans-title=The political persecution of the Catalan language |year=1985|publisher=Edicions 62 }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{cite book |last=Benet |date=1995 |publisher=Publicacions de l'Abadia de Montserrat |isbn=84-7826-620-8 |language=ca |first=Josep |title=L'intent franquista de genocidi cultural contra Catalunya |trans-title=The Francoist attempt of cultural genocide against Catalonia}}</ref><ref name=":0222">{{cite book |last=Llaudó Avila |date=2021 |edition=7th |publisher=Parcir |isbn=9788418849107 |location=Manresa |first=Eduard |title=Racisme i supremacisme polítics a l'Espanya contemporània |trans-title=Political racism and supremacism in contemporary Spain}}</ref> and still in force,<ref name=":3">{{cite web |publisher=Plataforma per la llengua |title=Novetats legislatives en matèria lingüística aprovades el 2018 que afecten els territoris de parla catalana |language=ca |trans-title=Legislative novelties in linguistic matters approved in 2018 that affect the Catalan-speaking territories |url=https://www.plataforma-llengua.cat/media/upload/pdf/novetats_legislatives_en_materia_linguistic02_1571310685.pdf}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{cite web |publisher=Plataforma per la llengua |title=Novetats legislatives en matèria lingüística aprovades el 2019 que afecten els territoris de parla catalana |language=ca |trans-title=Legislative novelties in linguistic matters approved in 2019 that affect the Catalan-speaking territories |url=https://plataforma-llengua.cat/media/upload/arxius/ambits-treball/Drets%20Ling%C3%BC%C3%ADstics/Novetats_legislatives_en_mat%C3%A8ria_ling%C3%BC%C3%ADstic-2019-ok.pdf}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{cite web |date=2019 |publisher=Plataforma per la llengua |title=Comportament lingüístic davant dels cossos policials espanyols |language=ca |trans-title=Linguistic behavior before the Spanish police stations |url=https://www.plataforma-llengua.cat/media/upload/pdf/linguisticcossospolicials_1576579756.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite conference |title=L'espanyolisme lingüístic i la llengua comuna |trans-title=Linguistic Spanishism and the common language |last=Moreno Cabrera |first=Juan Carlos |publisher=Ponència del Consell de l'advocacia de Catalunya |book-title=VIII Jornada sobre l'Ús del Català a la Justícia |url=https://www.cicac.cat/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Espanyolisme_ling%C3%BC%C3%ADstic_Juan-Carlos-Moreno.pdf |language=ca}}</ref> have been, and still are, the seed of repeated territorial conflicts within the State.

Although official Spanish history describes a "natural" decline of the Catalan language and increasing replacement by Spanish between the 16th and 19th centuries, especially among the upper classes, a survey of language usage in 1807, commissioned by [[Napoleon]], indicates that except in the royal courts, Spanish is absent from everyday life. It is indicated that Catalan "is taught in schools, printed and spoken, not only among the lower class, but also among people of first quality, also in social gatherings, as in visits and congresses", indicating that it is spoken everywhere "except in the royal courts". He also indicates that Catalan is also spoken "in the Kingdom of Valencia, in the islands of Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, Sardinia, Corsica and much of Sicily, in the Vall of Aran and Cerdaña".<ref>{{cite book |last=Merle |first=René |title=Visions de "l'idiome natal" à travers l'enquête impériale sur les patois 1807–1812 |trans-title=Visions of the "native idiom" through the imperial survey of patois 1807–1812 |date=2010 |publisher=Editorial Trabucaire |isbn=978-2849741078 |location=Perpinyà |pages=223 |language=French}}</ref>

The nationalization process accelerated in the 19th century, in parallel to the origin of [[Spanish nationalism]], the social, political and ideological movement that tried to shape a Spanish national identity based on the Castilian model, in conflict with the other historical nations of the State. Politicians of the time were aware that despite the aggressive policies pursued up to that time, the uniform and monocultural "Spanish nation" did not exist, as indicated in 1835 by [[Antonio Alcalá Galiano|Antonio Alcalà Galiano]], when in the [[Cortes del Estatuto Real]] he defended the effort <blockquote>"To make the Spanish nation a nation that neither is nor has been until now."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fontana |first=Josep |title=La fi de l'antic règim i la industrialització. Vol. V Història de Catalunya |trans-title=The end of the old regime and industrialization. Flight. V History of Catalonia |publisher=Edicions 62 |year=1998 |isbn=9788429744408 |location=Barcelona |pages=453 |language=ca}}</ref></blockquote> In 1906, the Catalanist party [[Catalan Solidarity (1906)|Solidaritat Catalana]] was founded to try to mitigate the economically and culturally oppressive treatment of Spain towards the Catalans. One of the responses of [[Spanish nationalism]] came from the military state with statements such as that of the publication [[La Correspondencia Militar|La Correspondencia militar]]: "The Catalan problem is not solved, well, by freedom, but by restriction; not by palliatives and pacts, but by iron and fire". Another came from important Spanish intellectuals, such as [[Pío Baroja|Pio Baroja]] and [[Vicente Blasco Ibáñez|Blasco Ibáñez]], calling the Catalans "[[Jews]]", considered a serious insult at that time when [[Racism in Europe|racism]] was gaining strength.<ref name=":0222" />

Building the nation (as in [[France]], it was the state that created the nation, and not the opposite process) is an ideal that the Spanish elites constantly reiterated, and, one hundred years later than Alcalá Galiano, for example, we can also find it in the mouth of the fascist [[José Pemartín]], who admired the German and Italian modeling policies:<ref name=":0222" /><blockquote>"There is an intimate and decisive dualism, both in Italian fascism and in German National Socialism. On the one hand, the Hegelian doctrine of the absolutism of the state is felt. The State originates in the Nation, educates and shapes the mentality of the individual; is, in Mussolini's words, the soul of the soul»</blockquote> And will be found again two hundred years later, from the socialist [[Josep Borrell]]:<ref>{{Cite web |last=Joe |first=Brew |date=26 February 2019 |title=Video of the Conference of Josep Borrell at the Geneva Press Club, 27th February, 2019 |url=https://twitter.com/joethebrew/status/1100466583208632320 |access-date=10 May 2023 |via=[[Twitter]]}}</ref><blockquote> The modern history of Spain is an unfortunate history that meant that we did not consolidate a modern State. Independenceists think that the nation makes the State. I think the opposite. The State makes the nation. A strong State, which imposes its language, culture, education.</blockquote> The turn of the 20th century, and the first half of that century, have seen the most ethnic violence, coinciding with a racism that even came to identify states with races; in the case of Spain, with a supposed Spanish race sublimated in Castilian, of which national minorities were degenerate forms, and the first of those that needed to be exterminated.<ref name=":0222" /> There were even public proposals for the repression of whole Catalonia, and even the extermination of Catalans, such as that of Juan Pujol, Head of Press and Propaganda of the Junta de Defensa Nacional during the [[Spanish Civil War]], in ''La Voz de España'',<ref>{{cite news |date=December 1936 |first=Juan |last=Pujol |work=La Voz de España}}<!-- auto-translated from Catalon by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> or that of [[Gonzalo Queipo de Llano|Queipo de Llano]], in a radio address<ref>Polo, Xavier. ''Todos los catalanes son una mierda''.  Proa, 2009. {{ISBN|978-84-8437-573-9}}</ref><ref>Roglan, Joaquim. ''14 d'abril: la Catalunya republicana (1931–1939)''.  Cossetània edicions, 2006. {{ISBN|978-84-9791-203-7}}.</ref> in 1936, among others.

The influence of Spanish nationalism could be found in a pogrom in [[Argentina]], during the [[Tragic Week (Argentina)|Tragic Week]], in 1919.<ref>{{cite book |title=Antisemitism: a historical encyclopedia of prejudice and persecution |volume=1 |editor1-first=Richard S. |editor1-last=Levy |editor2-first=Dean Phillip |editor2-last=Bell |editor3-first=William Collins |editor3-last=Donahue |editor4-first=Kevin |editor4-last=Madigan |date=2005}}</ref> It was called to attack Jews and [[Catalans]] indiscriminately, possibly because the influence of [[Spanish nationalism]], which at the time described Catalans as a Semitic ethnicity.<ref name=":0222" />

Also, one can find discourses on the alienation of [[Catalan language|Catalan speakers]], such as, for example, an article entitled «Cataluña bilingüe», by [[Ramón Menéndez Pidal|Menéndez Pidal]], in which he defends the [[Romanones decree]] against the [[Catalan language]], published in [[El Imparcial (1867–1933)|El Imparcial]], on 15 December 1902:<ref name=":0222" /><blockquote>«… There they will see that the Courts of the Catalan-Aragonese Confederation never had Catalan as their official language; that the kings of Aragon, even those of the Catalan dynasty, used Catalan only in Catalonia, and used Spanish not only in the Cortes of Aragon, but also in foreign relations, the same with Castile or Navarre as with the infidel kings of Granada, from Africa or Asia, because even in the most important days of Catalonia, Spanish prevailed as the language of the Aragonese kingdom and Catalan was reserved for the peculiar affairs of the Catalan county..."</blockquote>or the article "Los Catalanes. A las Cortes Constituyentes », appeared in several newspapers, among others: [[El Dia de Alicante]], June 23, 1931, [[El Porvenir Castellano]] and [[El Noticiero de Soria]], July 2, 1931, in the [[Heraldo de Almeria]] on June 4, 1931, sent by the "Pro-Justice Committee", with a post office box in [[Madrid]]:<ref name=":0222" /><blockquote>"The Catalanists have recently declared that they are not Spanish, nor do they want to be, nor can they be. They have also been saying for a long time that they are an oppressed, enslaved, exploited people. It is imperative to do them justice... That they return to Phenicia or that they go wherever they want to admit them. When the Catalan tribes saw Spain and settled in the Spanish territory that is now occupied by the provinces of Barcelona, Gerona, Lérida and Tarragona, how little they imagined that the case of the captivity of the tribes of Israel in Egypt would be repeated there! !... Let us respect his most holy will. They are eternally inadaptable... Their cowardice and selfishness leaves them no room for fraternity... So, we propose to the Constituent Cortes the expulsion of the Catalanists... You are free! The Republic opens wide the doors of Spain, your prison. go away Get out of here. Go back to Phenicia, or go wherever you want, how big is the world."</blockquote>The main scapegoat of Spanish nationalism is the non-Spanish languages, which over the last three hundred years have been tried to be replaced by Spanish with hundreds of laws and regulations,<ref name=":2" /> but also with acts of great violence, such as during the civil war. For example, the statements of Queipo de Llano can be found in the article entitled "Against Catalonia, the Israel of the Modern World", published in the [[Diario Palentino]] on November 26, 1936, where it is dropped that in [[Americas|America]] Catalans are considered a race of [[Jews]], because they use the same procedures that the [[Hebrews]] perform in all the nations of the Globe. And considering the Catalans as Hebrews and considering his [[Antisemitism|anti-Semitism]] "Our struggle is not a civil war, but a war for Western civilization against the Jewish world," it is not surprising that Queipo de Llano expressed his [[Anti-Catalanism|anti-Catalan]] intentions: "When the war is over, Pompeu Fabra and his works will be dragged along the Ramblas"<ref name=":0222" /> (it was not talk to talk, the house of [[Pompeu Fabra]], the standardizer of Catalan language, was raided and his huge personal library burned in the middle of the street. Pompeu Fabra was able to escape into exile).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fabra, diccionari d'un home sense biografia |trans-title=Fabra, dictionary of a man without biography |url=https://www.ccma.cat/tv3/alacarta/sense-ficcio/fabra-diccionari-dun-home-sense-biografia/video/5845287/ |website=TV3 - Sense ficció |publisher=TV3 |language=ca}}</ref>

Another example of [[Fascism|fascist]] aggression towards the Catalan language is pointed out by [[Paul Preston]] in "The Spanish Holocaust",<ref name="Holo2">{{cite book |date=2012 |last=Preston |first=Paul |publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]] |isbn=978-0-393-06476-6 |title=The Spanish Holocaust}}</ref> given that during the civil war it practically led to an ethnic conflict:<blockquote>"In the days following the occupation of Lleida (…), the republican prisoners identified as Catalans were executed without trial. Anyone who heard them speak Catalan was very likely to be arrested. The arbitrary brutality of the anti-Catalan repression reached such a point that Franco himself had to issue an order ordering that mistakes that could later be regretted be avoided ".

"There are examples of the murder of peasants for no other apparent reason than that of speaking Catalan"</blockquote>After a possible attempt at [[ethnic cleansing]],<ref name="Recopilació d'accions genocides con" /><ref name=":0222" /> the [[Biopolitics|biopolitical]] imposition of Spanish during the [[Francoist Spain|Franco dictatorship]], to the point of being considered an attempt at [[cultural genocide]], democracy consolidated an apparent asymmetric regime of [[bilingualism]] of sorts, wherein the Spanish government has employed a system of laws that favored Spanish over Catalan,<ref>{{cite web |date=2015 |title=Novetats legislatives en matèria lingüística aprovades el 2014 que afecten Catalunya |language=ca |trans-title=Legislative innovations in linguistic matters approved in 2014 that affect Catalonia |url=https://www.plataforma-llengua.cat/media/upload/pdf/infornovetatslegislosc28022015_def_1434621426.pdf |publisher=Plataforma per la llengua}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=2015 |title=Novetats legislatives en matèria lingüística aprovades el 2015 que afecten els territoris de parla catalana |language=ca |trans-title=Legislative innovations in linguistic matters approved in 2015 that affect Catalan-speaking territories |url=https://www.plataforma-llengua.cat/media/upload/pdf/novetats-legislatives-2015_182_11_2160.pdf |publisher=Plataforma per la llengua}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=2016 |title=Report sobre les novetats legislatives en matèria lingüística aprovades el 2016 |language=ca |trans-title=Report on legislative developments in linguistic matters approved in 2016 |url=https://www.plataforma-llengua.cat/media/upload/pdf/report-de-novetats-legislatives-2016_1493294622.pdf |publisher=Plataforma per la llengua}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Report sobre les novetats legislatives en matèria lingüística aprovades el 2017 |url=https://www.plataforma-llengua.cat/media/upload/pdf/report-sobre-les-novetats-legislatives-en-materia-linguistica-aprovades-el-2017_1528193285.pdf |publisher=Plataforma per la llengua}}</ref><ref name=":3"/><ref name=":4"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Informe discriminacions lingüístiques 2016 |language=ca |trans-title=Linguistic discrimination report 2016 |url=https://www.plataforma-llengua.cat/media/upload/pdf/informediscriminacioadministracions_1496058084.pdf |publisher=Plataforma per la llengua}}</ref><ref name=":5"/> which becomes the weaker of the two languages, and therefore, in the absence of other states where it is spoken, is doomed to extinction in the medium or short term. In the same vein, its use in the Spanish Congress is prevented,<ref>{{cite web |date=2013 |title=El Congrés a Bosch i Jordà: el català hi "està prohibit" |language=ca |trans-title=The Congress in Bosch and Jordà: Catalan is "forbidden" The Congress in Bosch and Jordà: Catalan is "forbidden" |url=https://www.naciodigital.cat/noticia/53649/congres-bosch-jorda-catala-esta-prohibit |publisher=Naciódigital |access-date=9 November 2022 |archive-date=23 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221223190423/https://www.naciodigital.cat/noticia/53649/congres-bosch-jorda-catala-esta-prohibit |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=2020 |title=La presidenta del Congrés de Diputats, Meritxell Batet, prohibeix parlar en català a Albert Botran (CUP) i li talla el micròfon |url=https://www.dbalears.cat/ara/estat/2020/11/18/345765/video-presidenta-del-congres-diputats-meritxell-batet-prohibeix-parlar-catala-albert-botran-cup-talla-microfon.html |publisher=Diari de les Balears}}</ref> and it is prevented from achieving official status Europe, unlike less spoken languages such as [[Goidelic languages|Gaelic]].<ref>{{cite web |date=2022 |title=L'oficialització del gaèlic a la UE torna a evidenciar la discriminació del català |url=https://www.ccma.cat/324/loficialitzacio-del-gaelic-a-la-ue-torna-a-evidenciar-la-discriminacio-del-catala/noticia/3138529/ |publisher=CCMA}}</ref> In other institutional areas, such as justice, [[Plataforma per la Llengua]] has denounced [[Anti-Catalanism|Catalanophobia]]. The association [[Soberania i Justícia]] have also denounced it in an act in the [[European Parliament]]. It also takes the form of [[linguistic secessionism]], originally advocated by the Spanish extreme right and which has finally been adopted by the Spanish government itself and state bodies.<ref name="dbalears.cat">{{Cite web |date=2022-05-18 |title=El Govern espanyol ofereix el 'baléà' com a llengua oficial en una campanya |url=https://www.dbalears.cat/ara/estat/2022/05/18/366617/govern-espanyol-ofereix-balea-com-llengua-oficial-campanya-seguretat.html |website=Diari de Balears}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-01-01 |title=Les webs de l'Estat: sense presència del català, o amb errors ortogràfics |newspaper=El Nacional |url=https://www.elnacional.cat/ca/cultura/llengua-catalana-webs-estat-plataforma_456246_102.html}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Sallés |first=Quico |date=2022-10-22 |title=El CNP, a un advocat: "No estem obligats a conèixer el dialecte català" |url=https://elmon.cat/societat/llengua/cnp-advocat-no-obligats-dialecte-catala-501969/ |url-status= |archive-date= |access-date= |website=El Mon }}</ref>

In November 2005, [[Òmnium Cultural|Omnium Cultural]] organized a meeting of Catalan and Madrid intellectuals in the [[Círculo de Bellas Artes|Círculo de bellas artes]] in Madrid to show support for ongoing reform of Catalan Statute of Autonomy, which sought to resolve territorial tensions, and among other things better protect the Catalan language. On the Catalan side, a flight was made with one hundred representatives of the cultural, civic, intellectual, artistic and sporting world of Catalonia, but on the Spanish side, except [[Santiago Carrillo]], a politician from the [[Second Spanish Republic|Second Republic]], did not attend any more.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=May 1, 2022|date=2013-07-26|publisher=Vilaweb|language=ca|title=El suport explícit de la societat civil de Madrid a l'Estatut es limita a Santiago Carrillo|url=https://www.vilaweb.cat/noticia/4136130/20130726/suport-explicit-societat-civil-madrid-lestatut-limita-santiago-carrillo.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date= 2 November 2005|title=En busca de la "España educada" |url=https://elpais.com/diario/2005/11/03/espana/1130972416_850215.html |newspaper=El País}}</ref> The subsequent failure of the statutory reform with respect to its objectives opened the door to the growth of Catalan sovereignty.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=May 1, 2022|date=2017-07-10|publisher=Nació digital|language=ca|title=Fotos – Set anys de la manifestació del 10-J, punt de partida del procés sobiranista|url=https://www.naciodigital.cat/noticia/134582/fotos-set-anys-manifestacio-10-j-punt-partida-proces-sobiranista}}</ref>

Apart from language discrimination by public officials,<ref>{{cite web |access-date=24 May 2021 |date=23 December 2021 |publisher=Plataforma per la llengua |language=ca |title=Informe de discriminacions lingüístiques 2020: "Habla en castellano, cojones, que estamos en España" |trans-title=Linguistic discrimination report 2020: "Speak in Spanish, cojones, que estamos en España" |url=https://www.plataforma-llengua.cat/que-fem/estudis-i-publicacions/293/informe-de-discriminacions-linguistiques-2020-habla-en-castellano-cojones-que-estamos-en-espana}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Palmer |first=Jordi |date=13 March 2020 |title=Garrotada de l'ONU a Espanya: reconeix els catalans com a "minoria nacional" |trans-title=UN whip in Spain: recognizes the Catalans as a "national minority" |url=https://www.elnacional.cat/ca/politica/garrotada-onu-espanya-reconeix-catalans-minoria-nacional_479247_102.html |url-status= |archive-date= |language=ca}}</ref> e.g. in the hospitals,<ref>{{cite web |access-date=24 May 2022 |date=24 May 2022 |publisher=Vilaweb |language=ca |title="En espanyol, perquè no t'entenc": obligada a parlar en castellà mentre visitava un familiar a l'hospital |trans-title="In Spanish, because I don't understand you": forced to speak in Spanish while visiting a relative in the hospital |url=https://www.vilaweb.cat/noticies/discriminacio-linguistica-hospital-vila-joiosa-plataforma-llengua/}}</ref> the prohibition until September 2023 (47 years after Franco's death) of using the Catalan language in state institutions such as Court,<ref>{{cite web |access-date=May 1, 2022 |date=2022-05-17 |publisher=Vilaweb |language=ca |title=Batet talla la paraula a Botran perquè parlava en català: "La llengua castellana és la de tots" |trans-title=Batet cuts the word to Botran because he spoke in Catalan: "The Castilian language is that of all" |url=https://www.vilaweb.cat/noticies/batet-botran-catala-congres-espanyol-llengua-castellana/}}</ref> despite being the former [[Crown of Aragon]], with three Catalan-speaking territories, one of the co-founders of the current Spanish state, is nothing more than the continuation of the foreignization of Catalan-speaking people from the first third of the 20th century, in full swing of state racism and [[fascism]]. It also can be pointed the [[linguistic secessionism]], originally advocated by the Spanish far right and which has finally been adopted by the Spanish government itself and state bodies.<ref name="dbalears.cat"/><ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-01-01 |title=Les webs de l'Estat: sense presència del català, o amb errors ortogràfics |url=https://www.elnacional.cat/ca/cultura/llengua-catalana-webs-estat-plataforma_456246_102.html |newspaper=El Nacional}}</ref> By fragmenting Catalan language into as many languages as territories, it becomes inoperative, economically suffocated, and becomes a political toy in the hands of territorial politicians.

Susceptible to be classified as an [[ethnic democracy]], the Spanish State currently only recognizes the [[Romani people|Romani]] as a national minority, excluding [[Catalans]] (and, of course, Valencians and Balearic), [[Basques]] and [[Galicians]]. However, it is evident to any external observer that there are social diversities within the Spanish State that qualify as manifestations of national minorities, such as, for example, the existence of the main three linguistic minorities in their ancestral territories.<ref name=":042">{{cite web|publisher=Biblioteca de cultura jurídica|language=es|first=Eduardo J.|last=Ruiz Vieytez|title=España y el Convenio Marco para la Protección de las Minorías Nacionales: Una reflexión crítica|url=http://bibliotecaculturajuridica.com/EDIT/1209/espa%C3%B1a-y-el-convenio-marco-para-la-proteccion-de-las-minorias-nacionales-una-reflexion-critica.html/|access-date=24 May 2022|archive-date=1 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220601225055/http://bibliotecaculturajuridica.com/EDIT/1209/espa%C3%B1a-y-el-convenio-marco-para-la-proteccion-de-las-minorias-nacionales-una-reflexion-critica.html/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== United Kingdom ===
{{Home Nations}}
The [[United Kingdom]] is an unusual example of a nation state due to its "countries within a [[country]]". The United Kingdom is formed by the union of [[England]], [[Scotland]], [[Wales]] and [[Northern Ireland]], but it is a [[unitary state]] formed initially by the merger of two independent kingdoms, the [[Kingdom of England]] (which already included Wales) and the [[Kingdom of Scotland]], but the [[Treaty of Union]] (1707) that set out the agreed terms has ensured the continuation of distinct features of each state, including separate [[Law in the United Kingdom|legal systems]] and separate [[Religion in the United Kingdom|national churches]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Doherty |first1=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=065TDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA198 |title=Public Law |date=2016 |publisher=Rutledge |isbn=978-1317206651 |pages=198–201}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=McCann |first1=Philip |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uAi4CwAAQBAJ&pg=PT372 |title=The UK Regional–National Economic Problem: Geography, globalisation and governance |date=2016 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=9781317237174 |page=372 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=The Permanent Committee on Geographical Names |title=UK Toponnymic Guidelines |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/326664/UK_Toponymic_Guidelines.pdf |publisher=[[UK Government]] |access-date=26 January 2017 |archive-date=17 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517012455/https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/326664/UK_Toponymic_Guidelines.pdf |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2003, the [[British Government]] described the United Kingdom as "countries within a country".<ref>{{cite web |date=10 January 2003 |title=Countries within a country, number10.gov.uk |url=http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page823 |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20080909013512/http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page823 |archive-date=9 September 2008 |access-date=20 February 2013 |publisher=[[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|National Archives]]}}</ref> While the [[Office for National Statistics]] and others describe the United Kingdom as a "nation state",<ref>{{cite web |title=ONS Glossary of economic terms |url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/about/glossary/economic_terms.asp |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110907093405/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/geography/beginner-s-guide/glossary/glossary-u.html |archive-date=7 September 2011 |access-date=24 July 2010 |publisher=[[Office for National Statistics]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Giddens |first=Anthony |url=https://archive.org/details/sociology0005gidd |title=Sociology |publisher=Polity Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-7456-3379-4 |location=Cambridge |page=[https://archive.org/details/sociology0005gidd/page/41 41]}}</ref> others, including a then Prime Minister, describe it as a "[[multinational state]]",<ref>{{cite web |last=Hogwood |first=Brian |title=Regulatory Reform in a Multinational State: The Emergence of Multilevel Regulation in the United Kingdom |url=https://ecpr.eu/Events/PaperDetails.aspx?PaperID=5567&EventID=45 |access-date=27 February 2017 |website=European Consortium for Political Research}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Brown |first1=Gordon |date=25 March 2008 |title=Gordon Brown: We must defend the Union |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/3556535/Gordon-Brown-We-must-defend-the-Union.html |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/3556535/Gordon-Brown-We-must-defend-the-Union.html |archive-date=11 January 2022}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Diversity and Citizenship Curriculum Review |url=https://dera.ioe.ac.uk/id/eprint/6374/7/DfES_Diversity_&_Citizenship_Redacted.pdf |access-date=24 March 2024 |publisher=Department for Education and Skills}}</ref> and the term [[Home Nations]] is used to describe the four national teams that represent the four nations of the United Kingdom ([[England]], [[Northern Ireland]], [[Scotland]], [[Wales]]).<ref>{{cite news |last=Magnay |first=Jacquelin |date=26 May 2010 |title=London 2012: Hugh Robertson puts Home Nations football team on agenda |newspaper=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/london-2012/7768436/London-2012-Hugh-Robertson-puts-Home-Nations-football-team-on-agenda.html |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=11 September 2010 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/london-2012/7768436/London-2012-Hugh-Robertson-puts-Home-Nations-football-team-on-agenda.html |archive-date=11 January 2022}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Some refer to it as a "Union State".<ref>{{cite web |author=Independent Worker's Union of Great Britain |author-link=Independent Worker's Union of Great Britain |date=2016 |title=Written Intervention for the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain |url=https://www.supremecourt.uk/docs/independent-workers-union-great-britain.pdf }}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=McLean |first1=Iain |url=https://archive.org/details/stateofunion00mcle/page/1 |title=State of the Union |last2=McMillan |first2=Alistair |date=2006 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199258208 |pages=1–12 |chapter=The United Kingdom as a Union State |doi=10.1093/0199258201.003.0001 |url-access=registration}}</ref>

== Minorities ==
{{unreferenced section|date=October 2015}}

The most obvious deviation from the ideal of "one nation, one state" is the presence of minorities, especially [[ethnic minorities]], which are clearly not members of the majority nation. An ethnic nationalist definition of a [[nation]] is necessarily exclusive: ethnic nations typically do not have open membership. In most cases, there is a clear idea that surrounding nations are different, and that includes members of those nations who live on the "wrong side" of the border. Historical examples of groups who have been specifically singled out as ''outsiders'' are the [[Romani people|Roma]] and [[Jews]] in Europe.

Negative responses to minorities within the nation state have ranged from [[cultural assimilation]] enforced by the state, to [[Ethnic cleansing|expulsion]], persecution, violence, and [[Genocide|extermination]]. The assimilation policies are usually enforced by the state, but violence against minorities is not always state-initiated: it can occur in the form of [[mob violence]] such as [[lynching]] or [[pogrom]]s. Nation states are responsible for some of the worst historical examples of violence against minorities not considered part of the nation.

However, many nation states accept specific minorities as being part of the nation, and the term ''national minority'' is often used in this sense. The [[Sorbs]] in Germany are an example: for centuries they have lived in German-speaking states, surrounded by a much larger ethnic German population, and they have no other historical territory. They are now generally considered to be part of the German nation and are accepted as such by the Federal Republic of Germany, which constitutionally guarantees their cultural rights. Of the thousands of ethnic and cultural minorities in nation states across the world, only a few have this level of acceptance and protection.

[[Multiculturalism]] is an official policy in some states, establishing the ideal of coexisting existence among multiple and separate ethnic, cultural, and linguistic groups. Other states prefer the [[interculturalism]] (or "[[melting pot]]" approach) alternative to multiculturalism, citing [[Criticism of multiculturalism|problems]] with latter as promoting [[self-segregation]] tendencies among minority groups, challenging national cohesion, polarizing society in groups that can't relate to one another, generating problems in regard to minorities and immigrants' fluency in the national language of use and integration with the rest of society (generating hate and persecution against them from the "otherness" they would generate in such a case according to its adherents), without minorities having to give up certain parts of their culture before being absorbed into a now changed majority culture by their contribution. Many nations have laws protecting [[minority rights]].

When national boundaries that do not match ethnic boundaries are drawn, such as in the [[Balkans]] and [[Central Asia]], ethnic tension, massacres and even [[genocide]], sometimes has occurred historically (see [[Bosnian genocide]] and [[2010 South Kyrgyzstan ethnic clashes]]).

== Irredentism ==
{{main|Irredentism}}
{{unreferenced section|date=October 2015}} 
[[File:Nazi Germany.svg|thumb|left|The Greater German Reich under [[Nazi Germany]] in 1943]]

In principle, the border of a nation state would extend far enough to include all the members of the nation, and all of the national [[homeland]]. Again, in practice, some of them always live on the 'wrong side' of the border. Part of the national homeland may be there too, and it may be governed by the 'wrong' nation. The response to the non-inclusion of territory and population may take the form of irredentism: demands to annex ''unredeemed'' territory and incorporate it into the nation state.

Irredentist claims are usually based on the fact that an identifiable part of the national group lives across the border. However, they can include claims to territory where no members of that nation live at present, because they lived there in the past, the national language is spoken in that region, the national culture has influenced it, geographical unity with the existing territory, or a wide variety of other reasons. Past grievances are usually involved and can cause [[revanchism]].

It is sometimes difficult to distinguish irredentism from [[pan-nationalism]], since both claim that all members of an ethnic and cultural nation belong in one specific state. Pan-nationalism is less likely to specify the nation ethnically. For instance, variants of [[Pan-Germanism]] have different ideas about what constituted [[Kleindeutschland and Großdeutschland|Greater Germany]], including the confusing term ''Grossdeutschland'', which, in fact, implied the inclusion of huge [[Slav]]ic minorities from the [[Austro-Hungarian Empire]].

Typically, irredentist demands are at first made by members of non-state nationalist movements. When they are adopted by a state, they typically result in tensions, and actual attempts at annexation are always considered a ''[[casus belli]]'', a cause for [[war]]. In many cases, such claims result in long-term hostile relations between neighbouring states. Irredentist movements typically circulate maps of the claimed national territory, the ''greater'' nation state. That territory, which is often much larger than the existing state, plays a central role in their propaganda.

Irredentism should not be confused with claims to overseas colonies, which are not generally considered part of the national homeland. Some French overseas colonies would be an exception: [[French rule in Algeria]] unsuccessfully treated the colony as a ''[[Département in France|département]]'' of France.

== Future ==

It has been speculated by both proponents of [[globalization]] and various [[science fiction]] writers that the concept of a nation state may disappear with the ever-increasing interconnectedness of the world.<ref name="ref1"/> Such ideas are sometimes expressed around concepts of a [[world government]]. Another possibility is a move into communal anarchy or zero world government, in which nation states no longer exist.

=== Clash of civilizations ===
The theory of the [[clash of civilizations]] lies in direct contrast to [[Cosmopolitanism|cosmopolitan]] theories about an ever more connected world that no longer requires nation states. According to [[political scientist]] [[Samuel P. Huntington]], people's cultural and religious [[Identity (social science)|identities]] will be the primary source of conflict in the post–[[Cold War]] world.

The theory was originally formulated in a 1992 lecture<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aei.org/issue/29196 |title=U.S. Trade Policy&nbsp;— Economics |publisher=AEI |date=15 February 2007 |access-date=20 February 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130629170348/http://www.aei.org/issue/29196 |archive-date=29 June 2013 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> at the [[American Enterprise Institute]], which was then developed in a 1993 ''[[Foreign Affairs]]'' article titled "The Clash of Civilizations?",<ref name="FAarticle">Official copy (free preview): {{cite web |url=http://www.foreignaffairs.org/19930601faessay5188/samuel-p-huntington/the-clash-of-civilizations.html |title=The Clash of Civilizations? |work=[[Foreign Affairs]] |date=Summer 1993 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070629022856/http://www.foreignaffairs.org/19930601faessay5188/samuel-p-huntington/the-clash-of-civilizations.html |archive-date=29 June 2007 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> in response to [[Francis Fukuyama]]'s 1992 book, ''[[The End of History and the Last Man]]''. Huntington later expanded his [[thesis]] in a 1996 book ''The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order''.

Huntington began his thinking by surveying the diverse theories about the nature of global politics in the post–Cold War period. Some theorists and writers argued that [[human rights]], [[liberal democracy]] and capitalist [[free market]] economics had become the only remaining ideological alternative for nations in the post–Cold War world. Specifically, Francis Fukuyama, in ''The End of History and the Last Man'', argued that the world had reached a [[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel|Hegelian]] "end of history".

Huntington believed that while the age of [[ideology]] had ended, the world had reverted only to a normal state of affairs characterized by cultural conflict. In his thesis, he argued that the primary axis of conflict in the future will be along cultural and religious lines.

As an extension, he posits that the concept of different [[civilization]]s, as the highest rank of cultural identity, will become increasingly useful in analyzing the potential for conflict.

In the 1993 ''Foreign Affairs'' article, Huntington writes:

{{blockquote|It is my hypothesis that the fundamental source of conflict in this new world will not be primarily ideological or primarily economic. The great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of conflict will be cultural. Nation states will remain the most powerful actors in world affairs, but the principal conflicts of global politics will occur between nations and groups of different civilizations. The clash of civilizations will dominate global politics. The fault lines between civilizations will be the battle lines of the future.<ref name="FAarticle"/>}}

[[Sandra Joireman]] suggests that Huntington may be characterised as a neo-[[Primordialism|primordialist]], as, while he sees people as having strong ties to their ethnicity, he does not believe that these ties have always existed.<ref name="Joireman">{{cite book |author=Sandra Fullerton Joireman|author-link=Sandra Joireman|title=Nationalism and Political Identity |publisher=Continuum |location=London |year=2003 |page=30 |isbn=0-8264-6591-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cFT4HYDUlh0C&q=Samuel%20Huntington%20primordialist&pg=PA30}}</ref>

== Historiography ==
{{Further|Nationalist historiography}}
Historians often look to the past to find the origins of a particular nation state. Indeed, they often put so much emphasis on the importance of the nation state in modern times, that they distort the history of earlier periods in order to emphasize the question of origins. Lansing and English argue that much of the medieval history of Europe was structured to follow the historical winners—especially the nation states that emerged around Paris and London. Important developments that did not directly lead to a nation state get neglected, they argue:
:one effect of this approach has been to privilege historical winners, aspects of medieval Europe that became important in later centuries, above all the nation state.... Arguably the liveliest cultural innovation in the 13th century was the Mediterranean, centered on [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II]]'s polyglot court and administration in Palermo...Sicily and the Italian South in later centuries suffered a long slide into overtaxed poverty and marginality. Textbook narratives, therefore, focus not on medieval Palermo, with its Muslim and Jewish bureaucracies and Arabic-speaking monarch, but on the historical winners, Paris and London.<ref>{{cite book|editor=Carol Lansing and Edward D. English|title=A Companion to the Medieval World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Re-1YpI9ObsC&pg=PA1964|year=2012|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|page=4|isbn=9781118499467}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{div col}}
* [[Balkanization]]
* [[Caliphate]]
* [[City-state]]
* [[Civilization state]]
* [[Ethnocracy]]
* [[Islamic state]]
* [[Monoethnicity]]
* [[Nation]]
* [[Nationalism]]
* [[National personification]]
* [[State nationalism]]
* [[Titular nation]]
* [[Westphalian sovereignty]]
{{div col end}}

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}
* [[Benedict Anderson|Anderson, Benedict]]. 1991. ''[[Imagined Communities]]''. {{ISBN|0-86091-329-5}}.
* [[Josep Colomer|Colomer, Josep M]]. 2007. ''Great Empires, Small Nations: The Uncertain Future of the Sovereign State''. {{ISBN|0-415-43775-X}}.
* Gellner, Ernest (1983). ''Nations and Nationalism''. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. {{ISBN|0-8014-1662-0}}.
* Hobsbawm, Eric J. (1992). ''Nations and Nationalism Since 1780: Programme, Myth, Reality''. 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|0-521-43961-2}}.
* {{cite book |last=James |first=Paul |author-link=Paul James (academic) |title=Nation Formation: Towards a Theory of Abstract Community |url=https://archive.org/details/nationformationt00jame
 |url-access=registration |publisher=[[SAGE Publications]] |location=London |year=1996 |isbn=0-7619-5072-9}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Khan |first1=L. Ali |date=1992 |url=https://ssrn.com/abstract=990885 |title=The Extinction of Nation States |journal=American University International Law Review |volume= 7 |via=SSRN }}
* [[Ernest Renan|Renan, Ernest]]. 1882. [[s:fr:Qu'est-ce qu'une nation ?|"Qu'est-ce qu'une nation?"]] ("[[What Is a Nation?]]")
* Malesevic, Sinisa (2006). ''Identity as Ideology: Understanding Ethnicity and Nationalism''. New York: Palgrave.
* Smith, Anthony D. (1986). ''The Ethnic Origins of Nations''. London: Basil Blackwell. pp 6–18. {{ISBN|0-631-15205-9}}.
* White, Philip L. (2006). [http://www.nationalityinworldhistory.net/ch1.html "Globalization and the Mythology of the Nation State"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080912043132/http://www.nationalityinworldhistory.net/ch1.html |date=12 September 2008 }}. In A. G. Hopkins, ed. ''Global History: Interactions Between the Universal and the Local''. Palgrave Macmillan, pp.&nbsp;257–284.

== External links ==
* [http://ambassadors.net/archives/issue19/opinions2.htm From Paris to Cairo: Resistance of the Unacculturated] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101209073701/http://ambassadors.net/archives/issue19/opinions2.htm |date=9 December 2010 }} on identity and the nation state.
* [[:ca:Cronologia de la repressió del català|Chronology of the repression of the Catalan language]] in Catalan language

{{Ethnicity}}
{{Types of state}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Nation|State]]
[[Category:Political science terminology]]