State (polity)

A state is a <a href="/facts/Politics/1gDNy3RP">political</a> entity that regulates <a href="/facts/Society/PulvrYfa">society</a> and the <a href="/facts/Population/ArxshNuB">population</a> within a definite <a href="/facts/Territory/j6KoWv1C">territory</a>. <a href="/facts/Government/N4bYL0VC">Government</a> is considered to form the fundamental apparatus of contemporary states.
A <a href="/facts/Country/a1QSEJhj">country</a> often has a single state, with various <a href="/facts/Administrative_division/s8dnhhYm">administrative divisions</a>. A state may be a <a href="/facts/Unitary_state/HAxK1eMM">unitary state</a> or some type of <a href="/facts/Federation/R846sufb">federal union</a>; in the latter type, the term "state" is sometimes used to refer to the <a href="/facts/Federated_state/2R6y2Npy">federated polities</a> that make up the <a href="/facts/Federation/R846sufb">federation</a>, and they may have some of the attributes of a <a href="/facts/Sovereign_state/TrUb8sns">sovereign state</a>, except being under their federation and without the same capacity to act internationally. (Other terms that are used in such federal systems may include "<a href="/facts/Province/wev3AtEQ">province</a>", "<a href="/facts/Region/CdM1oaR3">region</a>" or other terms.)
For most of <a href="/facts/Prehistory/52D6oKM4">prehistory</a>, people lived in <a href="/facts/Stateless_societies/u9aYdVGM">stateless societies</a>. The earliest forms of states arose about 5,500 years ago. Over time societies became more <a href="/facts/Social_stratification/AdXjXrKt">stratified</a> and developed <a href="/facts/Institution/kGkhGcMN">institutions</a> leading to <a href="/facts/Centralisation/xgEewEy4">centralised</a> governments. These gained <a href="/facts/State_capacity/zf5gPWVA">state capacity</a> in conjunction with the <a href="/facts/Urbanization/GQq0oqft">growth of cities</a>, which was often dependent on climate and <a href="/facts/Economic_history_of_the_world/cj2Bft5F">economic development</a>, with centralisation often spurred on by insecurity and territorial competition.
Over time, varied forms of states developed, that used many different justifications for their existence (such as <a href="/facts/Divine_right_of_kings/x3jCGoeJ">divine right</a>, the theory of the <a href="/facts/Social_contract/vFPeB2J2">social contract</a>, etc.). Today, the modern <a href="/facts/Nation_state/1T5FVEJP">nation state</a> is the predominant form of state to which people are subject. <a href="/facts/Sovereign_state/TrUb8sns">Sovereign states</a> have <a href="/facts/Sovereignty/QnYhTTem">sovereignty</a>; any <a href="/facts/In-group_and_out-group/xvBdRPTW">ingroup</a>'s claim to have a state faces some practical limits via <a href="/facts/List_of_states_with_limited_recognition/CgR9Rny1">the degree to which</a> other states <a href="/facts/Diplomatic_recognition/scYJlwys">recognize</a> them as such. <a href="/facts/Satellite_state/09RFx27w">Satellite states</a> are states that have <a href="/facts/De_facto/3Du6WQKh">de facto</a> sovereignty but are often indirectly controlled by another state.
Definitions of a state are disputed. According to sociologist <a href="/facts/Max_Weber/MF3HU6bN">Max Weber</a>, a "state" is a <a href="/facts/Polity/0R8Wr4CL">polity</a> that maintains a <a href="/facts/Monopoly_on_violence/L6JLS5A0">monopoly on the legitimate use of violence</a>, although other definitions are common. Absence of a state does not preclude the existence of a <a href="/facts/Society/PulvrYfa">society</a>, such as stateless societies like the <a href="/facts/Haudenosaunee/PnYFTuIP">Haudenosaunee Confederacy</a> that "do not have either purely or even primarily political institutions or roles". The degree and extent of governance of a state is used to determine whether it has <a href="/facts/Failed_state/McYqGJ2W">failed</a>.

State (polity) open-in-new

State (polity)