Definitions of country,
state, nation, possession

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Country
A group of people with their own customs and beliefs, permanently occupying a territory, form a country. A country can be a nation, a state, a province, a region, a city or a community or commonwealth. For example, some people consider Quebec to be a country, even though it is a province of Canada. Some others consider Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands to be countries; certainly the people that live in those places think of their lands as countries.

All countries have an identity. Identity is, among other things, a set of customs, beliefs and traditions. For example, take Kurdistan. There is no independent Kurdistan, but Kurdistan is a country, and it is under the administration of Iraq, as one of its provinces. The Kurds have their identity because they have their own culture and they occupy a definite space, which is in northern Iraq. To be a country, autonomy, independence or sovereignty are not requisites. As a matter of fact, a country can be under the mandate of another, and in the case of Kurdistan, it is presently under the governance of Iraq.

State
A state is a country that either forms part of another or is independent. Hawaii is both a country and a state, because it has its own identity, and because it also forms part of the United States of America. The entities that comprise the European Union are nations and member states at the same time. In contrast, in the Middle East, Bahrain is an independent state, or nation, as is Kuwait.

Nation
A nation is a country that governs itself in its entirety, and is usually in charge of its own external affairs (diplomatic relations) and defense, among other things. The majority of countries on the planet are, indeed, nations. A nation can have local governments in charge of provinces, departments, parishes, and other types of so-called "subdivisions".

A country can form a pact a with another, to take charge of its diplomatic relations and defense. Such countries are usually called commonwealths. Puerto Rico, and the Northern Mariana Islands, are both commonwealths of the United States of America.

However, a nation can also ask another nation to take care of its defense, but not its external affairs. Marshall Islands, and Palau, for example, have asked the United States of America to defend them in case of war. Each of these nations is effectively responsible for its own diplomatic relations.

To have a flag, a coat of arms (great seal), and an anthem, is not reserved only for independent nations. States and countries can have those symbols, too.

How can a country cease to exist?
For a country to disappear from the map is difficult. What often happens is that nations, not countries, fall apart at the seams. That's when people say such-and-such country "ceased to exist". What has happened is that the states that form a nation decide to break away or meld with another, or both. Yugoslavia ceased to exist in 1992, because the six countries that made up Yugoslavia each decided to take care of their own internal and external affairs, without help from another country. As a result, Yugoslavia disappeared from the map, and in its place emerged Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Macedonia, and Serbia & Montenegro. However, Serbia & Montenegro later divided itself into three separate, independent nations: Serbia, Montenegro, and Kosovo.

Federation
A federation is a union of states. The United States of America is a federation. Saint Kitts and Nevis is a federation, and so are Malaysia, Brazil, and Micronesia. A federation can be called a nation also, because it is kept together effectively by a central government.

Possession
A possession (or territory) was formerly called a colony. Gibraltar is a British possession. It is not a state or a nation, but it is a country nonetheless. Gibraltar has its own government, which answers to Great Britain.

Republic
A republic is a form of government, headed by a president. Not all independent nations are republics; some are kingdoms, sultanates, commonwealths or states.

Dependency
As the name implies, a dependency is a country that depends on another. Guam is a dependency of the United States of America, and Ascension is a dependency of Saint Helena.

Protectorate
A protectorate is a country that is under the protection and partial control of another, much larger country.




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