Sovereign state

A sovereign state is a state that has the supreme sovereignty or ultimate authority over a territory.[1] It is commonly understood that a sovereign state is independent.[2] When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may also refer to a constituent country, or a dependent territory.[3][4][5]

A sovereign state is usually required to have a permanent population, defined territory, a government not under another, and the capacity to interact with other sovereign states.[6] In actual practice, recognition or non-recognition by other states plays an important role in determining the status of a country. Unrecognized states often have difficulty engaging in diplomatic relations with other sovereign states.[7][8]

  1. ^ Philpott, Daniel (1995). "Sovereignty: An Introduction and Brief History". Journal of International Affairs. 48 (2): 353–368. JSTOR 24357595.
  2. ^ See the following:
    • Wheaton, Henry (1836). Elements of international law: with a sketch of the history of the science. Carey, Lea & Blanchard. p. 51. A sovereign state is generally defined to be any nation or people, whatever may be the form of its internal constitution, which governs itself independently of foreign powers.
    • "sovereign", The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4th ed.), Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004, archived from the original on 7 October 2015, retrieved 21 February 2010, adj. 1. Self-governing; independent: a sovereign state.
    • "sovereign", The New Oxford American Dictionary (2nd ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005, ISBN 978-0-19-517077-1, adjective ... [ attrib. ] (of a nation or state) fully independent and determining its own affairs.
    • Pellet, Alain (1992). "The Opinions of the Badinter Arbitration Committee A Second Breath for the Self-Determination of Peoples". European Journal of International Law. 3 (1): 178–185. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.ejil.a035802. The Committee considers [...] that the state is commonly defined as a community which consists of a territory and a population subject to an organized political authority; that such a state is characterized by sovereignty; [...]
  3. ^ Fowler, Michael Ross; Bunck, Julie Marie (1996). "What constitutes the sovereign state?". Review of International Studies. 22 (4). Cambridge University Press (CUP): 381–404. doi:10.1017/s0260210500118637. S2CID 145809847.
  4. ^ "Countries Not in the United Nations 2024". World Population by Country 2024 (Live). 26 June 1945. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
  5. ^ Talmon, Stefan (2001). "Recognition and its Variants". Recognition of Governments in International Law. pp. 44–112. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199248391.003.0003. ISBN 978-0-19-924839-1.
  6. ^ See the following:
    • Shaw, Malcolm Nathan (2003). International law. Cambridge University Press. p. 178. ISBN 978-0-5215-3183-2. Article 1 of the Montevideo Convention on Rights and Duties of States, 1 lays down the most widely accepted formulation of the criteria of statehood in international law. It note that the state as an international person should possess the following qualifications: '(a) a permanent population; (b) a defined territory; (c) government; and (d) capacity to enter into relations with other states'.
    • Jasentuliyana, Nandasiri, ed. (1995). Perspectives on international law. Kluwer Law International. p. 20. So far as States are concerned, the traditional definitions provided for in the Montevideo Convention remain generally accepted.
  7. ^ Visoka, Gëzim (2022). "Statehood and recognition in world politics: Towards a critical research agenda". Cooperation and Conflict. 57 (2): 133–151. doi:10.1177/00108367211007876.
  8. ^ Hoch, Tomáš (2018). "Legitimization of Statehood and its Impact on Foreign Policy in De Facto States: A Case Study of Abkhazia". Iran & the Caucasus. 22 (4). Brill: 382–407. doi:10.1163/1573384X-20180406. JSTOR 26626701.