This article is about a nation lacking a nation state. For a community lacking a government, seeStateless society. For persons lacking state affiliation, seeStatelessness.
Astateless nation is anethnic group ornation that does not possess its ownsovereign state.[1] Use of the term implies that such ethnic groups have theright to self-determination, to establish an independentnation-state with its own government.[2][3] Members of stateless nations may be citizens of the country in which they live, or they may be deniedcitizenship by that country. Stateless nations are usually not represented in international sports or in international organisations such as theUnited Nations. Nations without a state are classified asfourth-world nations.[4][5][6] Some stateless nations have a history ofstatehood, while some were always stateless.
The term was coined in 1983 by political scientistJacques Leruez in his bookL'Écosse, une nation sans État about the position of Scotland within the United Kingdom. It was later adopted and popularized by Scottish scholars such asDavid McCrone,Michael Keating andT. M. Devine.[7]
Stateless nations can have large populations; for example, theKurds have an estimated population of over 30 million people, which makes them one of the largest stateless nations.[10]
The symbiotic relationship between nations and states arose inWestern Europe during the 18th century, and it was exported to the rest of the world through colonial rule. Whereas the Western European nation-states are at present relinquishing some of their powers to the European Union, many of the former colonies are now the zealous defenders of the concept of national statehood.[3] However, not all peoples within multi-cultural states consider themselves stateless nations. As not all states are nation states, there are ethnic groups who live inmultinational states that are not considered "stateless nations".
Only a small fraction of the world's national groups have associated nation states; the rest are distributed in one or more states. While there are over 3000 estimated nations in the world,[citation needed] there were only 193 member states of theUnited Nations as of 2011, of which fewer than 20 are considered to be ethnically homogeneous nation states. Thus nation states are not as common as often assumed, and stateless nations are the overwhelming majority of nations in the world.[3]
During the imperial andcolonial era, powerful nations extended their influence outside their homeland; resulting in many colonized nations ceasing to beself-governing and being described as stateless nations thereafter.[11] Some nations have been victims of "carve-outs" that left their homeland divided among several countries. Even today, the colonial boundaries form modern national boundaries. These boundaries often differ from cultural boundaries which results in situations wherein people who speak the same language or have the same culture are divided by national borders; for example,New Guinea is split into the regions ofWest Papua (a formerDutch colony) andPapua New Guinea (a formerAustralian colony).[12] Duringdecolonization, the colonial powers imposed a unified state structure irrespective of the ethnic differences and granted independence to theircolonies as amultinational state. This led tosuccessor states with many minority ethnic groups in them, which increased the potential forethnic conflicts.[13][14][15][16] Some of these minority groups campaigned forself-determination. Stateless nations were not protected in all countries and as a result, they became victims of atrocities such asdiscrimination,ethnic cleansing,genocide,forced assimilation, and theexploitation of labor andnatural resources.[17][18]
People with a common origin, history, language, culture, customs or religion can turn into anation through the awakening ofnational consciousness.[19] A nation can exist without a state, as is exemplified by the stateless nations. Citizenship is not always the nationality of a person.[20] In a multinational state, different national identities can coexist or compete: for example, inBritainEnglish nationalism,Scottish nationalism, andWelsh nationalism exist and are held together byBritish nationalism.[21] Nationalism is often connected toseparatism because a nation is considered to achieve completeness through its independence.[22]
Throughout history, numerous nationsdeclared their independence, but not all succeeded in establishing a state. Even today, there are active autonomy and independence movements around the world. The claim of the stateless nations toself-determination is often denied due togeopolitical interests and increasingglobalization of the world.[23][24][25][26] Stateless nations sometimes show solidarity with other stateless nations and maintain diplomatic relations.[27][28]
The following is a list of ethnic and national groups where there exist notableindependence movements as evidenced by standalone Wikipedia articles.[circular reference]
States made bold under the "homeland" column are countries of the respective ethnic groups which are native to them and still host the majority (more than half) of their population.
TheSylheti people advocate for the recognition ofSylheti as a distinct language, separate fromBengali, and emphasize the preservation and promotion of their cultural and linguistic identity.
Many groups seek for total independence from Italy, while some just want more autonomy and recognition of Venetian language and people. Historically occupied the independentRepublic of Venice.
Afrikaners are historically anethno-racial group (although some today deracialize the identity to include Afrikaans-speakingColoured people). Demand autonomy or total secession from South Africa. Historically occupied theDutch Cape colony but did expand elsewhere into the once independentBoer republics.
Jumma is a term used to refer to the indigenous peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, such as theChakma,Marma,Tripura,Rakhine, etc. These communities seek autonomy, with some even advocating for independence.
Historically occupied theKingdom of Champa. The Cham in Vietnam are only recognized as a minority, and not as an indigenous people by the Vietnamese government their indigeneity to the region.
TheUrdu-speaking Biharis of Bangladesh, also known as "Stranded Pakistanis", areMuslims fromBihar who settled in what is now Bangladesh in 1947. Many of them seek recognition and autonomy.
^Can also help with understanding the cultural/ethnic proximity with other people of that paternal language group, but not necessarily. The largest language family is not recommended, as a large number of cells would contain similar content.
^abcChouinard, Stéphanie (2016),"Stateless nations", in Karl Cordell; Stefan Wolff (eds.),The Routledge Handbook of Ethnic Conflict, Routledge, pp. 54–66,ISBN9781317518921
^David Newman,Boundaries, Territory and Postmodernity
^Ethnic Minority Media: An International Perspective, Stephen Harold Riggins, 217p.
^Language in Geographic Context, Colin H. Williams, 39p.
^Clark, Gregory,In fear of China, 1969, saying: "Tibet, although enjoying independence at certain periods of its history, had never been recognised by any single foreign power as an independent state. The closest it has ever come to such recognition was the British formula of 1943: suzerainty, combined with autonomy and the right to enter into diplomatic relations."
^Redie Bereketeab,Self-Determination and Secession in Africa: The Post-Colonial State
^Richard Devetak, Christopher W. Hughes, Routledge, 2007-12-18,The Globalization of Political Violence: Globalization's Shadow
^Cultural Analysis: Towards Cross-cultural Understanding (2006), Hans Gullestrup, 130p.
^Ethnicity and Christian leadership in west African sub-region: proceedings of the conference of the fifteenth CIWA Theology Week held at the Catholic Institute of West Africa (2004), Port Harcourt, p.272
^Mussolini Warlord: Failed Dreams of Empire, 1940–1943 (2013), H. James Burgwyn, Chapter V
^Ethnic Groups in Conflict (2009), Karl Cordell, Stefan Wolff
^The delegates were linked with the Scottish group 'SNP Friends of Catalonia', which itself had members recently visit the Catalan parliament in Barcelona in a show of solidarity to the country's hopes of self-determination."Catalan delegates in solidarity visit to Scotland's independence movement".commonspace.scot.Archived from the original on 5 November 2016. Retrieved5 November 2016.
^The Catalan President and the Head of the Corsican government meet in Barcelona. The meeting lasted more than two hours and focused on enhancing the cooperation between the two nations in a regional and European level."EFA brings stateless nations even closer".European Free Alliance. Archived fromthe original on 23 December 2017. Retrieved23 December 2017.
^abcMinahan, James (2002).Encyclopedia of the stateless nations: ethnic and national groups around the world. Vol. 2. Westport: Greenwood Press.ISBN978-0-313-31617-3.
^Religious Nationalism: A Reference Handbook: A Reference Handbook, Atalia Omer, Jason A. Springs (2013)
^Xu, Song-shi (1939)."Cantonese is the old name of the pearl river". Chung Hwa Book Company.
^Xu, Song-shi (1949)."A study of the Thais, Chuangs, and the Cantonese people". Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
^Gow, G. (1 September 2004). "Translocations of Affirmation: Mediascapes and Cultural Flows among the Stateless Oromo".International Journal of Cultural Studies.7 (3). SAGE Publications Ltd:301–319.doi:10.1177/1367877904046304.ISSN1367-8779.S2CID145547845.
^abQuam, Joel; Campbell, Scott (31 August 2020),"Political Geography",The Western World: Daily Readings on Geography, College of DuPage Digital Press,archived from the original on 10 August 2021, retrieved10 August 2021
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^Kirişci, Kemal; Winrow, Gareth (1997),The Kurdish Question and Turkey: An Example of a Trans-state Ethnic Conflict, Rootledge
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^John A. Shoup III,Ethnic Groups of Africa and the Middle East: An Encyclopedia 2011 p.237
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^James Minahan,Encyclopedia of Stateless Nations: Ethnic and National Groups around the World, 2nd Edition: Ethnic and National Groups around the World 2016 p.178
^Mikael Parkvall, "Världens 100 största språk 2007" (The World's 100 Largest Languages in 2007), inNationalencyklopedin
^The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA)Archived 2018-09-05 at theWayback Machine, the vanguard of national liberation struggle in Assam, was formed on 7 April 1979 to bear the historic responsibility of spearheading the armed democratic struggle with the ultimate aim of establishing an independent socialist sovereign Assam.
^Minahan, James (2002).Encyclopedia of the stateless nations: ethnic and national groups around the world. Vol. 4. Westport: Greenwood Press. p. 1958.ISBN978-0-313-31617-3.
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^Minahan, James (2002).Encyclopedia of the stateless nations: ethnic and national groups around the world. Vol. 2. Westport: Greenwood Press. p. 726.ISBN978-0-313-31617-3.
^Minahan, James (2002).Encyclopedia of the stateless nations: ethnic and national groups around the world. Vol. 3. Westport: Greenwood Press. p. 1604.ISBN978-0-313-31617-3.
^Joseph Zajda, Karen Biraimah, William Gaudelli,Education and Social Inequality in the Global Culture 2008 p.59
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^Minahan, James (2002).Encyclopedia of the stateless nations: ethnic and national groups around the world. Vol. 1. Westport: Greenwood Press. p. 255.ISBN978-0-313-31617-3.
^Minahan, James (2002).Encyclopedia of the stateless nations: ethnic and national groups around the world. Vol. 1. Westport: Greenwood Press. p. 109.ISBN978-0-313-31617-3.
^abcKeating, Michael (2001),Nations Against the State: The New Politics of Nationalism in Quebec, Catalonia and Scotland (Second ed.), Palgrave
^abcdeFiend, Julius (2012),Stateless Nations: Western European Regional Nationalisms and the Old Nations, Palgrave
^James Minahan,Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: Ethnic and National Groups Around the World A-Z 2002 p.402
^Minahan, James (2002).Encyclopedia of the stateless nations: ethnic and national groups around the world. Vol. 3. Westport: Greenwood Press. p. 1109.ISBN978-0-313-31617-3.
^Minahan, James (2002).Encyclopedia of the stateless nations: ethnic and national groups around the world. Vol. 2. Westport: Greenwood Press. p. 954.ISBN978-0-313-31617-3.
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^James B. Minahan,Encyclopedia of Stateless Nations 2nd Edition: Ethnic and National Groups around the World 2016 p.422
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^James B. Minahan,Encyclopedia of Stateless Nations 2nd Edition: Ethnic and National Groups around the World 2016 p.352
^Minahan, James (2002).Encyclopedia of the stateless nations: ethnic and national groups around the world. Vol. 3. Westport: Greenwood Press. p. 1282.ISBN978-0-313-31617-3.
^Minahan, James (2002).Encyclopedia of the stateless nations: ethnic and national groups around the world. Vol. 2. Westport: Greenwood Press. p. 738.ISBN978-0-313-31617-3.
^Minahan, James (2002).Encyclopedia of the stateless nations: ethnic and national groups around the world. Vol. 1. Westport: Greenwood Press. p. 168.ISBN978-0-313-31617-3.
^Minahan, James (2002).Encyclopedia of the stateless nations: ethnic and national groups around the world. Vol. 1. Westport: Greenwood Press. p. 443.ISBN978-0-313-31617-3.
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^Minahan, James (2002).Encyclopedia of the stateless nations: ethnic and national groups around the world. Vol. 4. Westport: Greenwood Press. p. 1928.ISBN978-0-313-31617-3.
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^Minahan, James (2002).Encyclopedia of the stateless nations: ethnic and national groups around the world. Vol. 2. Westport: Greenwood Press. p. 870.ISBN978-0-313-31617-3.
^Minahan, James (2002).Encyclopedia of the stateless nations: ethnic and national groups around the world. Vol. 3. Westport: Greenwood Press. p. 1219.ISBN978-0-313-31617-3.
^Minahan, James (2002).Encyclopedia of the stateless nations: ethnic and national groups around the world. Vol. 1. Westport: Greenwood Press. p. 163.ISBN978-0-313-31617-3.
^Minahan, James (2002).Encyclopedia of the stateless nations: ethnic and national groups around the world. Vol. 1. Westport: Greenwood Press. p. 436.ISBN978-0-313-31617-3.
^Minahan, James (2002).Encyclopedia of the stateless nations: ethnic and national groups around the world. Vol. 2. Westport: Greenwood Press. p. 618.ISBN978-0-313-31617-3.
^Minahan, James (2002).Encyclopedia of the stateless nations: ethnic and national groups around the world. Vol. 1. Westport: Greenwood Press. p. 211.ISBN978-0-313-31617-3.
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^Minahan, James (2002).Encyclopedia of the stateless nations: ethnic and national groups around the world. Vol. 3. Westport: Greenwood Press. p. 1457.ISBN978-0-313-31617-3.
^Minahan, James (2002).Encyclopedia of the stateless nations: ethnic and national groups around the world. Vol. 3. Westport: Greenwood Press. p. 1481.ISBN978-0-313-31617-3.
^Minahan, James (2002).Encyclopedia of the stateless nations: ethnic and national groups around the world. Vol. 3. Westport: Greenwood Press. p. 1486.ISBN978-0-313-31617-3.
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