what is the difference between a nation and a state?

Answer 1

A nation is a people but they do not necessarily have their own country - the Palestinians, Kurds and Chechens are a nation (and soem Quebecers like to pretend they are). A state is a political unit which may include more than one nation. For most of European history the German and Italian nations in particular were split up into many small states before being united in the 1860s and 1870s. Koreans consider themselves one nation but they have two states.

Answer 2

A nation is a group of people sharing nationality.

I think what you really want to know is the difference between a country and a state, which I'm not quite sure of. A state can be part of a bigger country (e.g. United States of America). As far as most other countries go, they are both states and countries. It is possible that they are supposed to be the same, but in America all the states united, creating the USA.

Answer 3

A nation is primarily the people under one government;" a state is an independent nation." The words are often interchanged,but nation stresses ethnic unity,while state stresses political autonomy." We may speak of the many nations that made up the ancient Roman state."

Answer 4

One of the most influential doctrines in history is that all humans are divided into groups called nations. It is an ethical and philosophical doctrine in itself, and is the starting point for the ideology of nationalism. The nationals are the members of the "nation" and are distinguished by a common identity, and almost always by a common origin, in the sense of ancestry, parentage or descent.

A state is a set of institutions that possess the authority to make the rules that govern the people in one or more societies, having internal and external sovereignty over a definite territory. Following Max Weber's influential definition, a state has a 'monopoly on legitimate violence'. Hence the state includes such institutions as the armed forces, civil service or state bureaucracy, courts, and police. For theorists of international relations, recognition of the state's claim to independence by other states, enabling it to enter into international engagements, is key to the establishment of its sovereignty.

Within a federal system, the term state also refers to political units, not sovereign themselves, but subject to the authority of the larger state, or federal union, such as the "states" in the United States and the Länder.

In casual usage, the terms "country," "nation," and "state" are often used as if they were synonymous; but in a more strict usage they are distinguished:

country is the geographical area
nation designates a people, however national and international both confusingly refer as well to matters pertaining to what are strictly states, as in national capital, international law
state refers to set of governing institutions with sovereignty over a definite territory

Answer 5

A nation is a group of people with the same ideologies, culture and sililiar society structures, a state is a polictical division of land with boundaries, take the Kurdish nation, but they have no state.

Answer 6

Nation represents the people, the state the political apparatus which maintains a particular area.

Answer 7

It's the same difference as between nationality and citizenship.
For example my nationality in Hungarian (because I belong to the Hungarian minority in Romania), but I am Romanian citizen.
Or: US citizens can be of different nationalities: Spanish, Italian, Mexican, German, and many others...and their mother tongue is not English....but they are all citizens of the US!
At least I think it is so....

Answer 8

Just look at Britain and you will see! Before 'Teflon Tone' came to power we were a nation......now we are a state!......as in a Terrible State!!!!!

Answer 9

NATION IS A WHOLE COUNTRY, STATE IS PART OF DIVISION OF A COUNTRY.

Answer 10

The tax rates.