State and Nation
By Prof. Jet T. Castillo
State and Nation
• For laymen, these 2 terms are synonymous.
• But for Contemporary World students, there is a big difference.
The State
• Definition of State
• a community of persons more or less numerous, permanently
occupying a definite portion of territory, possessing an organized
government to which the great body of the inhabitants render
habitual obedience, and free or nearly so from external control.
4 Elements of a State
• People
• Territory
• Government
• Sovereignty
People
• Mass of population living within the state.
• No people, no state
• Take the case of Antarctica
• Smallest state in terms of population – Vatican (900)
• Largest state in terms of population – China (2 billion)
• Philippine population as of 2020 – 109,581,078 million
Territory
• The land that the people occupy.
• No land, no state…even if there are people.
Territory
• Take the case of the Jews one century ago. They were
scattered all over the world.
• It was only in 1948 when the UN assigned a piece of land in
the Middle East to be the homeland of the Jews.
Territory
• Smallest state in terms of territory – Vatican (0.44 sq
kms) – Luneta is bigger
• Largest state in terms of territory – Canada (9.97 million
sq. kms.)
• Philippines – 300,000 sq kms.
Government
• The agency through which the will of the state is
expressed, formulated or carried out; usually named
after the name of the country.
• Example:
• Philippine Government
• US Government
Government
• The organization of leaders running the show.
• No government, no state….even if there are people and territory.
• Example: The Buko Boys, Sir Jet’s high school barkada.
• They are people, they have a territory (the school basketball court), but
they do not have a government.
Sovereignty
• Synonymous to freedom.
• No sovereignty, no state…even if there are people, territory, or government.
Sovereignty
• Examples of territories without sovereignty:
• Tibet
• Guam
2 Aspects of Sovereignty
Internal Sovereignty External Sovereignty
• When people obey their • Freedom from external control
government.
• Example: China is controlling
Tibet; therefore Tibet is not a
state.
• Example: USA is controlling
Guam; therefore Guam is not a
state.
Sovereignty also means independence
• When we were still a Spanish colony, we don’t have independence.
• Therefore, the Philippines was not yet a STATE at that time.
• Hong Kong isn’t independent. China governs it.
• Therefore, Hong Kong is not a STATE.
Review: The 4 Elements of the State
• People
• Territory
• Government
• Sovereignty
Questions
• Is California a state?
• Is Japan a state?
• Is Mamatid a state?
• Is MCL a state?
• Is Europe a state?
Nation
• Definition
• A group of people bound together by
common characteristics (like physical
attributes, language, origin, traditions), and
who believe that they are one and distinct
from others.
Nation
• Nation is different from State
• Nation is nation, even though they may not have territory,
government or sovereignty.
• Nation is synonymous to “people”
• The Filipino nation, the Filipino people
Examples of Nations
Japanese nation
• Common physical traits
• Common language
• Common traditions
• Belief that they are one (all Japanese are one)
• Belief that they are distinct from others (from the Chinese and
Koreans)
Think about this…
One state, one nation
• Thailand
• Japan
• Saudi Arabia
One state, many nations inside it
• The State of Israel
• Has the Jewish nation and the Palestinian nation inside its territory
One nation, many states
• The Korean nation
• 2 states- North Korea, South Korea
One nation, many states
• The Arab nation
• Several states – Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan
How about the Philippines?
Conclusion
• As students of the Contemporary World, one goal is to understand
what our nation and state is all about, and to do our part to
strengthen our dear Philippine state and Filipino nation.
