A nation-state is the textbook ideal, but it is rare. Most states hold several nations, and many nations spill across borders. Geographers have names for each way the two can fail to match.
Key idea
A multinational state contains two or more nations (the United Kingdom, Belgium, Russia). A multistate nation is one nation living in two or more states (Koreans in North and South Korea). A stateless nation has no state of its own (the Kurds).
| Pattern | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Multinational state | One state, several nations | The United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland); Belgium (Flemish and Walloons); Switzerland (four national languages); Russia, India and Nigeria (many peoples) |
| Multistate nation | One nation, several states | Koreans in North Korea and South Korea; Hungarian communities in Hungary and its neighbors |
| Stateless nation | A nation with no state | The Kurds; the Basques of Spain and France; the Roma of Europe |
Why it works
Borders were drawn by empires, wars and treaties, often long before anyone asked which people lived where. When the Ottoman Empire broke up after World War I, the new borders divided the Kurds' homeland among several states. Today an estimated 30 to 40 million Kurds live mostly in Türkiye, Iraq, Iran and Syria, which makes them one of the largest nations without a state. Estimates vary because several of these countries do not count people by ethnic group.
Worked example: Classify Belgium
Belgium has Dutch-speaking Flemish people in the north and French-speaking Walloons in the south, under one national government. Which pattern is it?
- Count the states: one, Belgium.
- Count the nations: at least two, the Flemish and the Walloons.
- One state with several nations is a multinational state.
Answer: A multinational state.
Worked example: Classify the Koreans
Most Koreans share a language and history, but since 1948 they have lived in two states, North Korea and South Korea. Which pattern is it?
- Count the nations: one, the Koreans.
- Count the states: two.
- One nation in two or more states is a multistate nation.
Answer: A multistate nation.
Common mistake
Assuming most countries are nation-states. Few states are made of a single nation; most hold several peoples, and many people live in a state named for a different group. Ask two questions every time: how many states? and how many nations?
A people can belong to more than one level at once: a person can feel Scottish and British, or Catalan and Spanish. Geographers describe these identities; they do not rank them.