independence must be recognised by other countries i.e. diplomatic recognitionmust be granted. A state must also have an internal government and have thesupport of itspopulation.The largest country in the world is Russia, while the most populated isChina. There is no universal agreement on the number of countries in the worldsince a number of states have disputed sovereignty status. By an application oftheconstitutive theory of statehood, there are 206sovereign states; of which193 are members of the United Nations Organization (UNO), two have observerstatus at the UNO (the Holy See and Palestine), and 11 others are neither a

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membernorobserverattheUNO.Twoentities,TaiwanandKosovo,arerecognized by somebut not all members of the United Nations.The latestproclaimed stateis SouthSudansince2011.The degree of autonomy of non-sovereign countries varies widely. Someare possessions of sovereign states, as several states have overseas territories(such as French Polynesia or the British Virgin Islands), with citizenry at timesidenticalandattimesdistinctfromtheirown.Suchterritories,withtheexceptionofdistinctdependent territories, are usually listed togetherwith sovereign states on lists of countries, but may nonetheless be treated as aseparatecountryoforiginin international trade,asHong Kong is.A few states consist of a union of smaller polities, which are consideredcountries: The Kingdom of the Netherlands includes four separate countries:Netherlands, Aruba, Curacao, and Sent Maarten. The United Kingdom includesEngland,Scotland,WalesandNorthernIreland. The Kingdom ofDenmark includesthreeseparatecountries:Denmark,FaroeIslandsandGreenland.Several organizations seek to identify trends in order to produce countryclassifications.Countriesareoftendistinguishedasdevelopingcountriesordevelop countries. A developing country is a country with a less developedindustrialbaseandalowHumanDevelopmentIndex(HDI)relativetoothercountries.Adevelopedcountryisa sovereignstate thathasadevelopedeconomyandadvancedtechnologicalinfrastructurerelativetootherlessindustrialized nations.While the terms country, state, sovereign state, nation, and nation-state areoftenusedinterchangeably,there is adifference.Simplyput:

• 
  A state is a territory with its own institutions and populations.
  
• 
  A sovereign state is a state with its own institutions and populations that has a permanent population, territory, and government. It must also have the right and capacity to make treaties and other agreements with other states.
  
• 
  A nation is a large group of people who inhabit a specific territory and are connected by history, culture, or another commonality.
  
• 
  A nation-state is a cultural group (a nation) that is also a state (and may, in addition, be a sovereign state).
  

The word country can be used to mean the same thing as state, sovereignstate, or nation-state. It can also be used in a less political manner to refer to aregion or cultural area that has no governmental status. Examples include WineCountry (the grape-growing area of northern California) and Coal Country (the

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coal-mining regionofPennsylvania).State, nation, and country are all terms that describe groups of people wholive in the same place and have a great deal in common. But while states andsovereign states are political entities, nations and countries might or might notbe.Asovereignstate(sometimescalledanindependentstate)hasthefollowingqualities:

• 
  Space or territory that has internationally recognized boundaries.
  
• 
  People who live there on an ongoing basis.
  
• 
  Regulations governing foreign and domestic trade.
  
• 
  The ability to issue legal tender that is recognized across boundaries.
  
• 
  An internationally recognized government that provides public services
  

and police power and has the right to make treaties, wage war, and take otheractions onbehalf of itspeople.

• 
  Sovereignty, meaning that no other state should have power over the country's territory.
  

Many entities have geographical and cultural significance and many of thequalities of a sovereign state but are not independent sovereign states. Theseincludeterritories,non-sovereignstates,and nations.Territories of sovereign states are not sovereign states in their own right.Manyentitieshavemostofthemostqualitiesofsovereignstatesbutareofficially considered to be non-sovereign. Many have their own histories, andsome even have their own languages. Examples include: Hong Kong, Bermuda,Greenland, Puerto Rico, Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and England, whicharenon-sovereignpartsofthe United KingdomThe word state is also used to refer to geographic sections of sovereignstatesthathavetheirowngovernmentsbutaresubjecttoalargerfederalgovernment.The50United Statesarenon-sovereignstates.A capital is a city (area of a country, province, region, or state), which isregarded as enjoying primary status, usually but not always the seat of thegovernment. The capital is often the largest city of its constituent, though notalways. A capital or capital city is the municipality exercising primary status in acountry, state, province, or other administrative region, usually as its seat ofgovernment. A capital is a city that physically encompasses the government'soffices and meeting places; the status of the capital is often designated by its lawor constitution. In some jurisdictions, including several countries, the differentbranches of government are located in different settlements. In some cases, adistinction is made between the official capital and the seat of government,which isinanother place.Capital cities that also serve as the prime economic, population, cultural, orintellectualcentersofanation oranempirearesometimesreferredtoas primatecities.

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Foraexample:Athens,Bangkok, Brussels,Copenhagen,Cairo,London,MexicoCity,Paris,Lima,Seoul,andTokyo.InseveralEnglish-speakingstates,thetermscountytown andcountyseat arealsousedinlower subdivisions. Insomeunitary states,subnationalcapitals may be known as administrative centers. In the United Kingdom, thereare some historic county towns, which are often not the largest settlement withinthe county and often are no longer administrative centers, as many historicalcountiesarenowonlyceremonial,andadministrativeboundariesaredifferent.Acapitalcitynaturallyattractspoliticallymotivatedpeopleandthosewhoseskillsareneededforefficientadministration ofnationalorimperialgovernments,suchaslawyers, politicalscientists,bankers,journalists,andpolicymakers.

2. Decide if the following statements about the text are true or false:

1. 
   The main defining characteristic of a state is sovereignty.
   
2. 
   There are 193 sovereign states in the world.
   
3. 
   A developing country is a country that has a developed economy.
   
4. 
   There are 50 non-sovereign states in the United States of America.
   
5. 
   The status of the capital is designated by law or constitution.
   

2. Answer the following questions:

1. 
   What is a country?
   
2. 
   What are the main qualities of a sovereign state?
   
3. 
   What country is the most populated?
   
4. 
   What parts does the United Kingdom consist of?
   
5. 
   What functions do capital cities perform?
   

2. Complete the following statements using information from the text:

1. 
   The concept of a sovereign state is centered on …
   
2. 
   Territory and population are two …
   
3. 
   A developing country is a country …
   
4. 
   A nation is a large group of people who …
   
5. 
   A capital is a city, which …
   

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2. Summarize the key points of the text and retell it.

3. 
   Translate the text in a written form.
   

2. NATIONS AND NATIONALITIES

   1. 
      Answer the following questions:
      

1. 
   What country are you from?
   
2. 
   What is your nationality?
   
3. 
   What are the typical traits of your nation?
   

2. Read the text silently and then out aloud.

A nation is a stable community of people, formed on the basis of a commonlanguage, territory, history, ethnicity, or psychological make-up manifested in acommon culture. Some nations are ethnic groups and some are not (they aremulticultural). It is a cultural-political community that has become conscious ofits autonomy,unity,andparticularinterests.Anationisanimaginedcommunityinthesensethatthematerialconditions exist for imagining extended and shared connections. It is an abstractcommunity in the sense that it is objectively impersonal, even if each individualinthe nationexperienceshim orherself assubjectively partofanembodiedunity with others. For the most part, members of a nation remain strangers toeachother andwilllikelynevermeet.ThewordnationcamefromtheOldFrench word«nacion»–meaning«birth», «place of origin», which in turn originates from the Latin word «natio»literally meaning «birth». The word «nation» is sometimes used as synonym forastateoracountry.Thus,thephrase«nationsoftheworld»couldbereferringtothetop-levelgovernments(asinthenamefortheUnitedNationsOrganization),variouslargegeographicalterritories,orvariouslargeethnicgroupsof theplanet.Depending on the meaning of «nation» used, the term «nation state» couldbe used to distinguish larger states from small city-states, or could be used todistinguishmultinationalstatesfromthosewith asingleethnicgroup.Nations are culturally homogeneous groups of people who share a commonlanguage, institution, religion, and/or historical experience. Some nations aresovereignstates,butmanyarenot.Nations that hold territory but are not sovereign states include: The IndianNations of the United States, Bosnia (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Catalonia (innorthern Spain),Quebec, Corsica,Sicily,Tibet.In addition to nations that are non-sovereign states, it can be argued that

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