Stateless nation

This article is about a nation lacking a nation state. For a community lacking a government, see stateless society. For persons lacking state affiliation, see statelessness.

A stateless nation is an ethnic group or nation that does not possess its own state and is not the majority population in any nation state. The term "stateless" implies that the group "should have" such a state (country). Members of stateless nations may be citizens of the country in which they live, or they may be denied citizenship by that country. Stateless nations are usually not represented in international sports or in international organisations such as the United Nations. Nations without state are classified as fourth-world nations. Some of the stateless nations have a history of statehood, some were always a stateless nation, dominated by another nation.

The term was coined in 1983 by political scientist Jacques Leruez in his book L'Écosse, une nation sans État about the peculiar position of Scotland within the British state. It was later adopted and popularized by Scottish scholars such as David McCrone, Michael Keating and T. M. Devine.

Stateless nations either are dispersed across a number of states (for example, the Yakthung Limbu People residing in east of Nepal, includes (Sikkim and Darjeeling) India and north-western part of Bangladesh as the Yakthung Limbuwan nation and Yoruba people are found in the African states of Nigeria, Benin and Togo) or form the native population of a province within a larger state (such as the Uyghur people in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region within the People's Republic of China). Some stateless nations historically had a state, which was absorbed by another; for example, Tibet's declaration of independence in 1913 was not recognized, and it was reunited in 1951 by the People's Republic of China which claims that Tibet is an integral part of China, while the Tibetan government-in-exile maintains that Tibet is an independent state under an unlawful occupation. Some ethnic groups were once a stateless nation that later became a nation state (for example, the nations of the Balkans such as the Croats, Serbs, Bosniaks, Slovenes, Montenegrins and Macedonians were once part of a multinational state of Yugoslavia; since the breakup of Yugoslavia many nation states were formed).

Stateless nations can have large populations; for example the Kurds have an estimated population of over 30 million people, which make them one of the largest stateless nations. Multiple stateless nations can reside in the same geographical region or country; for example, the Tuareg, Toubou, Rifians, Kabyle in North Africa, Chin, Kachin, Karen, Mon, Rakhine, Rohingya and Shan in Myanmar, or Galicians, Cantabrians, Asturians, Aragonese, Basques, Catalans, Valencians and Andalusians in Spain.

Nation-states and nations without states

The symbiotic relationship between nations and states arose in early modern Western Europe (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. However, not all peoples within multi-cultural states have the same awareness of being a stateless nation. As not all states are nation states, there are ethnic groups who live in multinational states without being considered "stateless nations".

Only a small fraction of the world's national groups have associated nation-states. The proportion was estimated to be 3 percent by Minahan. The rest are distributed in one or more states. While there are over 3000 estimated nations in the world, there were only 193 member states of the United 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.

Consequences of colonialism and imperialism

During the imperial and colonial era, powerful nations extended their influence outside their homeland and this resulted in many colonized nations ceasing to be self-governing and have since been described as stateless nations. Some nations have been victims of "carve-outs" thst left their homeland divided among several countries. Even today, the colonial boundaries form modern national boundaries. These boundaries often differ from cultural boundaries. This results in situations in which people who speak the same language or people who have the same culture are divided by national borders, for example, New Guinea is split into the regions of West Papua (a former Dutch colony) and Papua New Guinea (a former Australian colony). During decolonization, the colonial powers imposed a unified state structure irrespective of the ethnic differences and granted independence to their colonies as a multinational state. This led to successor states with many minority ethnic groups in them, which increased the potential for ethnic conflicts. Some of these minority groups campaigned for self-determination. Stateless nations were not protected in all countries and as a result, they became victims of atrocities such as discrimination, ethnic cleansing, genocide, forced assimilation, and the Exploitation of labour and natural resources.

Nationalism and stateless nations

People with a common origin, history, language, culture, customs or religion can turn into a nation by awakening of national consciousness. A nation can exist without a state, as is exemplified by the stateless nations. Citizenship is not always the nationality of a person. In a multinational state different national identities can coexist or compete: for example, in Britain English nationalism, Scottish nationalism and Welsh nationalism exist and are held together by British nationalism. Nationalism is often connected to separatism, because a nation achieves completeness through its independence.

Throughout history, numerous nations declared 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 to self-determination is often denied due to geopolitical interests and increasing globalization of the world. Stateless nations sometimes show solidarity with other stateless nations and maintain diplomatic relations.

Unionism vs separatism

Not all ethnic groups claim to be a nation or aspire to be a separate state. Some of them see themselves as part of the multinational state and they believe that their interests are well represented in it. The favoring of a united single state is also associated with unionism (Pakistani nationalism, Indian nationalism, Indonesian nationalism, Chinese nationalism, British nationalism, Spanish nationalism, Russian nationalism). In many countries, unionism is also encouraged by governments and separatism is considered illegal.

Claims by stateless nations and ethnic groups with autonomous status

The following is a list of ethnic and national groups where there exist notable independence movements as evidenced by standalone Wikipedia articles.

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.

People	Flag	Languages	Language family	Predominant religion	Population	Continent	States	Homeland	Irredentist movement	Notes
Tamils		Tamil language	Dravidian languages	Hinduism (mostly Shaivism)	78,000,000	Asia	India, Sri Lanka	Tamil Nadu, Tamil Eelam	Tamil nationalism, Greater Tamil Nadu, TNRT, Tamil Nadu Liberation Army, Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism, LTTE, Sri Lankan Civil War, TGTE, Vaddukoddai Resolution	Historically ruled Tamilakam and parts of Sri Lanka. Seeks more regional autonomy for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu or form a sovereign nation as Dravida Nadu. Demand autonomy in North Eastern Province or total secession from Sri Lanka.
Pashtuns		Pashto language	Iranian languages	Islam (Sunni, Shia)	c. 42–50 million	Asia	Pakistan, Afghanistan	Pashtunistan	Pashtun nationalism
Kurds		Kurdish languages, (originally) Arabic, Turkish, Persian (assimilation)	Iranian languages	Islam (Sunni, Shia, Alevi), Zoroastrianism, Yarsanism, Yazdânism	30,000,000–45,000,000	Asia	Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria (homeland), Germany (largest diaspora)	Kurdistan	Kurdish nationalism, Kurdish–Turkish conflict, Kurdish-Iranian conflict, Iraqi–Kurdish conflict, and Kurdish–Syrian conflict, 2017 Kurdistan Region independence referendum	Regional autonomy achieved in Iraqi Kurdistan and Rojava. Data rough due to censuses not taking ethnicity in homeland countries.
Yoruba people		Yoruba language	Volta-Congo languages	Christianity, Islam, Yoruba religion	35,000,000	Africa	Nigeria, Benin and Togo, Ghana	Yorubaland	Oodua Peoples Congress
Oromo people		Oromo	Cushitic languages	Christian, Muslim, Waaqeffanna	41,693,650	Africa	Ethiopia, Kenya	Oromia	Oromo conflict
Igbo people		Igbo, English	Volta-Congo languages	Christianity (primarily Roman Catholicism with significant Protestant minorities), Indigenous beliefs	30,000,000	Africa	Nigeria (almost exclusively)	Igboland	Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra, Indigenous People of Biafra	Attempted secession from Nigeria in 1967 sparked the Nigerian Civil war
Occitan people		Occitan, French, Italian, Spanish	Romance languages	Roman Catholicism	16,000,000	Europe	France, Monaco, Italy and Spain (Val d'Aran)	Occitania	Occitan nationalism (Occitan Party, Partit de la Nacion Occitana, Libertat)	Seek self-determination, greater autonomy or total secession from France.
Assamese people		Assamese language	Indo-Aryan languages	Hinduism	15,000,000	Asia	India	Assam	Assam separatist movements, ULFA Insurgency in Northeast India	Seeks greater regional autonomy for natives of Assam or total secession from India.
Uyghur people		Uyghur language	Turkic languages	Sunni Islam	15,000,000	Asia	China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan	East Turkestan (Uyghuristan)	Irredentism is politically fragmented (East Turkestan Liberation Organization, East Turkestan independence movement)	Limited autonomy in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
Zulu people		Zulu language	Volta-Congo languages	Christianity, Zulu religion	12,159,000	Africa	South Africa, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Eswatini	KwaZulu-Natal	Inkatha Freedom Party	Limited autonomy in the KwaZulu-Natal region, which maintains a traditional Zulu king.
Kongo people		Kongo language, Lingala, Portuguese, French	Volta-Congo languages	Christianity (Catholicism and Protestantism), African Traditional Religion	10,000,000	Africa	Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Angola	Kongo	Kongo nationalism, Bundu dia Kongo	Historically occupied the independent Kingdom of Kongo.
Hazaras		Hazaragi dialect of Persian Language	Iranian Languages	Islam mostly Shia	10,000,000-14,000,000	Asia	Afghanistan	Hazaristan	Persecution of Hazaras	No movement
Baloch people		Balochi	Iranian languages	Sunni Islam	10,000,000	Asia	Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan(homeland), UAE (diaspora)	Balochistan	Balochistan conflict, Baloch nationalism	Seeks total independence from Pakistan.
Kabyle people		Kabyle language, Algerian Arabic	Berber languages	Islam	4,000,000	Africa	Algeria	Kabylie	Movement for the Autonomy of Kabylie, Provisional Government of Kabylia
Ahwazi Arabs		Arabic, Persian (assimilation)	Semitic languages	Shia Islam	1,320,000	Asia	Iran	Al Ahwaz	Arab separatism in Khuzestan Democratic Solidarity Party of Ahwaz	Ahwazi includes 30 tribes which see themselves as a distinct Arab nation. Seek self-determination, greater autonomy or total secession from Iran.
Andalusians		Andalusian Spanish, English (in Gibraltar)	Romance languages	Christianity (Roman Catholicism)	9,500,000	Europe	Spain, Gibraltar	Andalusia	Andalusian nationalism	See also Nationalisms and regionalisms of Spain.
Catalans		Catalan, Spanish, Occitan, French, Italian	Romance languages	Roman Catholicism, Agnosticism	8,500,000	Europe	Spain, Italy, Andorra and France	Catalan Countries	Catalan independence movement, Catalan nationalism	See also Nationalisms and regionalisms of Spain.
Québécois		French	Romance languages	Christianity (Roman Catholicism)	8,215,000	America	Canada	Quebec	Quebec sovereignty movement, Quebec nationalism	The total population of the Province of Quebec is 8.2 million, of which over 80% are French speakers.
Mon people		Mon language	Monic languages	Buddhism	8,145,500	Asia	Myanmar, Thailand	Mon State	Mon Nationalism, Mon National Party, All Mon Region Democracy Party	Historically occupied the Mon kingdoms
Hongkongers		Hong Kong Cantonese, Hong Kong English	Cantonese	Christianity (Protestantism and Roman Catholicism), Buddhism, Chinese folk religion, Taoism, Islam	7,498,100	Asia	China	Hong Kong	Hong Kong independence movement	Limited autonomy in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
Circassians		Circassian language, Russian	Circassian languages	Islam	5,000,000	Europe	Russia	Circassia	Russo-Circassian War, Circassian nationalism	Majority of the Circassians were destroyed by Russia in the Circassian genocide
Karen people		S'gaw Karen language	Karenic languages	Christianity, Theravada Buddhism	7,000,000	Asia	Myanmar, Thailand	Kawthoolei	Karen nationalism, Karen National Union, Karen National Liberation Army
Maya peoples		Mayan languages	Mayan languages	Christianity (Catholicism), Maya religion	7,000,000	America	Guatemala, Mexico, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador	Mesoamerica	Pan-Maya movement, Rigoberta Menchú, Zapatista Army of National Liberation	Historically occupied the Maya civilization
Veneto		Venetian language	Romance languages	Catholicism	5,000,000 (est.)	Europe	Italy	Veneto	Venetian nationalism	Many groups seek for total independence from Italy, while some just want more autonomy and recognition of Venetian language and people. Historically occupied the independent Republic of Venice.
Tibetan people		Tibetan language, Chinese language	Sino-Tibetan languages	Buddhism	7,000,000	Asia	China, India, Nepal	Tibet	Tibetan independence movement	Limited autonomy in the Tibet Autonomous Region. Historically occupied the Tibetan Empire.
Riffian people		Riffian language, Arabic	Afroasiatic	Islam	6,000,000	Africa	Morocco and Spain	Rif	Rif War, Rif Republic	95% of the land is controlled by Morocco with the rest being controlled by the Spanish territories of Ceuta and Melilla as autonomous cities.
Shan people		Shan language, Thai	Kra-Dai	Buddhism	6,000,000	Asia	Myanmar	Shan State	Shan State Army, Declaration of independence in 2005; see also Hso Khan Pha	Historically occupied the Shan states.
Kashmiri people		Kashmiri language	Indo-Aryan languages	Islam	5,600,000	Asia	India, Pakistan and China	Kashmir	Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir	Administered by India (Kashmir Valley, Jammu, Ladakh), Pakistan (Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan) and China (Aksai Chin).
Valencians		Catalan, Spanish	Romance languages	Roman Catholicism	5,111,706	Europe	Spain	Valencian Community	Valencian nationalism	See also Nationalisms and regionalisms of Spain.
Moro people		Filipino language, other Philippine languages		Islam	5,100,000	Asia	Philippines	Muslim Mindanao	Moro autonomy	The Moro people of Muslim Mindanao has since been granted autonomy as the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region with the adoption of the Bangsamoro Organic Law.
Kuki-Mizo-Zo-Chin people		Kuki-Chin languages		Christianity	5,000,000	Asia	Myanmar, Bangladesh, India	Mizoram, Zogam and Chin State	Mizo National Front, Chin National Front, Kuki National Army, Zomi Revolutionary Army, Zomi nationalism	Kuki-Mizo-Zo-Chin are an ethnic group known by different names and speak different dialects.
Sicilians		Sicilian, Italian, Gallo-Italic of Sicily, Arbëresh	Romance languages	Christianity (Roman Catholicism)	5,000,000 (only Sicily)	Europe	Italy	Sicily	Sicilian nationalism	Regional autonomy in Sicily.
Bretons		Breton, Gallo, French,	Celtic languages	Roman Catholicism	4,800,000	Europe	France	Brittany	Breton nationalism	Seek self-determination, greater autonomy or total secession from France.
Hmong people		Hmong language	Hmong-Mien Languages	Animism	4,000,000	Asia	Laos, China, Vietnam, Myanmar and Thailand	Hmong ChaoFa Federated State	Insurgency in Laos
Rohingya people		Rohingya language		Islam	3,600,000	Asia	Myanmar	Rohang State	Rohingya conflict	The Rohingyas are not recognized as a native ethnic group by Burmese government.
Afrikaners		Afrikaans		Christianity (mainly Protestantism)	3,500,000	Africa	South Africa and Namibia	Volkstaat	Afrikaner Nationalism, Freedom Front	Afrikaners are an Ethno-racial group. Demand autonomy or total secession from South Africa.
Assyrians		Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, Turoyo, Chaldean Neo-Aramaic	Semitic languages	Christianity (Chaldean Catholicism Syriac Christianity)	3,300,000	Asia	Syria, Iraq, Iran and Turkey	Assyria, Beth Nahrain (Mesopotamia)	Assyrian nationalism, Assyrian independence movement	Historically occupied the Assyrian empire.
Basque people		Basque, French, Spanish	Language isolate	Christianity (Roman Catholicism)	3,000,000	Europe	France and Spain	Basque Country	Basque nationalism	See also Nationalisms and regionalisms of Spain.
Iraqi Turkmen people		Turkish language, Azerbaijani language		Islam	3,000,000	Asia	Iraq	Turkmeneli	Iraqi Turkmen Front	Not to be confused with Syrian Turkmen of Latakia or Central Asian Turkmens of Turkmenistan who share only their ethnonym.
Welsh people		Welsh, English	Celtic languages	Christianity (Protestantism, Catholic minority)	3,000,000	Europe	United Kingdom	Wales	Welsh independence, Welsh nationalism, Meibion Glyndŵr, Plaid Cymru	Regional autonomy in Wales. Historically occupied the independent kingdoms of Wales (Gwynedd, Powys, Dyfed, Seisyllwg, Morgannwg and Gwent).
Galician people		Galician language, Spanish	Romance languages	Christianity (Roman Catholicism)	2,800,000	Europe	Spain	Galicia	Galician nationalism and Galician Regionalism	See also Nationalisms and regionalisms of Spain. Historically occupied the Kingdom of Galicia.
Kachin people		Jingpo, Zaiwa, Maru, Lashi, Azi		Buddhism, Christianity, Animism	2,750,000 (2002)	Asia	Myanmar	Kachin State	Kachin Independence Army, Kachin Independence Organisation, Kachin conflict	The tribes of Kachin Hills form the Kachin Nation.
Aragonese people		Aragonese language, Spanish	Romance languages	Christianity (Roman Catholicism)	2,278,000 (Spain only)	Europe	Spain	Aragon	Aragonese nationalism	See also Nationalisms and regionalisms of Spain. Historically occupied the Kingdom of Aragon.
Meitei people		Meitei language	Sino-Tibetan languages	Hinduism	2,500,000	Asia	India	Imphal Valley, Manipur	UNLF, PLA, Insurgency in Manipur, Anglo-Manipur War	Historically occupied the Kingdom of Manipur.
Chechen people		Chechen language, Russian		Islam	2,000,000	Europe	Russia	Chechnya	Chechen insurgency, Chechen Republic of Ichkeria	Regional autonomy in Chechnya.
Naga people		Tibeto-Burman dialects / Nagamese creole		Christianity	2,000,000	Asia	India	Nagaland	Naga National Council, Insurgency in Northeast India	Seeks greater regional autonomy or complete separatation from India.
Sardinian people		Sardinian, Corso-Sardinian, Italian, Catalan, Ligurian	Romance languages	Christianity (Roman Catholicism)	1,661,521	Europe	Italy	Sardinia	Sardinian nationalism	National devolution, further autonomy or total secession from Italy.
Ryukyuan people		Ryukyuan, Japanese		Buddhism	1,600,000	Asia	Japan	Ryukyu Islands	Ryukyu independence movement	Historically occupied the Ryukyu Kingdom.
Frisians		Frisian, Dutch, German, Danish		Christianity (Protestantism and Roman Catholicism)	1,500,000	Europe	Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany	Frisia	Frisian National Party, Groep fan Auwerk	The creation of a new Frisian state. Historically occupied the Frisian Kingdom.
Friuli		Friulian	Romance languages	Catholicism	2,000,000 (est.)	Europe	Italy	Friuli	Friuli Movement	Friuli is an autonomous region of Italy, but there are also other views as to what status it should have.
Tuareg people		Tuareg language		Islam	1,200,000	Africa	Mali and Niger	Azawad	National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad, Tuareg rebellion (2012), Northern Mali conflict	National devolution, further autonomy or total secession from Mali.
Mapuche		Mapudungun		Christianity (Roman Catholicism)	1,000,000	America	Argentina and Chile	Wallmapu	Mapuche conflict
Asturian people		Asturian language, Spanish	Romance languages	Christianity (Roman Catholicism)	1,925,000 (2020)	Europe	Spain and Portugal	Asturias	Asturian nationalism	See also Nationalisms and regionalisms of Spain.
Lezgins		Lezgian		Islam	800,000+	Europe	Russia, Azerbaijan	Lezgistan	Lezgin Nationalism	Unification of the Lezgin people in Azerbaijan and Dagestan (Russia).
Fur people		Fur, Arabic		Islam	800,000	Africa	Sudan	Dafur	War in Darfur, SLM/A	Historically occupied the Sultanate of Darfur.
Māori people		Māori, English		Christianity with native	750,000	Oceania	New Zealand	New Zealand	Māori protest movement
Macanese		Macanese Cantonese, Macanese Portuguese	Cantonese	Chinese folk religion, Taoism, Buddhism, Christianity (Roman Catholicism and Protestantism)	678,800	Asia	China	Macau	Macau independence movement	Limited autonomy in the Macau Special Administrative Region.
Karakalpaks		Karakalpak language		Islam	620,000	Asia	Uzbekistan	Karakalpakstan	Karakalpak Nationalism	Regional autonomy in Karakalpakstan
Hawaiian people		Hawaiian language		Christianity (Catholicism and Protestantism) with native	527,000	Oceania	United States	Hawaii	Hawaiian sovereignty movement	Historically occupied the Kingdom of Hawaii.
Moravians		Czech (Moravian), Slovak		Traditionally Roman Catholicism presently Irreligion	525,000	Europe	Czech Republic and Slovakia	Moravia	Moravians	Historically occupied Great Moravia
Ogoni people		Ogoni language		Christianity with native	500,000	Africa	Nigeria	Ogoniland	Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People
Crimean Tatars		Crimean Tatar, Russian, Ukrainian		Islam	500,000	Europe	Ukraine	Crimea	Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People Tatars in Republic of Crimea Deportation of the Crimean Tatars	Previously an autonomous republic within Ukraine, after being invaded and annexed by Russia in 2014 the Crimean Tatars are currently seeking autonomy
Sahrawi people		Hassaniya Arabic (native), Berber languages (native), Modern Standard Arabic (written only), and Spanish (lingua franca)		Islam (Sunni Islam (Maliki), Sufism)	500,000	Africa	Morocco, Algeria, Mauretania	Western Sahara	Western Sahara conflict, Polisario Front, Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic	partially controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and partially Moroccan-occupied
Chams		Cham language		Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism	400,000	Asia	Vietnam	South Central Coast	United Front for the Liberation of Oppressed Races, Cham rights movement	Historically occupied the Kingdom of Champa. The Cham in Vietnam are only recognized as a minority, and not as an indigenous people by the Vietnamese government despite being indigenous to the region.
Corsican people		Corsican, French, Ligurian, Italian	Romance languages	Christianity (Roman Catholicism	322,120	Europe	France	Corsica	Corsica Libera	Territorial collectivity in France.
Navajo		Navajo language, Navajo language, Navajo Sign Language		Navajo Traditional, Christianity (principally Roman Catholicism)	300,460	America	United States	Navajo Nation	Navajo Wars	Regional autonomy on the Navajo Nation.
Lakota people		Lakota, English		Christianity with native	170,000	America	United States	Lakotah	Sioux Wars, Lakota Freedom Movement	Native American reservation politics.
Sami people		Sami languages, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Russian		Christianity (principally Lutheran), Animism	Estimated 80,000	Europe	Finland, Norway, Russia and Sweden	Sapmi	Sámi politics	Have their own Parliaments in Norway, Sweden & Finland but Sami groups seek more territorial autonomy.
Inuit		Inuit languages, Danish, English, Russian		Christianity with native	135,991	America	Canada, United States and Denmark	Alaska, Northern Canada and Greenland	Greenland Referendum	Semi-autonomous rule in Greenland with autonomy within the Kingdom of Denmark.
Yupik peoples		Yupik languages, English, Russian		Christianity with native	35,567 (est.)	Asia and America	Russia and the United States	Siberia and Alaska	Calista Corporation, Bristol Bay Native Corporation
Pamiris		Pamir languages		Islam	135,000	Asia	Tajikistan	Badakhshan	Pamiri nationalism, Lali Badakhshan party, Tajikistani Civil War	Regional autonomy in Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region
Faroese people		Faroese language, Danish		Christianity (principally Lutheran)	66,000	Europe	Denmark	Faroe Islands	Faroese independence movement	Regional autonomy in Faroe Islands.
Sorbs		Sorbian language, German		Christianity (Roman Catholicism)	60,000–70,000 (est.)	Europe	Germany	Lusatia	Domowina	Divided into Upper Sorbs and Lower Sorbs.

Formerly stateless nations

Some stateless nations have achieved their own independent state. Examples include Greeks before the Greek War of Independence and Irish people before the Irish War of Independence and Bengalis before the Bangladesh Liberation War.

Some would include the Jews until the 1948 Israeli declaration of independence, however others would point out that different groups of Jews have very different characteristics such as languages, cultures, and territories, rendering the idea that all Jews constitute a single nation questionable.

During the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the breakup of Yugoslavia, several ethnic groups gained their own sovereign state.

See also

• Diaspora
• Ethnic nationalism
• European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages
• Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities
• List of active autonomist and secessionist movements
• List of federally recognized tribes
• List of First Nations peoples
• List of unrecognized tribes in the United States
• Multinational state
• Non-FIFA international football
• Self-determination
• Sovereignty
• Stateless person
• Stateless society
• Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization

Sources

• Keating, Michael (2001), Nations Against the State: The New Politics of Nationalism in Quebec, Catalonia and Scotland (Second ed.), Palgrave
• Levinson, David, ed. (1998), Ethnic Groups Worldwide: A Ready Reference Handbook, Phoenix, AZ: The Oryx Press, ISBN 978-1-57356-019-1
• Minahan, James, ed. (2002), Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: Ethnic and National Groups Around the World, Westport: Greenwood Press, ISBN 978-0-313-31617-3, archived from the original on 2010-08-03, retrieved 2008-07-30
• Bodlore-Penlaez, Mikael, ed. (2011), Atlas of Stateless Nations in Europe, minority peoples in search of recognition, Ceredigion: Y Lolfa, ISBN 978-1-84771-379-7
• Duany, Jorge (2008). "Nation on the move: the construction of cultural identities in Puerto Rico and the diaspora". American Ethnologist. 27 (1). Wiley: 5–30. doi:10.1525/ae.2000.27.1.5. ISSN 0094-0496.

External links

• Map of European Stateless Nations, published by the advocacy group Eurominority
• United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities