Ethnic group or nation that does not possess its own state From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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 sovereign state.[1] Use of the term implies that such ethnic groups have the right to self-determination, to establish an independent nation-state with its own government.[2][3] 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 a state are classified as fourth-world nations.[4][5][6] Some stateless nations have a history of statehood, while some were always stateless.
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History
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The term was coined in 1983 by political scientist Jacques Leruez in his book L'Écosse, une nation sans État about the position of Scotland within the United Kingdom. It was later adopted and popularized by Scottish scholars such as David McCrone, Michael Keating and T. M. Devine.[7]
Stateless nations can have large populations; for example, the Kurds have an estimated population of over 30 million people, which makes them one of the largest stateless nations.[10]
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Nation-states and nations without states
The symbiotic relationship between nations and states arose in Western Europe during the 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.[3] However, not all peoples within multi-cultural states consider themselves stateless nations. As not all states are nation states, there are ethnic groups who live in multinational states that are not considered "stateless nations".
Only a small fraction of the world's national groups have associated nation states; 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.[3]
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Consequences of colonialism and imperialism
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During the imperial and colonial era, powerful nations extended their influence outside their homeland; resulting in many colonized nations ceasing to be self-governing and being described as stateless nations thereafter.[11] Some nations have been victims of "carve-outs" that left their homeland divided among several countries. Even today, the colonial boundaries form modern national boundaries. These boundaries often differ from cultural boundaries which results in situations wherein people who speak the same language or 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).[12] 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.[13][14][15][16] 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 labor and natural resources.[17][18]
Nationalism and stateless nations
People with a common origin, history, language, culture, customs or religion can turn into a nation through the awakening of national consciousness.[19] A nation can exist without a state, as is exemplified by the stateless nations. Citizenship is not always the nationality of a person.[20] In a multinational state, different national identities can coexist or compete: for example, in BritainEnglish nationalism, Scottish nationalism, and Welsh nationalism exist and are held together by British nationalism.[21] Nationalism is often connected to separatism because a nation is considered to achieve completeness through its independence.[22]
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.[23][24][25][26] Stateless nations sometimes show solidarity with other stateless nations and maintain diplomatic relations.[27][28]
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List of stateless nations
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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.
The Sylheti people advocate for the recognition of Sylheti as a distinct language, separate from Bengali, and emphasize the preservation and promotion of their cultural and linguistic identity.
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.
Afrikaners are historically an ethno-racial group (although some today deracialize the identity to include Afrikaans-speaking Coloured people). Demand autonomy or total secession from South Africa. Historically occupied the Dutch Cape colony but did expand elsewhere into the once independent Boer republics.
Jumma is a term used to refer to the indigenous peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, such as the Chakma, Marma, Tripura, Rakhine, etc. These communities seek autonomy, with some even advocating for independence.
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 their indigeneity to the region.
The Urdu-speaking Biharis of Bangladesh, also known as "Stranded Pakistanis", are Muslims from Bihar who settled in what is now Bangladesh in 1947. Many of them seek recognition and autonomy.
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