| abstract
| - A sovereign state is a political association with effective internal and external sovereignty over a geographic area and population which is not dependent on, or subject to any other power or state. While in abstract terms a sovereign state can exist without being recognized by other sovereign states, unrecognized states will often find it difficult to exercise full treaty-making powers and engage in diplomatic relations with other sovereign states.
- A sovereign state is a nonphysical juridical entity of the international legal system that is represented by a centralized government that has supreme independent authority over a geographic area. Sovereign states maintain a permanent population, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states. Its normally understood a sovereign state is neither dependent on nor subject to any other power or state. The word country is often used to refer to sovereign states, although it originally means a geographic region. Wales, England, and Scotland are examples of "countries" which are not states, since the state is the United Kingdom. The first states came into existence as people “gradually transferred their allegiance from an individual sovereign (emperor, king, duke, prince) to an intangible but territorial political entity, the State”.
- A sovereign state is any territory which has its own laws and is not subject to the laws that govern another territory. It is alternatively called a "country" or "nation", but sovereign state is used in most cases of the law to clearly deliniate territories with certain legal characteristics from those that do not share those characteristics. In addition, a sovereign state is not subject to the judgment of any court (either domestic or foreign) unless it specifically has given that court the ability to make judgments against it, either through statute or by voluntarily submitting to the jurisdiction of that court. For example, courts in the United States have made judgments against Iran, but the assets of Iran (even those in the United States) are not subject to seizure by any United States court. Sovereign states are also allowed to bestow citizenship on individuals as it sees fit. Some states bestow citizenship to anyone born within the territory (subject to a few exceptions), while others given citizenship to anyone born to a citizen no matter where the child is born. Similarly, some allow persons who were not born citizens to become citizens if they meet certain criteria (such as residency requirements), while it is difficult or impossible in other states to obtain citizenship if one is not born a citizen. Whether a particular territory is a sovereign state is made somewhat circular because it is largely dependent on whether other sovereign states recognize it as such. For example, although Taiwan clearly meets many of the criteria of a sovereign state, it is not always recognized as such by other sovereign states (who treat it as part of the People's Republic of China despite the fact that Chinese law has no application in Taiwan).
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