A stateless nation is an ethnic group or nation that does not possess its own sovereign state.Dictionary Of Public Administration, U.C. Mandal, Sarup & Sons 2007, 505 p. 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. 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.David Newman, Boundaries, Territory and PostmodernityEthnic Minority Media: An International Perspective, Stephen Harold Riggins, 217p.Language in Geographic Context, Colin H. Williams, 39p. Some stateless nations have a history of statehood, while some were always stateless.
History 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.
Ethnicities described as stateless nations can be dispersed across a number of states (for example, the Yoruba people found in the African states of Nigeria, Benin and Togo) or from 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.Clark, Gregory, In fear of China, 1969, saying: "Tibet, although enjoying independence at certain periods of its history, had never been recognised by any single foreign power as an independent state. The closest it has ever come to such recognition was the British formula of 1943: suzerainty, combined with autonomy and the right to enter into diplomatic relations."
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.
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. 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.
Consequences of colonialism and imperialism
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.Redie Bereketeab, Self-Determination and Secession in Africa: The Post-Colonial State 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).Richard Devetak, Christopher W. Hughes, Routledge, 2007-12-18, The Globalization of Political Violence: Globalization's Shadow 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.Cultural Analysis: Towards Cross-cultural Understanding (2006), Hans Gullestrup, 130p.Ethnicity and Christian leadership in west African sub-region: proceedings of the conference of the fifteenth CIWA Theology Week held at the Catholic Institute of West Africa (2004), Port Harcourt, p.272Mussolini Warlord: Failed Dreams of Empire, 1940–1943 (2013), H. James Burgwyn, Chapter VEthnic Groups in Conflict (2009), Karl Cordell, Stefan Wolff 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.Donald L. Horowitz, Ethnic Groups in ConflictBruce E. Johansen, Resource Exploitation in Native North America: A Plague upon the Peoples
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.George W. White, Nationalism and Territory: Constructing Group Identity in Southeastern Europe A nation can exist without a state, as is exemplified by the stateless nations. Citizenship is not always the nationality of a person.Understanding National Identity by David McCrone, Frank Bechhofer, p.22 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.Unionist-Nationalism: Governing Urban Scotland, 1830–1860 by Graeme Morton, 1999 Nationalism is often connected to separatism because a nation is considered to achieve completeness through its independence.James Minahan, Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: A-C
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.Nationalism and Globalisation (2015), Stephen TierneyThe Tamil Genocide by Sri Lanka: The Global Failure to Protect Tamil Rights Under International Law, Francis Boyle, chapter self determination.Turmoil in the Middle East: Imperialism, War, and Political Instability (1999), Berch Berberoglu, 69p. Stateless nations sometimes show solidarity with other stateless nations and maintain diplomatic relations.The delegates were linked with the Scottish group 'SNP Friends of Catalonia', which itself had members recently visit the Catalan parliament in Barcelona in a show of solidarity to the country's hopes of self-determination. The Catalan President and the Head of the Corsican government meet in Barcelona. The meeting lasted more than two hours and focused on enhancing the cooperation between the two nations in a regional and European level.
List of stateless nations 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. PeopleFlagLanguagesLanguage familyPredominant religionPopulationContinentStatesHomelandIrredentist movementNotesTelugusTelugu languageDravidian languages Hinduism, Christianity, Islam95,000,000AsiaIndiaTelangana, Andhra PradeshTelangana movement, Dravida Nadu Form the largest ethnic group in the formerly-proposed Dravida Nadu state. Demanded the creation of the first linguistic state after independence as united Andhra Pradesh. Demand for separate statehood within India as part of the Telangana movement and autonomy for Rayalaseema.TamilsTamil languageDravidian languages Hinduism, Christianity, Islam80,000,000AsiaIndia, Sri LankaTamil Nadu, Tamil EelamTamil nationalism, Dravida Nadu, Tamil EelamHistorically ruled Tamilakam, the Jaffna Kingdom and the Vanni chieftaincies. Seeks more regional autonomy for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu or form a sovereign nation along with other South Indian states as Dravida Nadu. Demand for autonomy in the Northern and Eastern Provinces or total secession from Sri Lanka.Religious Nationalism: A Reference Handbook: A Reference Handbook, Atalia Omer, Jason A. Springs (2013)Oromo peopleOromoCushitic languagesChristian, Muslim, Waaqeffanna41,693,650AfricaEthiopia, KenyaOromiaOromo conflictKurdsKurdish languages, Arabic, Turkish, Persian Iranian languagesIslam (Sunni, Shia, Alevi), Zoroastrianism, Yarsanism, Yazidism36,000,000–46,000,000AsiaTurkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria (homeland), Germany (largest diaspora)KurdistanKurdish nationalism, Kurdish–Turkish conflict, Kurdish-Iranian conflict, Iraqi–Kurdish conflict, and Kurdish–Syrian conflict, 2017 Kurdistan Region independence referendumRegional autonomy achieved in Iraqi Kurdistan and Rojava. Data rough due to censuses not taking ethnicity in homeland countries.Yoruba peopleYoruba languageVolta–Congo languagesChristianity, Islam, Yoruba religion35,000,000John A. Shoup III, Ethnic Groups of Africa and the Middle East: An Encyclopedia 2011 p.237AfricaNigeria, Benin and Togo, GhanaYorubalandOodua Peoples CongressIgbo peopleIgbo, EnglishVolta–Congo languagesChristianity (primarily Roman Catholicism with significant Protestant minorities), Indigenous beliefs30,000,000James Minahan, Encyclopedia of Stateless Nations: Ethnic and National Groups around the World, 2nd Edition: Ethnic and National Groups around the World 2016 p.178AfricaNigeria (almost exclusively)IgbolandMovement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra, Indigenous People of BiafraAttempted secession from Nigeria in 1967 sparked the Nigerian Civil war.SikhsPunjabi, Dogri,KashmiriIndo-Aryan languages, Dardic languagesSikhism25,000,000–30,000,000 AsiaIndiaPunjabKhalistan movementSeeks greater regional autonomy for the Sikhs of Punjab or total secession from India. Sikh nationalism.OccitansOccitan, French, Italian, SpanishRomance languagesRoman Catholicism16,000,000EuropeFrance, Monaco, Italy and Spain (Val d'Aran)OccitaniaOccitan nationalism (Occitan Party, Partit de la Nacion Occitana, Libertat)Seek self-determination, greater autonomy or total secession from France.Savoyard peopleSavoyard, Arpitan, French, Italian, GermanRomance languages