SOVEREIGNSTATE
Sovereign state
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. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states. It is also normally understood to be a state which is neither dependent on nor subject to any other power or state. The existence or disappearance of a state is a question of fact. While according to the declarative theory of state recognition a sovereign state can exist without being recognised by other ...The above text is a snippet from Wikipedia: Sovereign state
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.