Exercise 2: Sovereign Nations

1. What is a sovereign Nation

A sovereign nation is a country with a centralized government which controls power and governs

a well-defined size of territory. A sovereign government has a clear territory with a single

government which is recognized by the subjects within the territory (World Population Review

par. 1).Such states can enter into diplomatic, political or economic ties with other sovereign

countries.

2. How many sovereign nations are recognized as members by the United Nations

The United Nations recognizes 193 sovereign states as member nations.

3. How many sovereign nations are recognized by the US State Department?

The United States recognizes other nations through the State department. Currently the U.S.

State Department recognizes 195 sovereign nations worldwide (Wordatlas Par. 2).

4. Are the number of sovereign nations recognized by each (UN and US State Dept.) the

same

The number of sovereign nations recognized by the U.S. State Department differs from U.N.

by 2 states

5. Most criteria used to recognize states are the same except that U.S. state department

recognizes all U.N. member states including the observer states. The UN is not in itself a

government and cannot therefore grant sovereignty to a country but recognizes countries

recognized by at least one member state and which fulfils the characteristics of a

sovereign nation.
 Works Cited

Worldatlas https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/how-many-countries-does-the-united-

states-recognize.html

World Population Review

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/sovereign-nation wh