Stateless Nation

A Stateless Nation is a sociopolitical group that identifies as a distinct nation but does not possess its own sovereign state.

• Context:
  • It can (typically) encompass Ethnic Groups or Cultural Identities that maintain a common natural language, cultular traditions, or historical heritage.
  • It can (often) arise from historical circumstances such as Colonialism, Group Conflicts, or Diaspora.
  • It can range from having substantial Autonomous Control within another state to having little or no recognition.
  • It can seek International Recognition, Self-Determination, or Greater Autonomy through peaceful means or Political Activism.
  • It can be represented by organizations or movements that aim to promote its cultural, political, and economic interests.
  • ...
• Example(s):
  • the Kurds who live across Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria, often seeking greater autonomy or an independent state to represent their distinct identity.
  • the Palestinians who have been in conflict over territorial rights and national recognition in the region historically known as Palestine.
  • ...
• Counter-Example(s):
  • Sovereign Nations, which have their own defined territory and internationally recognized government.
  • ...
• See: Self-Determination, Nationalism, Minority Group, Ethnic Conflict.

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References

2024

• GPT-4
  • NOTES

No.	Stateless Nation / Ethnic Group	Population Estimate	Structural Oppression Period	Power Dynamics	Competing Claims	International Attention
1	Kurds	Approximately 30-35 million	Ongoing	Dominant states vs. Kurdish autonomy movements	Land and cultural rights	High, especially in conflicts in Syria and Turkey
2	Balochis	Around 10 million	Ongoing	Pakistani and Iranian governments vs. Baloch nationalists	Autonomy and resource control	Moderate
3	Tibetans	About 6 million	Since 1950	Chinese government vs. Tibetan cultural and religious identity	Sovereignty and Cultural preservation	High
4	Uighurs	Approximately 11 million	Ongoing	Chinese government vs. Uighur ethnic and religious identity	Cultural and religious rights	High
5	Palestinians	Around 13 million	Ongoing	Israeli state vs. Palestinian sovereignty	Land and national identity	Very high
6	Catalans	About 7.5 million	Intermittent	Spanish government vs. Catalan independence movements	Autonomy and cultural rights	High
7	Basques	Around 2.8 million	Intermittent	Spanish and French governments vs. Basque separatists	Autonomy and cultural rights	Moderate
8	Sikhs (Punjab)	Approximately 25-30 million worldwide, with concentrated populations in Indian Punjab	1980s-1990s	Indian government vs. Sikh separatists	Autonomy and Religious rights	Moderate
9	Tamils (Sri Lankan)	About 3.2 million	1983-2009	Sri Lankan government vs. Tamil separatists	Autonomy and cultural preservation	High
10	Chechens	Approximately 1.5 million	1990s-2000s	Russian government vs. Chechen separatists	Independence and cultural rights	High
11	Mapuche	About 1.7 million	Ongoing	Chilean and Argentine governments vs. Mapuche rights movements	Land rights and cultural preservation	Low
12	Kashmiris	Around 12-13 million in the region of Jammu and Kashmir	Since 1947	Indian and Pakistani governments vs. Kashmiri independence and autonomy movements	Sovereignty and Territorial rights	Very high
13	Corsicans	About 340,000	Intermittent	French government vs. Corsican nationalists	Autonomy	Low
14	Quebecois	Around 8 million	1960s-1990s	Canadian government vs. Quebecois separatist movements	Autonomy and Linguistic rights	Moderate
15	Scottish	Approximately 5.5 million	Intermittent, ongoing	UK government vs. Scottish independence movements	Independence and economic control	High
16	Flemish	About 6.5 million in Belgium	Ongoing	Belgian government vs. Flemish autonomy movements	Autonomy and linguistic rights	Low
17	Welsh	Around 3 million	Historical, intermittent	UK government vs. Welsh cultural movements	Cultural preservation and autonomy	Low
18	[[Rohing ya]]	About 1.5 million	Ongoing	Myanmar government vs. Rohingya people	Citizenship and human rights	Very high
19	Hmong	Around 4 million worldwide	1960s-1970s	Laotian government vs. Hmong guerilla movements	Recognition and rights	Low
20	Oromo	Approximately 35 million	Ongoing	Ethiopian government vs. Oromo liberation movements	Autonomy and cultural rights	Moderate
21	Somali (in Ethiopia and Kenya)	About 5 million outside of Somalia	Ongoing	Ethiopian and Kenyan governments vs. Somali ethnic groups	Territorial and cultural rights	Low
22	Naga	Around 2-3 million	1950s-ongoing	Indian government vs. Naga separatist groups	Autonomy and cultural preservation	Low
23	Karen	Approximately 5 million	Ongoing	Myanmar government vs. Karen National Union	Autonomy and cultural rights	Low
24	Crimean Tatars	About 250,000-300,000	Since 2014	Russian government vs. Crimean Tatar community	Cultural rights and repatriation	Moderate
25	Saami	Around 80,000-100,000	Historical, ongoing	Nordic countries vs. Saami indigenous rights	Land rights and cultural autonomy	Low
26	Zapotec	Approximately 800,000	Historical, ongoing	Mexican government vs. Zapotec community	Cultural and territorial rights	Low
27	Maori	Around 775,000	Historical, ongoing	New Zealand government vs. Maori rights movements	Treaty rights and cultural preservation	Moderate
28	Canary Islanders	About 2.2 million	Historical	Spanish government vs. Canary Islander cultural movements	Cultural identity and autonomy	Low
29	Ainu	Around 25,000	Historical, ongoing	Japanese government vs. Ainu community	Cultural rights and recognition	Low
30	Sardinians	Approximately 1.6 million	Historical, intermittent	Italian government vs. Sardinian independence movements	Cultural and economic autonomy	Low

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