[6.2] What Makes a Country a Country?

Wed Mar 09, 2022 2:15 pm

6.2 - What makes a country a country?

National Borders

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As we saw in the last lesson, at the heart of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is a dispute over where Russia’s border should be, and whether Ukraine should even be allowed to exist as an independent country.

Arguments over a nation’s borders or its right to exist is the reason behind many wars throughout history. In Aotearoa we are lucky that we are an island. Because we are surrounded by ocean on all sides, it is easy to know where New Zealand’s land border is…the sea! But most countries share borders with others, and this is where the trouble can start.

Case Study: The Trouble with Ireland

One of the countries where the existence of a border has led to ongoing conflict is in Ireland.

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In the 17th century (1600s) the island of Ireland came under the control of England who sent many English and Scottish people to settle in the north of the country. These migrants saw England as the rightful rulers of Ireland but, unsurprisingly, the native Irish were unhappy with this situation.

In 1920, after popular uprisings against British rule, Britain gave in and granted most of Ireland its independence. However, the British government partitioned (divided) the island, keeping a section in the north of Ireland within the United Kingdom.

This northern part became a ‘country’ called Northern Ireland.

This led to a very difficult situation.

Roughly half of the population (descendants of the original British settlers) consider themselves British and recognise Northern Ireland as a legitimate country, however, the other half consider themselves to be Irish and don’t recognise British rule as being legitimate.

Tensions between these two viewpoints led to decades of violence and military intervention.

What Makes a Country a Country?

But it’s not just the location of a country’s borders that can cause debates over whether a certain part of the world should be recognised as a legitimate country. For example, two different groups of people might claim the same land. This is the case with the Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs.

This leads us to an important question: what exactly is a country?
Or to put it another way: What makes a nation sovereign (independent)?

This is not an easy question to answer!
However, some important criteria (requirements) might be:

Recognition from other countries
A permanent population
A government
An economy (Prints money)
Laws
An army
Popular agreement (the people ‘feel’ part of a distinct collective/group)

What do you think are the three most important requirements to be considered a country?

Would you add any to this list?
For example, how important is having a flag?

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But, as we have seen, other countries might deny that a country has a sovereign status. They might claim that some of the land and people belong to them instead, such as Putin claiming parts of Ukraine.

Aotearoa 0.2

Let’s imagine a similar situation happening in New Zealand.
The year is 2025.
The people of Te Wai Pounamu - the South Island – have had enough of being associated with the only NRL team to have never won a premiership.

They demand that they be allowed to secede (to leave) from New Zealand and be recognised as their own country – Taitonga Zealand.

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After a referendum (a vote on a single question) it is discovered that 51% of South Islanders want to be independent of New Zealand.

Question: what should happen?

You are the Prime Minister, how would you solve the issue?

Would you support the campaign for independence?
Would you stop them from declaring a new country?
Is there a compromise?

Some answers could be:

Split into two groups – those who would support independence for the South Island and those that would stop it.