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Sovereignty can generally be defined as supreme authority. [1] [2] [3] Sovereignty entails hierarchy within a state as well as external autonomy for states. [4]In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the person, body or institution that has the ultimate authority over other people and to change existing laws. [5]
A sovereign state is a state that has the supreme sovereignty or ultimate authority over a territory. [1] It is commonly understood that a sovereign state is independent. [2] When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may also refer to a constituent country, or a dependent territory. [3] [4] [5]
Additionally, the Federal government of the United States has sovereignty over 13 unincorporated territories. Of these territories, the following five are inhabited possessions: American Samoa Guam Northern Mariana Islands Puerto Rico U.S. Virgin Islands; It also has sovereignty over several uninhabited territories: Baker Island; Howland Island
U.S. sovereignty over Palmyra Atoll (and Hawaii) is disputed by the Hawaiian sovereignty movement. [128] [129] Wake Island [a] Micronesia (North Pacific) 7.4 km 2 (2.9 sq mi) Unincorporated, unorganized Territory since 1898; host to the Wake Island Airfield, administered by the U.S. Air Force.
A state refers to a political unit with sovereignty over a given territory. [22] While a state is more of a "political-legal abstraction," the definition of a nation is more concerned with political identity and cultural or historical factors. [22]
Japan claims sovereignty over the islets, pointing out the fact that in the San Francisco Peace Treaty of 1951, Dokdo/Takeshima was not included among the territories to be renounced by Japan. South Korea currently maintains control over the territory, which it has administered since June 1954.
The dominant customary international law standard of statehood is the declarative theory of statehood, which was codified by the Montevideo Convention of 1933. The Convention defines the state as a person of international law if it "possess[es] the following qualifications: (a) a permanent population; (b) a defined territory; (c) government; and (d) a capacity to enter into relations with the ...
A state may acquire sovereignty over territory if that sovereignty is ceded (transferred) to it by another state. Cession is typically effected by treaty.Examples of cession include the cession of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, purchases such as the Louisiana Purchase and the Alaska Purchase, and cessions involving multiple parties such as the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany.