Multinational state

A multinational state or a multinational union is a sovereign entity that comprises two or more nations or states. This contrasts with a nation-state, where a single nation accounts for the bulk of the population. Depending on the definition of "nation" (which touches on ethnicity, language, and political identity), a multinational state is usually multicultural or multilingual, and is geographically composed of more than one country, such as the countries of the United Kingdom. Historical multinational states that have since split into multiple states include the Ottoman Empire, British India, Qing China, Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, the United Arab Republic, and Austria-Hungary (a dual monarchy of two multinational states). Some analysts have described the European Union as a multinational state or potentially one.

A multinational state or a multinational union is a sovereign entity that comprises two or more nations or states. This contrasts with a nation-state, where a single nation accounts for the bulk of the population. Depending on the definition of "nation" (which touches on ethnicity, language, and political identity), a multinational state is usually multicultural or multilingual, and is geographically composed of more than one country, such as the countries of the United Kingdom. Historical multinational states that have since split into multiple states include the Ottoman Empire, British India, Qing China, Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, the United Arab Republic, and Austria-Hungary (a dual monarchy of two multinational states). Some analysts have described the European Union as a multinational state or potentially one.

Definition

Many attempts have been made to define multinational states. One complicating factor is that it is possible for members of a group that could be considered a nation to identify with more than one nation-state. According to David Katiambo, many countries are multination states and there are only "few nation-states with a perfect match between the nation and the state." Ilan Peleg wrote in Democratizing the Hegemonic State: A state may also be a society, and a multiethnic society has people belonging to more than one ethnic group, in contrast to societies that are ethnically homogeneous. By some definitions of "society" and "homogeneous", virtually all contemporary national societies are multiethnic. The scholar David Welsh argued in 1993 that fewer than 20 of the 180 sovereign states then in existence were ethnically and nationally homogeneous, if a homogeneous state was defined as one in which minorities made up less than 5 percent¹ of the population. Sujit Choudhry therefore argues that "[t]he age of the agriculturally homogeneous state, if ever there was one, is over".

Africa

Most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are former colonies and, as such, are not drawn along national lines, making them truly multinational states.

Ghana

There is no ethnic majority in Ghana. The plurality group, the Akan people, are a meta-ethnicity (that is, a collection of similar but distinct ethnicities). While Akan is the most-widely spoken language in Ghana, English is the official language of government.

South Africa

Present-day South Africa is the successor state to the Union of South Africa, which was formed from four British colonies in 1910¹. South Africa has eleven official languages (Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, and Zulu) and formally recognizes several other languages spoken by minority nations. Speakers of each language may be of a different nationality—for example, some members of the Ndebele and Tswana nations speak Zulu, and groups such as the Thembu and Hlubi speak Xhosa. As is the case throughout Africa, the nations of South Africa mostly correspond to specific regions. However, large cities such as Johannesburg are home to a mixture of national groups, leading to a "melting pot" of cultures. The government has continuously attempted to unify the country's various nationalities and to foster a South African identity. Many of the nationalities found in South Africa are also found in bordering countries, and in some cases, more members live in South Africa than in the country where the group originated. For example, there are more Sotho, Tswana, and Swazi people living in South Africa than in the bordering nation states of Lesotho, Botswana, and Eswatini, respectively. In the past, this has led to conflict. Lesotho still claims large swathes of South Africa, and attempts have been made to cede some South African territory to Botswana and Eswatini. All three states were intended to be incorporated in the Union of South Africa, but those plans never came to fruition because of power struggles within their apartheid governments.

China

The People's Republic of China (PRC) is a multinational state consisting of 56 ethnic groups with the Han people the largest ethnic group in mainland China. As of 2010, 91.51% of the population were classified as Han (~1.2 billion). Besides the Han Chinese majority, 55 other ethnic (minority) groups are categorized in present China, numbering approximately 105 million people (8%), mostly concentrated in the bordering northwest, north, northeast, south and southwest but with some in central interior areas. The major minority ethnic groups in China are Zhuang (16.9 million), Hui (10.5 million), Manchu (10.3 million), Uyghur (10 million), Miao (9.4 million), Yi (8.7 million), Tujia (8.3 million), Tibetan (6.2 million), Mongolian (5.9 million), Dong (2.8 million), Buyei (2.8 million), Yao (2.7 million), Bai (1.9 million), Korean (1.8 million), Hani (1.6 million), Li (1.4 million), Kazakh (1.4 million) and Dai (1.2 million). At least 126,000 people from Canada, the US and Europe are living in Mainland China. In addition, there are also unrecognized ethnic groups, for example: Chuanqing people (穿青人), and others, who account for over 730,000 people. However, the Republic of China (ROC), which ruled mainland China from 1912 to 1949 and currently governs the island of Taiwan since 1945, had recognized five main ethnic groups under Five Races Under One Union: Han, Hui, Manchu, Mongol and Tibetan. Since retreating to Taiwan, the ROC government recognizes 16 groups of Taiwanese aborigines, which constitutes a number 569,000 or 2.38% of the island's population. The PRC classifies them as Gāoshān.

India

India has more than 2,000 ethnolinguistic groups which includes over 645 indigenous tribes with 52 major tribes among them, and over 80,000 subcultures, and every major religion is represented being Hinduism, Islam, Adivasi, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Christianity as are four major language families (Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Austroasiatic, and Sino-Tibetan) and a language isolate (Nihali). Each state and union territory of India has one or more official languages, and the Constitution of India recognizes in particular 22 "scheduled languages". It also recognizes 212 scheduled tribal groups, which together constitute about 7.5% of the country's population. Most of its states are based on a linguistic ethnicity, including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh (Hindustanis), Gujarat (Gujaratis), West Bengal (Bengalis), Maharashtra (Marathis), Odisha (Odias), Goa (Konkanis), Haryana (Haryanvis), Rajasthan (Rajasthanis), Punjab (Punjabis), Tamil Nadu (Tamils), Andhra Pradesh and Telangana (Telugus), Karnataka (Kannada), Kerala (Malayalis), Assam (Assamese), Nagaland (Nagas), Manipur (Manipuris), Mizoram (Mizos), Meghalaya (Khasi), Tripura (Tripuri), and Sikkim (Sikkimese). Jammu and Kashmir is the only union territory in the country based on this which is home to the Kashmiris, Dogras, Ladakhis, Gujjars, Bakarwals, Paharis, Dards, Hanjis, and several other people groups. Furthermore, several other Indian states are themselves ethnically, linguistically, and religiously diverse. The tribes of Uttar Pradesh are Agarias, Baigas, Bhars, Cheros, Gonds, Kolis, Korwas, Tharus, Bhoksas, Bhotiyas, Jaunsaris, and Rajis; Madhya Pradesh is where tribes such as the Gonds, Bhils, Baiga, Korku, Bhadia, Halba, Kaul, Mariya, Malto and Sahariya; Chhattisgarh's tribal population consists mainly of the Gonds, Kanwars, Brinjhwasr, Bhaina, Bhatra, Uraon, Oraons, Kamar, Halba, Baiga, Sanwras, Korwas, Bhariatis, Nageshias, Manghwars, Kharias, and Dhanwars; Bihar has the Bhojpuris, Maithils, and Magadhis, and Jharkhand has the Santhals, Oraons, Mundas, Kharias, and Hos while both states are home to several other groups like the Hindustani-speaking peoples; Uttarakhand is where the Garhwalis, Kumaonis, and tribes like the Jaunsaris, Bhotiyas, Tharus, Bhoksas, Rajis, and Banrawats resides; Karnataka houses the Kannadigas, Tuluvas, and several others; Himachal Pradesh is home to tribes like the Kinnauris, Gujjars, Lahaulis, Gaddis, Swanglas, Pangwalis, Khampas, and others; Arunachal Pradesh being the home of various tribes like the Abor, Hruso, Apatanis, Nyishis, Tagins, Galos, Khamptis, Mishmis, Monpa, any Naga tribes, Sherdukpens, and Singpho; the Assam includes the Assamese, Bodo, and Karbi peoples.

Indonesia

Indonesia is a very diverse country with over 600 ethnic groups. The vast majority of them speak Austronesian languages and among these tribal people groups are the Javanese, Sundanese, Malays, Madurese, Bugis, Torajans, Bataks, Mandarese, Minangkabau, Betawi, Banjarese, Acehnese, Balinese, Dayaks, Sasaks, Cirebonese, Lampungese, Palembang, Gorontaloa, Minahasan, Nias, and Makassarese. Another group of indigenous peoples in the country are the native Melanesians in the Maluku Islands and Western New Guinea, which include tribes such as the Ambonese, native Timorese peoples, Biak, Dani, Moi, Arfak, Amungme, Asmat, and Korowai, among others. Non-indigenous peoples includes Indos (half-Dutch, half-native Indonesians), Mardijkers, ethnic Chinese and Peranakans, Arabs, and Indians. The largest ethnicity in Indonesia is the Javanese which makes up 40% of the population and most of them live indigenously in Java island, the most populous island in the country. Generally, people who live outside of Jakarta still retain the ethnic language and utilize it in daily conversations. As a result, formation of distinct dialects each unique to the regions, is prominently used among the population.

Malaysia

When it was formed on 16 September 1963, Malaysia comprised four independent, self-governing nations: Malaya, Singapore, Sabah, and Sarawak. In 1965, Singapore seceded from the federation. Today, Malaya, Sabah, and Sarawak each have their own ethnic majority. Generally, however, Malaysia is considered to have three major groups: Bumiputeras (Malays, Orang Asli, various native tribes of the Borneo states, and Peranakans), ethnic Chinese, and ethnic Indians. While the Malays make up the majority of population in the country, the Ibans for Sarawak and the Kadazan-Dusun, Murut, and Sama-Bajau peoples for Sabah are dominant in their respective states. Malay is the primary official and national language, followed by English. In Sabah and Sarawak, English is the official language, although many locals speak a dialect of Malay.

Myanmar

Myanmar (also known as Burma) is an ethnically diverse nation with 135 distinct ethnic groups officially recognized by the Burmese Government. These are grouped into eight "major national ethnic races": Bamar, Chin, Kachin, Karen, Kayah, Mon, Rakhine, and Shan. The "major national ethnic races" are grouped primarily according to region rather than linguistic or ethnic affiliation, as for example the Shan Major National Ethnic Race includes 33 ethnic groups speaking languages in at least four widely differing language families. Many unrecognized ethnic groups exist, the largest being the Burmese Chinese and Panthay (who together form 3% of the population), Burmese Indians (who form 2% of the population), Rohingya, Anglo-Burmese and Gurkha.

Pakistan

as of the 2017 Pakistan Census]] Pakistan's population comprises various ethnolinguistic groups; the major groups are the Punjabis, Pashtuns, Sindhis, Saraikis, Balochis, Brahvis, and Muhajirs. Minor groups includes the Paharis, Kashmiris, Chitralis, Shina, Baltis, Kohistanis, Torwalis, Hazaras, Burusho, Wakhis, Kalash, Siddis, Uzbeks, Nuristanis, Pamiris, Hazarewals and several other minorities. Present-day Pakistan arose out of the Pakistan Movement, which demanded a separate state for the Muslims of the British Raj. The movement was based on the two-nation theory put forward by Muhammad Ali Jinnah: the idea that Hindus and Muslims in British India represented not only different religious communities but also distinct nations, and hence that, in the event of Indian independence, they should be divided into two nation states. Jinnah outlined the theory as follows: This movement culminated in the creation of Pakistan in 1947 through the partition of India. Urdu was then promoted as the national language of all South Asian Muslims. However, Pakistan remains linguistically diverse. Punjabis are the largest ethnolinguistic group, but at 45 percent¹ of the population, they do not make up an absolute majority. Furthermore, only 8 percent of Pakistanis speak the national language, Urdu, as their mother tongue. As a result, many nationalist movements that oppose the two-nation theory have emerged, arguing that Pakistan is not only a linguistically diverse state but also a multinational one, and that, therefore, each ethnolinguistic group of Pakistan is a distinct nation. Common grievances of these movements include the idea that Punjabis dominate Pakistan politically and economically, thus marginalizing other groups, and that the establishment of Urdu as the country's sole official language is a form of cultural imperialism that ignores the heritage of Pakistan's diverse peoples. The most successful of these movements was Bengali nationalism, which led to the creation of the Bengali-speaking nation-state of Bangladesh. The movement asserted that Urdu's official status gave an unfair advantage to Muhajirs (most of whom speak Urdu as their mother tongue) and Punjabis (whose mother tongue, Punjabi, is similar to Urdu, and many of whom were educated in Urdu under British rule). Bengalis feared they would be marginalized despite their demographic strength as, at the time, the largest ethnic group of Pakistan. These grievances culminated in the secession of East Bengal (which had been part of the administrative unit of East Pakistan) and the creation of Bangladesh. Today, nationalist movements within Pakistan include those of the Sindhis, Pashtuns, Balochs, Muhajirs, and Kashmiris. The members of these movements assert that Islam cannot be considered the sole basis for nationhood, and that Pakistan is therefore a multinational state. Their demands range from increased autonomy or the transformation of Pakistan into a federation, to the recognition of language rights for non-Urdu-speaking populations, to outright secession. Despite the fact that Punjabis are widely seen as the dominant ethnic group in Pakistan, both economically and politically, there is also a small Punjabi movement that asserts that the Punjabi language has been unfairly subordinated to Urdu and supports the reestablishment of cultural and economic links with East Punjab in India.

Philippines

The Philippines has more than 182 distinct ethnolinguistic groups that the vast majority of them speaking Austronesian languages, with the Tagalogs, Bisayans, Ilocanos, Bikols, Kapampangans, Pangasinans, Ivatans, Romblomanons, Masbateños, Kamayos, Moros, Igorots, Lumads, Mangyans, and Zamboangueños being the most prevalent. Among the immigrants and mixed peoples are the Spanish Filipinos, Chinese Filipinos, Japanese Filipinos, Mestizo de Españols, Mestizo de Sangleys, Tornatrás, Indian Filipinos, Sangils, Jewish Filipinos, and American Filipinos.

Vietnam

The Vietnamese government recognizes 54 ethnic groups, of which the Viet (Kinh) is the largest; according to official Vietnamese figures (2019 census), ethnic Vietnamese account for 85.32% of the nation's population and the non-Vietnamese ethnic groups account for the remaining percent. The ethnic Vietnamese inhabit a little less than half of Vietnam, while the ethnic minorities inhabit the majority of Vietnam's land (albeit the least fertile parts of the country). The central highland peoples commonly termed Degar or Montagnards (mountain people) consist of two main ethnolinguistic types--Malayo-Polynesian and Mon–Khmer. About 30 groups of various cultures and dialects are spread over the highland territory. Other minority groups include the Chams—remnants of the once-mighty Champa Kingdom, conquered by the Vietnamese through a progress called "Nam Tiến", Hmong, Chinese, and Thái.

Qing dynasty

The Qing dynasty was an imperial dynasty that ruled China between 1636 and 1912; it was founded by Manchu people, not by Han Chinese. The Manchu-led dynasty exerted minoritarian rule over the majority-Han Chinese population, and in the 17th and 18th centuries incorporated the regions of present-day Mongolia, Tibet and Xinjiang into the empire through military expansionism. This effectively made China a multi-ethnic empire, with different regions having varying degrees of autonomy under Qing rule.

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire was the dynastic state of the Turkish House of Osman. At its peak in the 16th and 17th centuries, it controlled much of Southeast Europe, Western Asia, the Caucasus, North Africa, and the Horn of Africa. In addition to Turks, the ethnic groups of the Ottoman Empire included Albanians, Amazighs, Arabs, Armenians, Assyrians, Bosnians, Bulgarians, Circassians, Georgians, Greeks, Jews, Kurds, Laz, Macedonians, Romanians, Serbs, Tatars, and Zazas. Through millet courts, confessional communities were allowed to rule themselves under their own legal systems: for example, sharia law for Muslims, Canon law for Christians, and halakha law for Jews. After the Tanzimat reforms from 1839 to 1876, the term "millet" was used to refer to legally protected religious minority groups, similar to the way other countries use the word "nation". (The word "millet" comes from the Arabic word "millah" (ملة), which literally means "nation".) The millet system has been called an example of pre-modern religious pluralism.

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union was a state composed of the Soviet republics (of which there were 15 after 1956), with the capital in Moscow. It was founded in December 1922¹, when the Russian SFSR—which formed during the Russian Revolution of 1917 and emerged victorious in the ensuing Russian Civil War—unified with the Transcaucasian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian SSRs. Addressing the Extraordinary Eighth Congress of Soviets of the Soviet Union on 25 November 1936, Joseph Stalin stated that "within the Soviet Union there are about sixty nations, national groups, and nationalities. The Soviet state is a multinational state." Among the 15 republics were the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which were illegally annexed into the Soviet Union in 1940. The Soviet occupation of the Baltic states was not recognized by a number of Western governments including the United States. In the late 1980s, some of the republics sought sovereignty over their territories, citing Article 72 of the USSR Constitution, which stated that any constituent republic was free to secede. On 7 April 1990, a law was passed allowing a republic to secede if more than two-thirds of its residents voted for secession in a referendum. Many held free elections, and the resulting legislatures soon passed bills that contradicted Soviet laws, in what became known as the War of Laws. In 1989, the Russian SFSR—the largest constituent republic, with about half of the USSR's population—convened a new Congress of People's Deputies and elected Boris Yeltsin its chairman. On 12 June 1990, the Congress declared Russia's sovereignty over its territory and proceeded to pass legislation that attempted to supersede Soviet laws. Legal uncertainty continued through 1991 as constituent republics slowly gained de facto independence. In a referendum on 17 March 1991, majorities in nine of the 15 republics voted to preserve the Union. The referendum gave Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev a minor boost, and in the summer of 1991, the New Union Treaty was designed and agreed upon by eight republics. The treaty would have turned the Soviet Union into a much looser federation, but its signing was interrupted by the August Coup—an attempted coup d'état against Gorbachev by hardline Communist Party members of the government and the KGB, who sought to reverse Gorbachev's reforms and reassert the central government's control over the republics. When the coup collapsed, Yeltsin—who had publicly opposed it—came out as a hero, while Gorbachev's power was effectively ended. As a result, the balance of power tipped significantly toward the republics. In August 1991, Latvia and Estonia had regained their independence (following Lithuania's 1990 example), while the other twelve republics continued to discuss new, increasingly loose models for the Union. On 8 December 1991, the presidents of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus signed the Belavezha Accords, which declared the Soviet Union dissolved and established the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in its place. Doubts remained about the authority of the Belavezha Accords to dissolve the Union, but on 21 December 1991, representatives of every Soviet republic except Georgia—including those that had signed the Belavezha Accords—signed the Alma-Ata Protocol, which confirmed the dissolution of the USSR and reiterated the establishment of the CIS. On 25 December 1991, Gorbachev yielded, resigning as the president of the USSR and declaring the office extinct. He turned the powers vested in the Soviet presidency over to Yeltsin, the president of Russia. The following day, the Supreme Soviet, the highest governmental body of the Soviet Union, dissolved itself. Many organizations, such as the Soviet Army and police forces, remained in place in the early months of 1992, but were slowly phased out and either withdrawn from or absorbed by the newly independent states.

Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia was a multi-ethnic state, with Czechs and Slovaks as constituent peoples. Sudeten Germans were forcibly expelled after World War II.

See also

Multiculturalism Multiracialism Nation state Plurinational Polyethnicity Stateless nation

References

it:Multicomunitarismo he:חברה רב-אתנית

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