Talking About Nations

Around the world, the concept and practice of having nation states are still thriving. Remember how every country wanted to have an official airline? National pride drives rivalry, competition and passion on many fronts such as sports, trade, use of technology, economic power and standard of living. There can be misuse of nationalism, as evidenced in wars fought, political hostility, tribal differences and selfish handling of epidemics. Nations arose in history for self preservation, cultural conquests, religious consolidation, economic expansion and financial viability. Nations expanded in size usually due to subjugation of weaker forces, whether in terms of technical, military or strategic might. Once the age of colonisation whittled away, there was a boom in the rise of the so many entities that are now members of the United Nations. How nations create and agree on boundaries can be based on geography. You can observe the flow of major rivers, insurmountable ranges, ocean divides and differing climate zones as serving natural divides. On the other hand, the construction of a huge canal created Panama. The meeting of waterfalls can often be where three nations meet. The world's great rivers often have separate countries located in their mountain source, fertile plains and when it fans out to a delta near the sea. Europe is often quoted to be a historical hinterland of often changing borders, as armies march over, philosophies run amok and diverse cultures interact. Relatively new nations arise when there is an overlay placed on various indigenious lands. An example is Canada, but that name is related to a Huron-Iroquois phrase meaning a village, "Kanata". The names of contemporary nations can be intriguing. There are patterns - some are named based on obvious distinct cultures like India, China, Japan, Russia, Ireland, Thailand and Vietnam. Other name patterns can have religious or tribal roots - I refer to Israel, Saudi, Ethopia, Egypt and Iran. Most of these nations are in the so called cradle of civillisation. In Central Asia, there are several nations that utilise the suffix "tan". Yet there are other nations which have names that seem neutral to racial or religious connotations. I think of Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Micronesia and Indonesia. And then there are those which highlight a specific race, even if the nation in reality is multi-cultural. Malaysia, Myanmar, France and Germany come to mind. There are countries which still bear the names of its colonial past. The Phillippines still honour a past Spanish King in its name. New Zealand refers to its "discovery" by Dutch adventurer-sailors. Greece is proud of its longer term links to the forebearers of Western civilisation. South and Central America have nation states named in the language of their European conquerors, with seeming no trace of the previous Inca, Atzec and Maya predecessors. Island states are best to retain their long used place names. Fiji, Singapore, Samoa, Mauritius and Malta come to mind. There are nations in which their socio-political structures were formed under colonial rulers. The seeds of their current problems have long been embedded in this manner. I refer to Malaysia, India, South Africa and Brazil - to name a few. There are a few political entities that have problems from unresolved wars - North and South Korea is an example. Relatively tiny states exist in Europe - Andorra, Luxembourg and the Vatican illustrate this. There are countries that have territories separated by sea. Denmark has Greenland, the USA has Hawaii , the Federation of Malaysia is split into two and the UK has Northern Ireland. Greece, Indonesia and the Phillippines are based on a collection of many isles. Nations that are landlocked may seem to need access to sea routes, but some like Switzerland do well without. Russia has access to wamer water ports in the Crimea, but Canada and the Scandinavian countries have only cold ocean ports. #yongkevthoughts