Stateless Nation

The term stateless nation is used of ethnic groups which are not the majority population in any nation state and for whom it is implied that they "should have" such a state. As such, the term expresses irredentism. Stateless nations are either dispersed across a number of states (for example, the Kurdish people are found in Iraq, Turkey, Iran, Armenia and Syria), or they form the native population of a province within a larger state (such as the Uyghur people in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region within the People's Republic of China). The Romani people may be a special case, being distributed among numerous countries with no clear homeland; as a traditionally "nomadic" people, the Romani/Roma are a classical "stateless nation" without aspiration to sovereign territory.

As not all states are nation states, there are a number of ethnic groups who live in a multinational state without necessarily being considered as "stateless nations". As there are several thousand individual languages and less than 200 independent states, it follows that the vast majority of ethnic groups is "stateless" in the sense that they do not have their own nation state.

List of the larger (> 1 million) ethnic groups without nation states for which an irredentist movement is known to exist:

Further information: List of active autonomist and secessionist movements
people language pop. (ca.) states homeland irredentist movement comments
Rohingya people Rohingya language 3.6 M Burma, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Thailand, Malaysia Bangladesh Rohingya conflict in Western Burma
Tamils Tamil language 77 M Republic of India, Sri Lanka Tamilakam Tamil nationalism (see also Dravida Nadu) regional autonomy in Tamil Nadu
Yoruba people Yoruba language 38 M Nigeria, Benin, Togo Yorubaland Oodua Peoples Congress
Kurds Kurdish language 35 M Iraq, Turkey, Iran, Armenia, Syria Kurdistan Kurdish–Turkish conflict regional autonomy in Iraqi Kurdistan
Igbo people Igbo language 20 M Nigeria Biafra Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra
Bakongo Kikongo 10 M Angola Cabinda Province Cabinda Conflict
Uyghur people Uyghur language 9 M People's Republic of China Chinese Turkestan irredentism is politically fragmented (East Turkestan Liberation Organization, East Turkestan independence movement) limited autonomy in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region
Catalan people Catalan language 8 M Spain, France, Italy Catalonia Catalan separatism See also Nationalisms and regionalisms of Spain
Tatars Tatar language 7 M Russian Federation Tatarstan All-Tatar Public Center regional autonomy in Tatarstan
Scottish people English, Scots, Scottish Gaelic 5.2 M United Kingdom Scotland Scottish independence regional autonomy in Scotland
Shan people Shan language 6 M Myanmar Shan State Declaration of independence in 2005; see also Hso Khan Pha
Baganda Luganda 6 M Uganda Buganda
Tibetan people Tibetan language 5.5 M People's Republic of China Tibet Tibetan independence movement limited autonomy in the Tibet Autonomous Region
Kabyle people Kabyle language, Algerian Arabic 5 M Kabylie
Acehnese people Acehnese language 4 M Indonesia Aceh Insurgency in Aceh regional autonomy in Aceh
Hmong people Hmong language 4 M Laos, People's Republic of China, Vietnam, Thailand Insurgency in Laos
Assyrian people (aka Syriac/Aramaean people) Neo-Aramaic language 3.5 M Syria, Iraq. Iran, Turkey Assyrian homeland Assyrian nationalism, Assyrian independence
Welsh people English, Welsh language 3 M United Kingdom Wales Welsh independence regional autonomy in Wales
Basque people Basque language 2.6 M France, Spain Basque Country Basque nationalism
Naga people Tibeto-Burman dialects / Nagamese creole 2 M Republic of India Nagaland Naga National Council, Insurgency in Northeast India
Chechens Chechen language 1.3 M Russian Federation Chechnya and Dagestan Chechen insurgency, Chechen Republic of Ichkeria regional autonomy in Chechnya
C'ekakawwon people Algonquian language <1 M United States of America Virginia European Colonization of the Americas
Bodo people Bodo language 1.3 M Republic of India Bodoland
Tuareg people Tuareg language 1.2 M Mali, Niger Azawad Tuareg rebellion (2012)
Mapuche Mapudungun 1 M Argentinia, Chile AraucanĂ­a Mapuche conflict


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Famous quotes containing the word nation:

    The use of force alone is but temporary. It may subdue for a moment; but it does not remove the necessity of subduing again: and a nation is not governed, which is perpetually to be conquered.
    Edmund Burke (1729–1797)