Talk:List of sovereign states/South Sudan

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This is a list of sovereign states, giving an overview of states around the world with information on the status and recognition of their sovereignty.

The list contains 204 entries,. The states are divided using two distinct methods:
 * 1) The membership within the United Nations system column divides the states into three categories: 192 member states of the United Nations, 2 states which are not UN member states but which are either a UN observer state or a member state of a UN specialized agency, and 10 other states.
 * 2) The sovereignty disputes column divides the states into two categories: 14 states whose sovereignty is disputed and 190 other states.

Compiling a list such as this can be a difficult and controversial process, as there is no definition that is binding on all the members of the community of nations concerning the criteria for statehood. For more information on the criteria used to determine the contents of this list, please see the "criteria for inclusion" section below.

Criteria for inclusion
The dominant customary international law standard of statehood is the declarative theory of statehood that defines the state as a person of international law if it possess the following qualifications: (a) a permanent population; (b) a defined territory; (c) government; and (d) capacity to enter into relations with the other states." Debate exists on the degree to which recognition should be included as a criterion of statehood. The declarative theory of statehood, an example of which can be found in the Montevideo Convention, argues that statehood is purely objective and recognition of a state by other states is irrelevant. On the other end of the spectrum, the constitutive theory of statehood defines a state as a person under international law only if it is recognized as sovereign by other states. For the purposes of this list are included all states which either:


 * (a) have declared independence and are often regarded as having control over a permanently populated territory, or
 * (b) are recognized as a sovereign state by at least one other sovereign state

Note that in some cases there is a divergence of opinion over the interpretation of the first point, and whether an entity satisfies it is disputed.

On the basis of the above criteria, this list includes the following 204 entities:


 * 201 states recognized by at least one UN member state
 * Two states which control a permanently populated territory and are recognized only by non-UN member states: Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Transnistria
 * One state which controls a permanently populated territory and is not recognized by any other state: Somaliland