State

Illustration of the Book Leviathan, by Thomas Hobbes.

In politics, a state is the government of a country which has control over a geographic area or territory. States have three main features:

There are different forms of government a state may have, for example a republic or a monarchy. Sometimes states form their own countries. In its origin the United States had different kinds of states, but they agreed to join together. Most states also have armed forces, civil service, law and police.

Government institutions in a country are commonly referred to as "the state".


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