Multinational countries of the world. Multinational countries of Europe and Asia

In the modern world there are more than three thousand different ethnic units, and there are a little more than two hundred states. And this means that, with some exceptions, most are multinational countries.

Terms and concepts

In order to understand the issue in detail, it is necessary to distinguish the key concepts that researchers use when studying a particular country. Such concepts as a tribe, a nationality, a people, a nation, an ethnos are quite similar in their meaning, but at the same time they have certain nuances. It is quite understandable that all these terms are the result of the historical complication of various elements characterizing one or another ethnic community. Economic development, expansion of the territory led to an increase in the range of residence of the tribe, which gradually turned into a nationality or people. And as the highest stage of the ethnic unit can be identified the formation and emergence of the nation. Many scholars agree that the determining factors in the formation of this community are one language, territory, culture and economic ties. However, as the nation develops, these factors lose their primary importance, and it can continue to exist even when divided by state borders.

Formation of national identity

Indeed, confirming this statement, one can turn to the example of such a multinational giant as the USSR. Many nations that existed in this state, after its collapse, found themselves on different sides of the borders, but did not lose their identification. Therefore, once formed, they continue to exist, except for cases of physical disappearance. Language as one of the fundamental attributes of a nation can cease to be so. As the number of people increased, the role of kinship decreased, and it could turn out that two or more languages appeared in one nation. When the former ethnic groups were unified, the variations of languages (dialects), which sometimes differed sufficiently strongly from the former single language, were preserved in ever increasing numbers. The Swiss Confederation is the best example. Approximately along such a path, multinational countries of Europe were formed. However, not only European countries followed this path of development of national relations. Multinational countries in Asia also could not immediately be formed as full-fledged polyethnic formations. A series of revolutions and other metamorphoses led them to the need for coexistence, and one of the many Asian states - China - is also formed on this principle.

Different interpretations of the concept of "nation"

Using the term "nation", one must keep in mind its dual significance. First, scientists consider it as the aggregate of citizens of a particular state. That is, it is a multicultural, socio-political, territorial and economic community of representatives of different nationalities that form the state. In the second case, this definition is used as a designation of the highest form of ethnic unity. Multinational countries, formed according to the first scenario, in the modern geopolitical world account for more than half of all state entities. The most characteristic example is the American nation. For many centuries the USA was called the "melting pot", which successfully dissolved the ethnic diversity of American citizens, turning them into a single nation. This course of events was dictated by historical realities, the emerging industrial type of society made severe demands primarily of an economic nature, and many nationalities had to unite in order to successfully compete in the international arena. This was how the multinational countries of the world developed.

Integration of the Russian type

The globalization of the economy has influenced the ways of integrating state-national entities. Dynamically developing production led to the formation of new variants of inter-ethnic cooperation. The US and Russia are multinational countries, both of which are federations in their structure. However, the ways of organizing them are fundamentally different. The Russian Federation is built on the basis of the national-state principle of its constituent entities. They have a certain independence in internal affairs and jointly represent the Russian nation.

Alternative way of national cooperation

The US states also have a certain internal autonomy, but are formed on a territorial basis. Russia in this way of organization guarantees the development of the national culture of the peoples inhabiting it. The United States of America, on the basis of democratic laws, also enshrines the right of every ethnic unit to national and cultural autonomy. These two types of state associations are represented all over the globe.

Globalization and nations

The entry of peace into the information age has further strengthened interstate competition, respectively, and interethnic. Therefore, the main trend is the birth of supranational state entities. They are formed on the principle of confederation and have a great national and cultural diversity. The most typical example is the European Union, which includes more than twenty countries, and the inhabitants say, in the most approximate calculation, in 40 languages. The structure of this association is as close as possible to the existing economic and political realities. On its territory there is a common legal system, currency, citizenship. If you look closely at these signs, you can conclude that the European supernation has practically taken shape. The number of new EU members is growing. Similar processes, but with a lesser degree of cooperation, take place throughout the world. The initial economic and political blocks are the prototypes of future supernations. It seems that it is behind such large state-national entities that the future of the entire human civilization.

National Policy

The guarantor of preserving unity is the national policy in the states united in multinational countries. The list of these countries is quite extensive and includes the overwhelming number of state entities located on our planet. National policy includes a set of measures to ensure the equal existence and development of ethnic units of the state. The most multinational country in the world - India - is an example. Only a balanced and cautious policy of this country allows it to be the leader of South Asia and successfully compete with its giant neighbor, China.

Modern trends in interethnic relations

It is the legislative consolidation of the rights of national minorities that serves as a binding "solution" for these countries. The ways of development of nationalities and the state did not always coincide. History shows a lot of similar examples. Multinational countries are the most vulnerable to disintegration precisely because of their multi-ethnicity. The twentieth century was the period of the collapse of many such states: the USSR, Yugoslavia, and even bi-national Czechoslovakia. Therefore, the preservation of the parity of nationalities becomes the basis for cooperation and integration. Over the past two decades, the process of separatism has acquired some tendentiousness, this also applies to established European states, such as the United Kingdom, which outlined the intention to leave Scotland, as well as artificially created as a result of the colonial policy of the states of Asia and Africa.