A nation-state is a country with defined borders and a shared ethnicity, language, and culture. The United States is not a nation-state due to its diversity. Immigration can prevent a nation-state from forming, but Iceland, Japan, and the Republic of Ireland come close. Attempting to impose a nation-state can result in ethnic cleansing and high death tolls.
A nation-state is a state, or country, that has defined borders and territory. It is also a country where there is a nation of mostly the same type of people, organized by race or cultural background. In the nation-state, generally, everyone would speak the same language, probably practice the same or similar type of religion, and share a set of cultural, “national” values.
From this strict definition it is easy to see that the United States is not a nation-state. We have multiple ethnicities, number of religions practiced and different cultural norms. Even though citizens of the United States share the same borders and territory, we, in the sense of a nation-state, do not share a common nationality.
Another way a nation-state cannot exist is when there is a definite ethnic and cultural group that exists without territorial boundaries and a complete ownership right over those boundaries. For example, when immigrants to the United States declared the country to be a state, numerous Native American tribes were nations without having been states. The borders of the various Native American nations were ignored by the largest state in the United States, resulting in the repeated relocation of these nations to other areas and territories. These territories have only been held with the permission of the United States. Today, some tribes have definite boundaries, but in some cases they may still be subject to the laws of the United States, making them not fully nation-states.
Indeed, most countries do not fully fit the definition of a nation-state, as most countries have immigrants. Once immigrants arrive in a country, especially in large numbers, the nation-state can no longer exist. Countries with only small numbers of immigrants can still be seen as containing predominantly the same shared ethnicity and culture and can therefore be regarded as close to the theoretical nation-state.
Iceland is considered almost an ideal nation-state as immigration to Iceland is quite low. Japan also comes close to being a nation-state because the sense of national identity and shared language is very strong. It is no coincidence that both of these countries are islands and therefore there may be less “border crossing”.
The Republic of Ireland approaches nation-state, although immigration to other countries has often resulted in more Southern Irish people living outside the Republic than within it. It has relatively few immigrants, except returning citizens or their descendants, and shares a strong national identity. In the Republic of Ireland, the state is founded on the principles of the nation, with laws made with respect for the country’s deep Catholic beliefs.
The desire to create a nation-state can be one of the most devastating and can involve mass evictions of other nationalities or ethnic cleansing. Hitler attempted to establish Germany as a nation-state by first exiling Jews and then, ultimately, killing most of the Jews residing in Germany and other countries he conquered such as Poland. Attempting to impose a nation-state where it doesn’t truly exist often results in high death tolls for large minority populations and a lack of humanity in the extreme.
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