Editing Nation state (section)

=== United Kingdom ===
{{Home Nations}}
The [[United Kingdom]] is an unusual example of a nation state due to its "countries within a [[country]]". The United Kingdom is formed by the union of [[England]], [[Scotland]], [[Wales]] and [[Northern Ireland]], but it is a [[unitary state]] formed initially by the merger of two independent kingdoms, the [[Kingdom of England]] (which already included Wales) and the [[Kingdom of Scotland]], but the [[Treaty of Union]] (1707) that set out the agreed terms has ensured the continuation of distinct features of each state, including separate [[Law in the United Kingdom|legal systems]] and separate [[Religion in the United Kingdom|national churches]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Doherty |first1=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=065TDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA198 |title=Public Law |date=2016 |publisher=Rutledge |isbn=978-1317206651 |pages=198–201}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=McCann |first1=Philip |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uAi4CwAAQBAJ&pg=PT372 |title=The UK Regional–National Economic Problem: Geography, globalisation and governance |date=2016 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=9781317237174 |page=372 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=The Permanent Committee on Geographical Names |title=UK Toponnymic Guidelines |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/326664/UK_Toponymic_Guidelines.pdf |publisher=[[UK Government]] |access-date=26 January 2017 |archive-date=17 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517012455/https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/326664/UK_Toponymic_Guidelines.pdf |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2003, the [[British Government]] described the United Kingdom as "countries within a country".<ref>{{cite web |date=10 January 2003 |title=Countries within a country, number10.gov.uk |url=http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page823 |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20080909013512/http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page823 |archive-date=9 September 2008 |access-date=20 February 2013 |publisher=[[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|National Archives]]}}</ref> While the [[Office for National Statistics]] and others describe the United Kingdom as a "nation state",<ref>{{cite web |title=ONS Glossary of economic terms |url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/about/glossary/economic_terms.asp |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110907093405/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/geography/beginner-s-guide/glossary/glossary-u.html |archive-date=7 September 2011 |access-date=24 July 2010 |publisher=[[Office for National Statistics]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Giddens |first=Anthony |url=https://archive.org/details/sociology0005gidd |title=Sociology |publisher=Polity Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-7456-3379-4 |location=Cambridge |page=[https://archive.org/details/sociology0005gidd/page/41 41]}}</ref> others, including a then Prime Minister, describe it as a "[[multinational state]]",<ref>{{cite web |last=Hogwood |first=Brian |title=Regulatory Reform in a Multinational State: The Emergence of Multilevel Regulation in the United Kingdom |url=https://ecpr.eu/Events/PaperDetails.aspx?PaperID=5567&EventID=45 |access-date=27 February 2017 |website=European Consortium for Political Research}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Brown |first1=Gordon |date=25 March 2008 |title=Gordon Brown: We must defend the Union |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/3556535/Gordon-Brown-We-must-defend-the-Union.html |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/3556535/Gordon-Brown-We-must-defend-the-Union.html |archive-date=11 January 2022}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Diversity and Citizenship Curriculum Review |url=https://dera.ioe.ac.uk/id/eprint/6374/7/DfES_Diversity_&_Citizenship_Redacted.pdf |access-date=24 March 2024 |publisher=Department for Education and Skills}}</ref> and the term [[Home Nations]] is used to describe the four national teams that represent the four nations of the United Kingdom ([[England]], [[Northern Ireland]], [[Scotland]], [[Wales]]).<ref>{{cite news |last=Magnay |first=Jacquelin |date=26 May 2010 |title=London 2012: Hugh Robertson puts Home Nations football team on agenda |newspaper=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/london-2012/7768436/London-2012-Hugh-Robertson-puts-Home-Nations-football-team-on-agenda.html |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=11 September 2010 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/london-2012/7768436/London-2012-Hugh-Robertson-puts-Home-Nations-football-team-on-agenda.html |archive-date=11 January 2022}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Some refer to it as a "Union State".<ref>{{cite web |author=Independent Worker's Union of Great Britain |author-link=Independent Worker's Union of Great Britain |date=2016 |title=Written Intervention for the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain |url=https://www.supremecourt.uk/docs/independent-workers-union-great-britain.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=McLean |first1=Iain |url=https://archive.org/details/stateofunion00mcle/page/1 |title=State of the Union |last2=McMillan |first2=Alistair |date=2006 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199258208 |pages=1–12 |chapter=The United Kingdom as a Union State |doi=10.1093/0199258201.003.0001 |url-access=registration}}</ref>