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size of states  

Definition

  • States vary in size, from Russia's seventeen million square kilometers (27.4 million square miles) and China's 1.3 billion people to Nauru's twenty-one square kilometers (thirteen square miles) and ten thousand people. The puzzles of why there is so much variation and whether there is a generalizable explanation for state size are important ones, because the answers could shed light on why the world looks the way it does today and also explain ongoing changes such as the growth of the European Union or the potential dissolution of Canada, Iraq, or Russia. [Source: The Encyclopedia of Political Science; States, Size of]

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https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/size_of_states

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