valstybe

Valstybė, in Lithuanian usage, refers to the political and legal entity that claims sovereign authority over a defined territory and its permanent population. It is the primary unit of international law and relations and can be a feature of many political systems around the world.

Core elements commonly used to identify a state are a permanent population, a defined territory, a government with effective authority, and the capacity to enter into relations with other states. These criteria are associated with the Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States (1933), which is often cited in discussions of statehood.

Sovereignty is the principle that a state has supreme authority within its territory and conducts its own foreign and domestic policy without external interference. In practice, international recognition by other states and membership in organizations such as the United Nations influence a state's external standing, but recognition is not strictly necessary for legal existence in international law.

States vary in form and governance. They can be unitary or federal, and their government can range from democracies to autocracies. The term state is distinct from nation and government: a nation denotes a people with a shared identity, while a government is the current leadership and institutions exercising power.

Functions of a state include maintaining public order and security, enforcing laws, delivering public services, regulating the economy, and representing the community in foreign affairs. The modern concept of the state developed through historical processes that moved from feudal polities to centralized nation-states and, later, to federal and decentralized systems.