Facts : 1 Characteristics of the nation state Legitimate states that govern effectively and dynamic industrial economies are widely regarded today as the defining characteristics of a modern nation-state
Facts : 2 Nation states have their own characteristics, differing from those of the pre-national states
Facts : 3 For a start, they have a different attitude to their territory when compared with dynastic monarchies: it is semisacred and nontransferable
Facts : 4 No nation would swap territory with other states simply, for example, because the king s daughter married
Facts : 5 They have a different type of border, in principle defined only by the area of settlement of the national group, although many nation states also sought natural borders (rivers, mountain ranges)
Facts : 6 They are constantly changing in size and power because of the limited restrictions of their borders
Facts : 7 The most noticeable characteristic is the degree to which nation states use the state as an instrument of national unity, in economic, social and cultural life
Facts : 8 The nation state promoted economic unity, by abolishing internal customs and tolls
Facts : 9 In Germany, that process, the creation of the Zollverein, preceded formal national unity
Facts : 10 Nation states typically have a policy to create and maintain a national transportation infrastructure, facilitating trade and travel
Facts : 11 In 19th-century Europe, the expansion of the rail transport networks was at first largely a matter for private railway companies, but gradually came under control of the national governments
Facts : 12 The French rail network, with its main lines radiating from Paris to all corners of France, is often seen as a reflection of the centralised French nation state, which directed its construction
Facts : 13 Nation states continue to build, for instance, specifically national motorway networks
Facts : 14 Specifically transnational infrastructure programmes, such as the Trans-European Networks, are a recent innovation
Facts : 15 The nation states typically had a more centralised and uniform public administration than its imperial predecessors: they were smaller, and the population less diverse
Facts : 16 (The internal diversity of the Ottoman Empire, for instance, was very great.) After the 19th-century triumph of the nation state in Europe, regional identity was subordinate to national identity, in regions such as Alsace-Lorraine, Catalonia, Brittany and Corsica
Facts : 17 In many cases,
