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Sovereignty is the exclusive right to exercise supreme authority over a geographic region or group of people, such as a nation or a tribe. Sovereignty is generally vested in a government or other political agency, though there are cases where it is held by an individual. A monarch who rules a sovereign country can also be referred to as the sovereign of that country.

1 Sovereignty in certain contexts

In international law, the important concept of sovereignty refers to the exercise of power by a state. De jure sovereignty refers to the legal right to do so; de facto sovereignty the ability in fact to do so (which becomes of special concern upon the failure of the usual expectation that de jure and de facto sovereignty exist at the place and time of concern, and rest in the same organization). Foreign governments recognize the sovereignty of a state over a territory, or refuse to do so.

For instance, in theory, both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China considered themselves sovereign governments over the whole territory of mainland China and Taiwan. Some foreign governments recognize the Republic of China as the valid state, most now recognize the People's Republic of China. However, de facto, the People's Republic of China exercises sovereign power over mainland China, while the Republic of China exercises sovereign power over Taiwan. Since ambassadors are only exchanged between sovereign high parties, the countries recognizing the People's Republic often entertain de facto but not de jure diplomatic relationships with Taiwan by maintaining 'offices of representation', such as the American Institute in Taiwan, rather than embassies there.

Tribal sovereignty refers to the right of tribes or of federally recognized American Indian nations to exercise limited jurisdiction within and sometimes beyond reservationIn the United States an Indian reservation is land which is managed by a Native American tribe under the United States Department of the Interior. Because the land is federal territory and Native Americans have limited national sovereignty, there are ofte boundaries.

The etymologyEtymology is the study of the origins of words. Some words have been derived from other languages, possibly in a changed form (the source words are called etymons . Through old texts and comparisons with other languages, etymologists try to reconstruct th of the word sovereignty, with origins in the Latin super, conveys the idea of "overness".

In some regions of the world, such as QuebecQuebec ( In Detail) ( In Detail) National Motto: Je me souviens (I remember CapitalLargest city Quebec City Montreal Area Total % fresh water 2nd largest(1st lgst prov. 1 542 056 km² 11,5% Population Total (2004) Density Ranked 2nd 7 509 928 5,43/km² Admi, the word "sovereignty" has become the preferred synonym for national independenceAlternate uses: see Independence (disambiguation Independence for a country, organization or branch of government is the same as self-rule, as opposed to being ruled by someone else. Establishing such independence sometimes implies a violent break-out or. Compare the MaoriMori is the name of the indigenous people of New Zealand, and their language. It is also the name of the people and language of the Cook Islands, referred to as Cook Islands Mori . The word maori means "normal" or "ordinary" in the Mori language and is wi term rangatiratanga, and the concept of self-determinationSelf-determination is a principle in international law that a people ought to be able to determine their own governmental forms and structure free from outside influence. This principle was first articulated by Woodrow Wilson in his Fourteen Points; and w.



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