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Map of the British Empire under Queen Victoria at the end of the nineteenth century. "Dominions" refers to all territories belonging to the Crown.
A map of the Middle East showing areas controlled by ISIL as of May 2015: a number of major cities in northern Syria and Iraq, and corridors connecting them.
Maximum extent of the territory of the Islamic State (frequently described as a proto-state) in Iraq and Syria, on 21 May 2015.

A quasi-state (some times referred to as state-like entity or formatively a proto-state) is a political entity that does not represent a fully autonomous sovereign state with its own institutions.

The precise definition of quasi-state in political literature fluctuates depending on the context in which it is used. It has been used by some modern scholars to describe the self-governing British colonies and dependencies that exercised a form of home rule but remained crucial parts of the British Empire and subject firstly to the metropole's administration. Similarly, the Republics of the Soviet Union, which represented administrative units with their own respective national distinctions, have also been described as quasi-states.

In the 21st century usage, the term quasi-state has most often been evoked in reference to militant secessionist groups who claim, and exercise some form of territorial control over, a specific region, but which lack institutional cohesion. Such quasi-states include the Republika Srpska and Herzeg-Bosnia during the Bosnian War, the Republic of Serbian Krajina during the Croatian War of Independence, and Azawad during the 2012 Tuareg rebellion. The Islamic State is also widely held to be an example of a modern quasi-state or proto-state.

History

Les rebelles touaregs joignent leurs forces dans le nord du Mali (8248043080)
Tuareg rebels in the short-lived proto-state of Azawad.

The term "proto-state" has been used in reference to contexts as far back as Ancient Greece, to refer to the phenomenon that the formation of a large and cohesive nation would often be preceded by very small and loose forms of statehood. For instance, historical sociologist Garry Runciman describes the evolution of social organisation in the Greek Dark Ages from statelessness, to what he calls semistates based on patriarchal domination but lacking inherent potential to achieve the requirements for statehood, sometimes transitioning into protostates with governmental roles able to maintain themselves generationally, which could evolve into larger, more centralised entities fulfilling the requirements of statehood by 700 BC in the archaic period.

Most ancient proto-states were the product of tribal societies, consisting of relatively short-lived confederations of communities that united under a single warlord or chieftain endowed with symbolic authority and military rank. These were not considered sovereign states since they rarely achieved any degree of institutional permanence and authority was often exercised over a mobile people rather than measurable territory. Loose confederacies of this nature were the primary means of embracing a common statehood by people in many regions, such as the Central Asian steppes, throughout ancient history.

Proto-states proliferated in Western Europe during the Middle Ages, likely as a result of a trend towards political decentralisation following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire and the adoption of feudalism. While theoretically owing allegiance to a single monarch under the feudal system, many lesser nobles administered their own fiefs as miniature "states within states" that were independent of each other. This practice was especially notable with regards to large, decentralised political entities such as the Holy Roman Empire, that incorporated many autonomous and semi-autonomous proto-states.

Following the Age of Discovery, the emergence of European colonialism resulted in the formation of colonial proto-states in Asia, Africa, and the Americas. A few colonies were given the unique status of protectorates, which were effectively controlled by the metropole but retained limited ability to administer themselves, self-governing colonies, dominions, and dependencies. These were distinct administrative units that each fulfilled many of the functions of a state without actually exercising full sovereignty or independence. Colonies without a sub-national home rule status, on the other hand, were considered administrative extensions of the colonising power rather than true proto-states. Colonial proto-states later served as the basis for a number of modern nation states, particularly on the Asian and African continents.

During the twentieth century, some proto-states existed as not only distinct administrative units, but their own theoretically self-governing republics joined to each other in a political union such as the socialist federal systems observed in Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and the Soviet Union.

Oslobođena teritorija u vreme prvog zasedanja AVNOJ-a
Territory controlled by the Anti-Fascist Council of Yugoslavia, which established its own proto-state in 1942

Another form of proto-state that has become especially common since the end of World War II is established through the unconstitutional seizure of territory by an insurgent or militant group that proceeds to assume the role of a de facto government. Although denied recognition and bereft of civil institutions, insurgent proto-states may engage in external trade, provide social services, and even undertake limited diplomatic activity. These proto-states are usually formed by movements drawn from geographically concentrated ethnic or religious minorities, and are thus a common feature of inter-ethnic civil conflicts. This is often due to the inclinations of an internal cultural identity group seeking to reject the legitimacy of a sovereign state's political order, and create its own enclave where it is free to live under its own sphere of laws, social mores, and ordering. Since the 1980s a special kind of insurgent statehood has emerged in form of the "Jihadi proto-state", as the Islamist concept of statehood is extremely flexible. For instance, a Jihadi emirate can be simply understood as a territory or group ruled by an emir; accordingly, it might rule a significant area or just a neighborhood. Regardless of its extent, the assumption of statehood provides Jihadi militants with important internal legitimacy and cementes their self-identification as frontline society opposed to certain enemies.

The accumulation of territory by an insurgent force to form a sub-national geopolitical system and eventually, a proto-state, was a calculated process in China during the Chinese Civil War that set a precedent for many similar attempts throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Proto-states established as a result of civil conflict typically exist in a perpetual state of warfare and their wealth and populations may be limited accordingly. One of the most prominent examples of a wartime proto-state in the twenty-first century is the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, that maintained its own administrative bureaucracy and imposed taxes.

Theoretical basis

The definition of a proto-state is not concise, and has been confused by the interchangeable use of the terms state, country, and nation to describe a given territory. The term proto-state is preferred to "proto-nation" in an academic context, however, since some authorities also use nation to denote a social, ethnic, or cultural group capable of forming its own state.

A proto-state does not meet the four essential criteria for statehood as elaborated upon in the declarative theory of statehood of the 1933 Montevideo Convention: a permanent population, a defined territory, a government with its own institutions, and the capacity to enter into relations with other states. A proto-state is not necessarily synonymous with a state with limited recognition that otherwise has all the hallmarks of a fully functioning sovereign state, such as Rhodesia or the Republic of China, also known as Taiwan. However, proto-states frequently go unrecognised since a state actor that recognises a proto-state does so in violation of another state actor's external sovereignty. If full diplomatic recognition is extended to a proto-state and embassies exchanged, it is defined as a sovereign state in its own right and may no longer be classified as a proto-state.

Map of Republika Srpska Krajina
Territory of Croatia controlled by the Republic of Serbian Krajina proto-state 1991–1995.

Throughout modern history, partially autonomous regions of larger recognised states, especially those based on a historical precedent or ethnic and cultural distinctiveness that places them apart from those who dominate the state as a whole, have been considered proto-states. Home rule generates a sub-national institutional structure that may justifiably be defined as a proto-state. When a rebellion or insurrection seizes control and begins to establish some semblance of administration in regions within national territories under its effective rule, it has also metamorphosed into a proto-state. These wartime proto-states, sometimes known as insurgent states, may eventually transform the structure of a state altogether, or demarcate their own autonomous political spaces. While not a new phenomenon, the modern formation of a proto-states in territory held by a militant non-state entity was popularised by Mao Zedong during the Chinese Civil War, and the national liberation movements worldwide that adopted his military philosophies. The rise of an insurgent proto-state was sometimes also an indirect consequence of a movement adopting Che Guevara's foco theory of guerrilla warfare.

Secessionist proto-states are likeliest to form in preexisting states that lack secure boundaries, a concise and well-defined body of citizens, or a single sovereign power with a monopoly on the legitimate use of military force. They may be created as a result of putsches, insurrections, separatist political campaigns, foreign intervention, sectarian violence, civil war, and even the bloodless dissolution or division of the state.

Proto-states can be important regional players, as their existence affects the options available to state actors, either as potential allies or as impediments to their political or economic policy articulations.

List of proto-states

Constituent proto-states

Current

Proto-state Parent state Achieved statehood Since Source
 Adygea  Russia Russian Federation 1991
 Åland  Finland No 1921
 Altai Republic  Russia Russian Federation 1992
 Aruba  Netherlands No 1986
Ashanti  Ghana No 1957
 Azad Kashmir  Pakistan No 1975
 Azawad  Mali No 1975
 Azores  Portugal No 1816
 Bashkortostan  Russia Russian Federation 1990
 British Virgin Islands  United Kingdom No 1960
 Bougainville  Papua New Guinea De facto 2001
 Buryatia  Russia Russian Federation 1990
 Canary Islands  Spain No 1816
 Catalonia  Spain No 1978
 Cayman Islands  United Kingdom No 1962
 Chin State  Myanmar No 1949
 Chinland  Myanmar No 2023
 Christmas Island  Australia No 1958
 Chuvashia  Russia Russian Federation 1992
 Cook Islands  New Zealand De jure 1888
 Corsica  France No 1978
 Curaçao  Netherlands No 2010
 Dagestan  Russia Russian Federation 1991
 Darfur  Sudan Sudan 1991
 Easter Island  Chile No 1944
 Euskadi  Spain No 1978
 Falkland Islands  United Kingdom No 1833
 Faroe Islands  Denmark No 1948
 Flanders  Belgium No 1970
 French Polynesia  France No 1847
 Galicia  Spain No 1978
 Greenland  Denmark No 1816
 Guam  United States No 1816
 Guernsey  United Kingdom No 1204
Indian reservations  United States De jure 1658
Indigenous territory (Brazil)  Brazil No 1850
 Ingushetia  Russia Russian Federation 1992
 Iraqi Kurdistan  Iraq No 1991
 Isle of Man  United Kingdom De jure 1828
 Jersey  United Kingdom De jure 1204
Jewish Autonomous Oblast  Russia Russian Federation 1934
 Jubaland  Somalia No 2001
 Kabardino-Balkaria  Russia Russian Federation 1992
 Kachin State  Myanmar No 1949
 Kalmykia  Russia Russian Federation 1992
 Karachay-Cherkessia  Russia Russian Federation 1992
 Karelia  Russia Russian Federation 1991
 Kayah State  Myanmar No 1949
 Kayin State  Myanmar No 1949
 Khakassia  Russia Russian Federation 1992
 Komi Republic  Russia Russian Federation 1996
 Madeira  Portugal No 1816
 Mari El  Russia Russian Federation 1990
 Marquesas Islands  France No 1844
 Montserrat  United Kingdom No 1632
 Mon State  Myanmar No 1949
 Mordovia  Russia Russian Federation 1994
 New Caledonia  France No 1853
 Northern Marianas  United States No 1899
 North Ossetia-Alania  Russia Russian Federation 1995
 Nunavut  Canada No 1999
 Puerto Rico  United States No 1816
 Puntland  Somalia No 1998
 Quebec  Canada No 1816
 Saint Helena  United Kingdom No 1834
 Sakha Republic  Russia Russian Federation 1991
 Shan State  Myanmar No 1949
 Sint Maarten  Netherlands No 2010
 South Tyrol  Italy No 1926
  Svalbard  Norway No 1992
 Tatarstan  Russia Russian Federation 1990
 Temotu  Solomon Islands No 1981
 Turks and Caicos  United Kingdom No 1973
 Tuva  Russia Russian Federation 1992
 Udmurtia  Russia Russian Federation 1990
 United States Virgin Islands  United States No 1816
 Wallonia  Belgium No 1970
 Wa State  Myanmar De facto 2010
 Zanzibar  Tanzania No 1964

Former

Proto-state Parent state Achieved statehood Dates Source
 Adjara  Georgia No 1921–2004
 Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic  Transcaucasian SFSR,  Soviet Union Yes 1922–1991
Artsakh  Azerbaijan De facto 1991-2023
 Aruba  Netherlands No 1986
 Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic  Transcaucasian SFSR,  Soviet Union Yes 1922–1991
 Bophuthatswana  South Africa De jure 1977–1994
Bosnia-Herzegovina  Yugoslavia Yes 1943–1992
 Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic  Russian SFSR,  Soviet Union Yes 1920–1991
 Ciskei  South Africa De jure 1981–1994
Croatia  Yugoslavia Yes 1943–1991
Carpatho-Ukraine Carpathian Ruthenia  Czechoslovakia De facto 1938–1939
 Czech Socialist Republic  Czechoslovakia Yes 1969–1993
 East Caprivi  South Africa No 1972–1989
 Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic  Soviet Union Yes 1940–1941, 1944–1991
Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic  Finland No 1918
Flag of the Repubblica Romana (1798).svg Free State of Bottleneck  Prussia,  Weimar Republic No 1919-1923
Wappen Schwarzenberg Erzgebirge.svg
Free Republic of Schwarzenberg
Soviet occupation zone Soviet occupation zone of Germany De facto 1945
Ukraine Galician Ruthenians  Austria-Hungary De facto 1848–1918
 Gagauzia  Moldova No 1991–1994
 Gazankulu  South Africa No 1971–1994
 Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic  Transcaucasian SFSR,  Soviet Union Yes 1922–1991
India Jammu and Kashmir  India No 1921–2019
 Hereroland  South Africa No 1970–1989
 KaNgwane  South Africa No 1972–1994
Republic of Karelia Karelian ASSR  Russian SFSR,  Soviet Union union republic 1923–1940
 Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic  Soviet Union No 1940–1956
 Kavangoland  South Africa No 1973–1989
 Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic  Soviet Union Yes 1936–1991
 Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic  Soviet Union Yes 1936–1991
 KwaNdebele  South Africa No 1981–1994
 KwaZulu  South Africa No 1981–1994
 Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic  Soviet Union Yes 1940–1941, 1944–1991
Gonâve Island  Haiti No 1920s
 Lebowa  South Africa No 1972–1994
 Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic  Soviet Union Yes 1940–1941, 1944–1990/1991
Macedonia  Yugoslavia Yes 1945–1991
Montenegro  Yugoslavia,  Serbia and Montenegro Yes 1945–2006
Moldova Moldavian ASSR  Ukrainian SSR,  Soviet Union union republic 1924–1940
 Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic  Soviet Union Yes 1940–1991
 Ovamboland  South Africa No 1973–1989
 QwaQwa  South Africa No 1974–1994
 Russian SFSR  Soviet Union Yes 1917–1991
Serbia  Yugoslavia,  Serbia and Montenegro Yes 1945–2006
Singapore Singapore  Malaysia Yes 1963–1965
 Slovak Socialist Republic  Czechoslovakia Yes 1969–1993
Slovenia  Yugoslavia Yes 1945–1991
South Africa South West Africa (Namibia)  South Africa Yes 1915–1990
South Sudan Southern Sudan  Sudan Yes 2005–2011
 Transkei  South Africa De jure 1976–1994
 Trucial States  United Kingdom Yes 1820–1971
 Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic  Soviet Union Yes 1929–1991
Turkestan ASSR  Russian SFSR No 1918–1924
 Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic  Soviet Union Yes 1925–1991
 Ukrainian People's Republic of Soviets  Russian SFSR No 1917–1918
 Ukrainian Soviet Republic  Russian SFSR No 1918
 Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic  Russian SFSR,  Soviet Union Yes 1919–1991
 Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic  Soviet Union Yes 1924–1991
 Venda  South Africa De jure 1979–1994

Secessionist, insurgent, and self-proclaimed autonomous proto-states

Current

Proto-state Parent state Achieved statehood Since Source
Abkhazia  Georgia De facto 1992
Al-Qaeda  Mali
 Somalia
De facto 2006
Al-Shabaab  Somalia No 2009
Allied Democratic Forces  Democratic Republic of the Congo
 Uganda
No 1996
Ambazonia  Cameroon No 2017
Ansar al-Sharia (Yemen)  Yemen No 2011
Flag of Jihad.svg Ansar al-Sunna  Mozambique No 2020
Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria  Syria Partial 2012
Cabinda  Angola No 1975
Central African Republic Coalition of Patriots for Change  Central African Republic No 2020
Houthi movement Houthi movement  Yemen No 2004
Flag of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant2.svg Islamic State  Iraq
 Syria
 Afghanistan
 Somalia
 Yemen
 Nigeria
 Libya
 Mali
 Mozambique
De facto 2013
Kachin  Myanmar No 1961
Khatumo  Somalia No 2012
Kosovo Kosovo  Serbia De facto 2008
Mai-Mai  Democratic Republic of the Congo No 2015
Flag of the NDAA.png National Democratic Alliance Army  Myanmar No 1989
National Resistance Front of Afghanistan  Afghanistan No 2021
Nduma Defense of Congo-Renovated  Democratic Republic of the Congo No 2015
 Northern Cyprus  Cyprus De facto 1974
Oromo Liberation Front  Ethiopia No 1973
Syrian opposition Revolutionary Commando Army  Syria No 2016
 Sahrawi Republic  Morocco Partial 1976
State of Palestine State of Palestine  Israel De facto 1988
Somaliland  Somalia De facto 1991
South Ossetia  Georgia De facto 1991
Southern Transitional Council  Yemen De facto 2017
Sudan Revolutionary Front  Sudan No 2011
Syrian opposition Syrian Interim Government  Syria No 2013
Syrian Salvation Government  Syria No 2017
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan  Pakistan No 2002
Tigray People's Liberation Front  Ethiopia Partial 2020
Transnistria  Moldova De facto 1990
United Wa State Army flag.png United Wa State Army  Myanmar No 1989
West Papua  Indonesia No 1971

Former

Proto-state Parent state Achieved statehood Dates Source
Al-Nusra Front  Syria No 2012–2017
Ansar al-Islam  Iraq No 2001–2003
Angola  Portugal Yes 1961–1975
Ansar al-Sharia (Libya)  Libya No 2014–2017
Ansar Dine  Mali No 2012–2013
 Donetsk People's Republic and  Luhansk People's Republic  Ukraine De facto 2014–2022
Russia Armed Forces of South Russia  Russia No 1919–1920
 Azawad  Mali De facto 2012–2013
Islamic State Boko Haram  Nigeria
 Cameroon
No 2013–2015
 Carpatho-Ukraine  Czechoslovakia,  Hungary De facto 1938–1939
 Chechen Republic of Ichkeria  Russia De facto 1991–2000
 Chinese Soviet Republic Taiwan China No 1931–1937
Communist China Taiwan China Yes 1927–1949
Dar al-Kuti  Central African Republic De facto 2015–2021
Dubrovnik Republic Croatia Croatia No 1991–1992
Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia Croatia Croatia No 1995–1998
FARC  Colombia No 1964–2017
Fatah al-Islam  Lebanon No 2007
Fujian China China No 1933–1934
Armed Islamic Group of Algeria  Algeria No 1993–1995
Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia Herzeg-Bosnia Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina No 1991–1996
 Hyderabad State  India De facto 1947–1948
Idel-Ural State Russia Russia No 1917–1918
Republic of Ireland Irish Republic  United Kingdom Yes 1919–1922
Islamic Emirate of Kunar  Republic of Afghanistan No 1989–1991
Afghanistan Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan  Islamic State of Afghanistan De facto 1996–2001
Islamic Republic of Imbaba  Egypt No 1989–1992
Jamiat-e Islami  Democratic Republic of Afghanistan No 1982–1989
Republic of Kosova  FR Yugoslavia No 1992–1999
Kharkiv People's Republic Ukraine Ukraine No 2014
 Jiangxi China China No 1931–1937
 Jubaland  Somalia No 1998–2001
Junbish-e Milli  Republic of Afghanistan (until April 28)
 Islamic State of Afghanistan (from April 28)
No 1992–1997
Liberated Yugoslavia  Independent State of Croatia
Occupied Serbia
Yes 1942–1945
 Mongolia China China Yes 1911–1946
 Mozambique  Portugal Yes 1964–1974
Revolutionary Vietnam  South Vietnam No 1969–1976
Republika Srpska Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina No 1991–1995
Red Spears' rebel area in Dengzhou China No 1929
Serbian Krajina  Croatia No 1991–1995
Sudetenland  Czechoslovakia No 1918–1938
Liberia "Taylorland" or Greater Liberia  Liberia No 1990–1995/97
Tamil Eelam  Sri Lanka No 1983–2009
Tibet Tibet China China No 1912–1951
 Ukrainian National Government  Soviet Union,  Nazi Germany No 1941
 Ukrainian People's Republic  Russian Republic,  Russian SFSR Yes 1917–1921
 United States  Great Britain Yes 1776–1783
 West Ukrainian People's Republic  Austria-Hungary,  Poland No 1918–1919
Western Bosnia Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina No 1993–1995
Zapatista Autonomous Municipalities  Mexico De facto 1994–2023
 Zaporozhian Sich Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Yes 16th century–1649

See also

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