The enlightened, teachers, scholars, et al in the house should assist me with this one... I was placed in a quagmire position this morning whilst in the middle of a conversation the difference between a state and a nation resulted to a heated substantial argument between I and my colleagues... So I would like more clarification from the educated in the house..... STATE and NATION......c'est meme?

A country is a self-governing political entity. The term country can be used interchangeably with a state. A nation, however, is a tightly-knit group of people that share a common culture or background.

A state is a political entity having a sovereignty over a spatial entity or piece of land, no matter the size. The piece of land occupied is well and clearly demarcated to prevent an interference from other state.
The people making up the state run the political, economical and social affair of the state.

A Nation is just a group of people, tribe or race who share common culture and tradition and see themselves different from the surrounding group eg Biafra.

Limitless72:
The enlightened, teachers, scholars, et al in the
house should assist me with this one... I was placed
in a quagmire position this morning whilst in the
middle of a conversation the difference between a
state and a nation resulted to a heated substantial
argument between I and my colleagues...
So I would like more clarification from the educated
in the house.....
STATE and NATION......c'est meme?

The dude above has given you the difference. Let me gloss it with example; Nigeria is a state and Biafra is a nation.

A nation is a group of people with Common heritage, culture, religion , ethnicity and language.

While a State is fixed geographical expression of a particular region which comprises of 4 elements- population, territory, government, and sovereignty.

A state is a political expression and organisation, while a nation is social, cultural and political organisation. A state can not exist in the absence of any of the 4 elements, bt a nation does.
A State is defined by territory bt a nation is not restricted to territory.

There can be multi nationals within a state

Tolexander:
A state is a political entity having a sovereignty over a spatial entity or piece of land, no matter the size. The piece of land occupied is well and clearly demarcated to prevent an interference from other state.
The people making up the state run the political, economical and social affair of the state.

A Nation is just a group of people, tribe or race who share common culture and tradition and see themselves different from the surrounding group eg Biafra.

So you saying literally that a state must posses supreme power free from external influence/control to manage its affairs and resources....and without sovereignty a state loses its existence( like sovereignty is the SOUL of a state..)

While a nation on the other hand are just a group of people connected together by common heritage, historical background, language, beliefs, and culture.....

as a layman,I'll say a nation is an autonomous state e.g,Lagos is a nation in Nigeria... am I confused,abi wetin we go talk when pekin get sense pass him papa.