Government, state, and nation throughout human history, governments have been a way for people to organize their societies. state a state is a region controlled by a __________ political entity. A state is also sovereign, meaning it controls its _____________ affairs. A city-state is a powerful city that controls its local surrounding ________________. A nation is a group of people who share some sort of __________________, such as culture, religion, or ethnicity. A nation may not possess a strong ______________ power, such as a government, that rules over the people. Nation-state people often use the word ____________ when describing a nation-state. four characteristics define a nation-state: population, territory, _________________, and _________________