Declarative theory of statehood

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The declarative theory of statehood defines a state as a person of international law that meets certain structural criteria.

A document that is often quoted on the matter to is the Montevideo Convention (1933), Article 1 of which states:

The state as a person of international law should possess the following qualifications: (a) a permanent population; (b) a defined territory; (c) government; and (d) capacity to enter into relations with the other states.

Article 3 of the Convention declares that statehood is independent of recognition by other states. Recognition is considered a requirement for statehood by the constitutive theory of statehood.

A similar opinion about "the conditions on which an entity constitutes a state" is expressed by the European Community Opinions of the Badinter Arbitration Committee. The Committee found that a state was defined by having a territory, a population, and a political authority. The committee also found that the existence and disappearance of states was a question of fact, while the recognition by other states was purely declaratory.