A nation state is a geographical area that can be identified as deriving its political legitimacy from serving as a sovereign nation. A state is a political and geopolitical entity, while anation is a cultural and ethnic one.The concept of a nation state can be compared and contrasted with that of the multinational state, city state, empire, confederation, and other state formations with which it may overlap. The key distinction is the identification of a people with a polity in the "nation state."The origins and early history of nation states are disputed. A major theoretical question is: "Which came first, the nation or the nation state?"