Synthetic states.

The world remains the same , its geography remains the same but the political map undergoes changes regularly .  If someone compares a hundred year old map of the world ,with the the present one , we will be surprised to note the changes . Even a fifty year old map will show the difference vividly.  Countries are regularly formed  by mergers, integration, conflicts and dissension. Right now we are witnessing the process of Catalonia trying to break free of Spain . Similarly  we also see the decimation of the self styled and short lived  Islamic state of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) .

Often federation of countries, states or nations are formed under a common flag . Sometimes they hold together , sometimes they don't . USSR and Yugoslavia are prime examples of federation countries imploding away ;  many young people don't even know about them. USA  is a shining example of a federation that has held and maybe India too ; though many staunch nationalists will be up in arms against any attempt to term India as a federation, which it actually is .

Apart from the amalgamation and dissolution process by which countries are formed there has been some examples when a country has been formed arbitrarily in a synthetic manner.  By synthetic , I mean a country that was never in existence before as a political, geographical, historical or a linguistic entity.  It does not consider entities like erstwhile Yugoslavia or present day Malaysia, Indonesia etc.  which were formed by union of different states.

The Republic of Liberia  (1847) is perhaps the first synthetic country formed in the modern world . It was  formed by settlers from USA , who were freed black slaves of America or black people born free there. Thus, there was a distinct racial bias in the formation of this country. Later , this formula was tried to create the two most famous example of synthetic states , which were perhaps the biggest blunders (or mischief) by the receding colonial rulers . In 1947 , Pakistan and in 1948 , Israel  were formed on the basis of religion . The formation of both the countries witnessed mass scale migration of two types never seen before.

Jews from all over the world left their countries of abode to congregate and build the new country of Israel. The birth of Pakistan saw the biggest transfer of population in the history of mankind accompanied with brutal rioting . Pakistan was a more complex idea because it comprised of  two landmasses  separated by about 2000 km. Later , East Pakistan became another country -Bangladesh , in 1971,  on the back of an uprising that had linguistic considerations at its core.

Liberia has survived , only to be ravaged by mis-governance and  bouts of army rule , so typical of African countries. Israel has proved to be a success story as a nation that has held itself against multiple hostile neighbors , wars and constant threat . But its very existence  is always beset with problems and a source of continuous instability in the neighborhood. Pakistan has traveled a tortuous path  alternating between democracy and military rule and beset with myriad problems of which terrorism is the primary one. Though denigrated by many as a failed state , it still has the potential and basic foundation to be a modern state only if it stops its obsession to be one up on its neighbor India and sectarian politics of hate.

Thankfully , not many experiments of synthetic states have been tried further . Because , in the absence of very strong  bonds of  common heritage, religion or language , it is very difficult to build a nation and survive long.