ABSTRACT
The human race has lived for millennia in separate territorial compartments–local, tribal, or national– and organized its work, set common goals, and progressed toward them within geographically delineated areas, large or small. In the array of territorial values, absorbed through the process of socialization, the territory itself–the spatial area–appears as an important element by itself because of its assumed durability. In order to physically survive, the majority may not see any rational choice other than to address its demands for order, services, and means of survival to the administrative authority–thus cooperating with it–which, however artificial, illegitimate, and therefore resented it may be, is in charge of territorial tranquillity and welfare. Within nation-states, territorial “linguism” may prove one of the most disruptive and centrifugal forces leading to demands of complete separation. Within the nation-state individuals and groups are simultaneously members of various subnational communities, some of which may have intimate links with related groups or governments abroad.
