You make some good points.
Geographical realities such as islands, rivers and mountainous are indeed important in the formation of nation-states. Nation-states are of course different from the multi-ethnic historical states. The latter were merely political entities. Nation-states have an ethnic and cultural component. Could we say states preceded nation-states?
I think insular people tend to be more xenophobic.
Other than that the ideas behind nationalism was spread to the rest of Europe with Napoleon.
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Originally Posted by Dr Fred
More or less. There are human contructs and nations made out of natural/ethnic boundaries. England (or Japan, or Ireland or Spain) is the opposite of Belgium in this matter, there is a geographical reality in the existance of England, since it is delimited naturally by sea except the border to Scotland (I am not sure what made the scottish border) and Wales, which is a natural reality too (mountains). Belgium is completely artifical. Italy might be modern but there is still a geographical reality for the existence of Italy. It is no hasard that the most nationalistic people in the world are insular people (naturally defined by sea) and nations naturally defined by mountains.
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