State

A state was a centralized political organization which ruled over a population within a geographical territory. A state which comprised a city was a city-state, while a state which was congruent with a nation was a nation-state. State sometimes referred to a country, nation, and nation-state, but also smaller administrative divisions of a territory which held local governmental jurisdiction such as with states in the United States of America and Confederate States of America.

In 2266, Robert Crater claimed that before the Earth buffalo went extinct, there had once been millions of them, and one herd had covered three whole states. (TOS: "The Man Trap")

In 2366, Federation Starfleet officer Vice Admiral Haftel ordered Captain Jean-Luc Picard to transport the android Lal, who was Lieutenant Commander Data's daughter, to Haftel's ship. Picard opposed the ordering of a man to hand over his child to the state, and he stated that it would not happen while he was Data's captain. (TNG: "The Offspring")

In 2376, Chakotay claimed that he could name all twenty-six states on Kelemane's planet, one of which was named the Central Protectorate. While the starship USS Voyager was stuck in orbit of the planet, The Doctor recounted that there was a war when he lived in the Central Protectorate, where the neighboring state lobbed a few cannon shells. Later, while the planet's technology continued to advance at a rapid pace due to a time differential, The Doctor mentioned that there was something of a space race going on between the various states, to see who could get to Voyager first with a rocket. (VOY: "Blink of an Eye")