Explain the concept of TERRITORY

State is the most important subject of international law. It can be defined as a population, living in a definite territory that has government which is supreme. The said definition brings forth four important  elements  of  a  state  i.e.  population,  territory,  government  and  sovereignty.  It  is important to note, if any of these elements is missing, there can be no state. Territory remains a cardinal element of state, as even a nomadic tribe fulfills all the three elements of a state, meaning thereby, it has a population, a leader (that can be termed as its government) who is supreme over all other individuals of the tribe (element of sovereignty) but even then it does not qualify as a state. The reason being the absence of a definite territory. For afore mentioned reasons, the concept of territory is one of the most important areas of international law. Other concepts of international law such as sovereignty and jurisdiction depend on the existence of territory. In this section we would examine territory as a concept, the way it is administered and acquisition of territory.