A sovereign state must have a permanent population, defined territory, one government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states. It is also a factor to be considered that a state is not dependent on any other power or state.

According to the declarative theory of state recognition, a sovereign state can exist without being recognized by other sovereign states, the unrecognized state will have difficulty to exercise full treaty-making powers and also engage in diplomatic relations with other sovereign states.