Independence\u00a0is a condition of a person, nation, country, or\u00a0state\u00a0in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise\u00a0self-government, and usually\u00a0sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of a\u00a0dependent territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Definition of independence<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whether the attainment of independence is different from revolution has long been contested, and has often been debated over the question of violence as\u00a0legitimate\u00a0means to achieving sovereignty.[2]\u00a0In general, revolutions aim only to redistribute power with or without an element of emancipation, such as in\u00a0democratization\u00a0within\u00a0a state, which as such may remain unaltered. For example, the\u00a0Mexican Revolution\u00a0(1917) chiefly refers to a multi-factional conflict that eventually led to a\u00a0new constitution; it has rarely been used to refer to the\u00a0armed struggle\u00a0(1821) against Spain. However, some\u00a0wars of independence\u00a0have been described as revolutions, such as the ones in the\u00a0United States\u00a0(1783) and\u00a0Indonesia\u00a0(1949), while some revolutions that were specifically about a change in the political structure have resulted in breakaway states. Mongolia\u00a0and\u00a0Finland, for example, gained their independence during the revolutions occurring in\u00a0China\u00a0(1911) and\u00a0Russia\u00a0(1917) respectively. Causes for a country or province wishing to seek independence are many, but most can be summed up as a feeling of inequality compared to the dominant power. The means can extend from intended peaceful demonstrations as in the case of\u00a0India\u00a0(1947), to a\u00a0violent war\u00a0as in the case of\u00a0Algeria\u00a0(1962). In some cases, a country may also have declared independence, but may only be partially recognized by other countries; such as\u00a0Kosovo\u00a0(2008), whose independence\u00a0Serbia, from which Kosovo has seceded, has\u00a0not recognized.[3][4][5]<\/p>\n\n\n\n