http://geography.about.com/cs/politicalgeog/a/statenation.

htm
While the terms country, state, and nation are often used interchangeably, there is a difference.

A State (note the capital "S") is a self-governing political entity. The term State can be used interchangeably with country.

A nation, however, is a tightly-knit group of people which share a common culture. A nation-state is a nation which has the same
borders as a State.

States and Independent Countries

Let's start with what defines a State or an independent country. An independent State:

 Has space or territory which has internationally recognized boundaries (boundary disputes are OK).
 Has people who live there on an ongoing basis.
 Has economic activity and an organized economy. A country regulates foreign and domestic trade and issues money.
 Has the power of social engineering, such as education.
 Has a transportation system for moving goods and people.
 Has a government which provides public services and police power.
 Has sovereignty. No other State should have power over the country's territory.
 Has external recognition. A country has been "voted into the club" by other countries.
There are currently 195 independent countries or States around the world. Territories of countries or individual parts of a country
are not countries in their own right.

Examples of entities that are not countries include: Hong Kong, Bermuda, Greenland, Puerto Rico, and most notably the
constituent parts of the United Kingdom. (Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and England are not countries.)

A "state" (with a lower-case "s") is usually a division of a federal State (such as the states of the United States of America).

Nations and Nation-States

Nations are culturally homogeneous groups of people, larger than a single tribe or community, which share a common language,
institutions, religion, and historical experience.

When a nation of people have a State or country of their own, it is called a nation-state. Places like France, Egypt, Germany, and
Japan are excellent examples of nation-states. There are some States which have two nations, such as Canada and Belgium. Even
with its multicultural society, the United States is also referred to as a nation-state because of the shared American "culture."

There are nations without States. For example, the Kurds are stateless people.

http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/rightsandfreedoms/a/federalism.htm

Federalism: National vs. State Government

The powers of national and state governments
The U.S. Constitution establishes a government based on "federalism," or the sharing of power between the national, and state
(and local) governments. Our power-sharing form of government is the opposite of "centralized" governments, such as those in
England and France, under which national government maintains total power.
While each of the 50 states has its own constitution, all provisions of state constitutions must comply with the U.S. Constitution.
For example, a state constitution cannot deny accused criminals the right to a trial by jury, as assured by the U.S. Constitution's
6th Amendment.

Under the U.S. Constitution, both the national and state governments are granted certain exclusive powers and share other
powers.

Exclusive Powers of the National Government

Under the Constitution, powers reserved to the national government include:

 Print money (bills and coins)

 Declare war

 Establish an army and navy

 Enter into treaties with foreign governments

 Regulate commerce between states and international trade

 Establish post offices and issue postage

 Make laws necessary to enforce the Constitution

Exclusive Powers of State Governments

Powers reserved to state governments include:

 Establish local governments

 Issue licenses (driver, hunting, marriage, etc.)

 Regulate intrastate (within the state) commerce

 Conduct elections

 Ratify amendments to the U.S. Constitution

 Provide for public health and safety

 Exercise powers neither delegated to the national government or prohibited from the states by the U.S.
 Constitution (For example, setting legal drinking and smoking ages.)

Powers Shared by National and State Government

Shared, or "concurrent" powers include:

 Setting up courts
 Creating and collecting taxes

 Building highways

 Borrowing money

 Making and enforcing laws

 Chartering banks and corporations

 Spending money for the betterment of the general welfare

 Taking (condemning) private property with just compensation

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_difference_between_a_state_and_a_nation

Answer
In political science, a "nation" refers to a group of people who feel bound into a single body by shared
culture, values, folkways, religion and/or language. A "state" just refers to a patch of land with a
sovereign government. States often coincide with nations (and are called "nation-states," but not
always. States that overlap multiple nations tend to have civil wars; states that exclude parts of a
nation tend to have wars with the neighboring state(s) that contain the rest of the nation.

Answer
Depending on the source, there are 189, 191, 192, 193, 194 or 195 states in the world today and
800+ nations.

State: The accepted definition of a state was supplied by Max Weber in his book Politics as
a Vocation: "A sovereign entity (rules itself), within a defined/specific territory (in defined borders),
that holds a monopoly of the legitimate use of violence in the enforcement of its order. An empire
does not have borders as it chooses to continually advance them. A state does not necessarily rule a
people with a common culture, it is merely a political concept. Examples of a state: Iraq/Yemen/any
state in the United Nations.

A nation is a body of people who share a real or imagined common history, culture, identity, religion,
morality, language, traditions, ethnicity or ethnic origin; typically inhabit a particular
country/territory/region. Examples of a nation: the Kurds, which reside in northern Iraq and parts of
Turkey; the Basque, which inhabit parts of northern Spain and southern France; the Palestinians.

Nation-State: Countries where the social concept of "nation" coincides with the political concept of
"state" are called nation-state. Examples of a nation-state: France, USA, Israel.

http://mydailyclarity.com/2009/04/is-the-concept-of-a-nation-state-still-relevant/

http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/stewart1/English

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-nation-state.htm