राज्य के कर्तव्य एवं अधिकारों हेतु माण्ट्वीडियो सम्मेलन एक माँट्वीडियो, युरुगुए में December 26, 1933 को अमरीकी राज्यों पर सातवें सम्मेलन के दौरान हस्ताक्षरित संधि थी। इस अन्तरराष्ट्रीय सम्मेलन में संयुक्त राज्य के राष्ट्रपति श्री। फ्रैंक्लिन डी रूज़वेल्ट एवं संयुक्त राष्ट्र राज्य सचिव Cordell Hull ने अच्छे पडो़सी नीति को घोषित किया, जो कि सं राज्य के सशस्त्र मध्यवर्त को अन्तर-अमरीकी घटनाओं में रोकती थी। यह श्री रूज़वेल्ट द्वारा एक कूटनितिक प्रयास था "en:Yankee imperialism," के प्रत्यक्ष ज्ञान की दिशा को पलटने में, जो कि उनके पूर्व अधिकारी थेओडोर रूज़वेल्ट द्वारा चलाया गया था। यह प्रथा 19 राज्यों द्वारा हस्ताक्षरित है जिनमें 3 कुछ आरक्षण सहित हैं सम्युक्त राज्य, ब्राजील एवं पेरू।).
The convention sets out the definition, rights and duties of statehood. Most well-known is article 1, which sets out the four criteria for statehood that have sometimes been recognized as an accurate statement of customary international law:
Furthermore, the first sentence of article 3 explicitly states that "The political existence of the state is independent of recognition by the other states." This is known as the declarative theory of statehood.
Some have questioned whether these criteria are sufficient, as they allow less-recognized entities like the Republic of China or even entirely non-recognized entities like the Principality of Sealand to claim full status as states. According to the alternative constitutive theory of statehood, a state exists only insofar as it is recognized by other states. It should not be confused with the Estrada doctrine.
There have also been attempts to further broaden the convention's definition, although they have gained less support. Founders of non-territorial micronations commonly assert that the requirement in the Montevideo Convention of a defined territory is in some way wrong-headed, for largely unspecified reasons. Some non-territorial entities, notably the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, are indeed considered subjects of international law, but these do not aspire to statehood.
The states that signed this convention are: Honduras, United States of America, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Argentina, Venezuela, Uruguay, Paraguay, Mexico, Panama, Guatemala, Brazil, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Cuba. However, as a restatement of customary international law, the Montevideo Convention merely codified existing legal norms and its principles therefore do not apply merely to the signatories, but to all subjects of international law as a whole.
The European Union, in the principal statement of its Badinter Committee, follows the Montevideo Convention in its definition of a state: by having a territory, a population, and a political authority. The committee also found that the existence of states was a question of fact, while the recognition by other states was purely declaratory and not a determinative factor of statehood. 
Switzerland, although not a member of the European Union, adheres to the same principle, stating that "neither a political unit needs to be recognized to become a state, nor does a state have the obligation to recognize another one. At the same time, neither recognition is enough to create a state, nor does its absence abolish it."