Sovereign state 'De facto' and 'de jure' states
 Most sovereign states are states 'de jure' and 'de facto'. This means they exist both in law and in real life. However, sometimes states are only 'de jure' states. This means that other states see a group as the true government of a place where they have no actual control. An example today is the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, which is a United Nations observer, has  with 104 states. Many people agree that Somaliland is such a state.