Examples include the Palestinians, the Basques and the Kurds. The European Union is clearly the most successful of these supranational organizations, now comprised of 15 European countries. The shape of a country can be either centripetal or centrifugal. Examples include Poland, France, Uruguay, Zimbabwe. Compact states have built in unity advantages because of the shape which promotes interaction and control relatively easily.
Some states have a largely compact shape but with an elongated extension.
These are known as prorupted states , with the elongated territory being the proruption. The prorupt territory may be quite physically isolated from the rest of the state which may encourage some internal political instability. Norway, Chile, Vietnam are such examples. Some states are comprised of islands or have a territory part of which is on a mainland and part of which is separated. These are known as fragmented states .