Declarative theory of statehood

Okay, imagine you have a toy car and you tell your friends that it is your car and it belongs to you. That means you have declared or claimed that the car is yours. In the same way, a group of people (usually a country) can declare themselves as a state. They do this by saying that they have their own government, laws, and the right to control themselves. This is called the "declarative theory of statehood".

Basically, the declarative theory says that a state is a state because the people living within it say it is. They don't need permission from anyone else to declare themselves a state. It's like when you say "I'm the boss of my own room!" Nobody else can decide that for you - if you say it, then it's true. The same goes for a state. If the people within its borders declare themselves a state, then they are one, regardless of what anyone else thinks.