the population should be as so much as would be sufficient to perform all the needs of culture, arts, learning, industry, agriculture, defence and civilized life.
and a family who is generally comprises on a few members cannot fulfill all above mentioned needs alone so it cannot be called population.

the people must live on a definite portion of territory of an appropriate size. here i would give the examples of Israel, before occupying the Palestine, the Jews were living in their houses but they were not recognized as a state. a state must have an appropriate territory having enough natural resources within its boundaries for economic and military needs of modern life and defence. A small state cannot defend itself and perfor other functions adequately which a state is expected to perform. The German writer says "The state is a power, and it is a sin for the state to be small" moreover modern tendency is towards economic self sufficiency which is only possible in large sized states. so a family cannot claim its house as a state.

the state plans and acts through the government. it is the government that administers the state, keeps law and orders, formulates the policy of state and organizes the people dwelling within its territory. government is the head of the body.
well family is the basic element of a society, it cannot be called state because if a family lives in a city of any country, all the family members are supposed to act according to the law of that country not according to their own family customs. for example if a boy commits a murder, he cannot be punished by his father according to his father's will. he will be punished by the judiciary according the law of the sate.

it is the most essential element of the state, it means the supreme, original and unlimited power exercised over all persons and association within its boundaries of the state, independent of every outside power. the sovereignty of a state is secured because of economic prosperity, defence power, and military force of the sate and because of the constitution of the state.
in islamic concept of state, Allah is the sovereign. because only He is the omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient.

well when we study the evolution of the state, we come to know that state evolved from a family and tribes to small groups of people. there are so many concepts about the evolution of state. but now we see the states with large population, territory, powerful governments and sovereignty and we cannot confuse state with a small or large family when we see the modern states of this global age.

i have just tried to explain.

regards,

Zobia

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“All significant achievements come from daring, from experiment, from the willingness to risk failure.”