Are there other bodies like the Sovereign Military Order of Malta?

Question

I have always been interested in the evolution of the nation state and governance and a few conversations (and the release of Balaji's new book on Network States) brought me down a bit of a governance rabbit hole and I stumbled back on the Sovereign Order of Malta which is a religious organization for the most part but also still has permanent observer status at the U.N. Are there other such groups that still exist and don't necessarily hold physical territory but still are internationally recognized? If so, why don't they try to purchase land somewhere and create their own state?

Tomte · Accepted Answer

The Holy See and the International Committee of the Red Cross are the two other non-state bodies in international law (V&ouml;lkerrechtssubjekt &mdash; what's the proper English term?).Both hold no lands, but only one of them is explicitly religious.

rdbell · Answer

Pretty interesting.Somaliland and Liberland are interesting stories as well. Kind of the opposite of what you&rsquo;re looking for.

stuuuuuuuuu · Answer

Any suggested resources for someone else interested in the evolution of the nation state?

Are there other bodies like the Sovereign Military Order of Malta?

The Holy See and the International Committee of the Red Cross are the two other non-state bodies in international law (Völkerrechtssubjekt — what's the proper English term?).
Both hold no lands, but only one of them is explicitly religious.

Pretty interesting.
Somaliland and Liberland are interesting stories as well. Kind of the opposite of what you’re looking for.

Any suggested resources for someone else interested in the evolution of the nation state?