South Africans, South Sudanese, 'Macedonians'

If the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) fulfills all the commitments it made when signing the name deal in Prespes, northern Greece, it will become the fifth country in the United Nations with a geographical qualifier in its name: after South Africa, the Central African Republic, East Timor (also known as Timor-Leste) and more recently South Sudan, which gained its independence in 2011.

A look at their constitutions shows us that in all cases - all of them! - the name of the state is the same as that of the people: "We, the People of South Africa," "Le Peuple Centrafricain," "We, the People of South Sudan," "Povo de Timor-Leste."

The same is the case for citizenship and nationality, which is referred to, everywhere, as South African, South Sudanese, etc. It is taken for granted that the citizens of a state do not identify themselves purely on the...