You can refer to countries as states, particularly when you are discussing politics.

Some large countries such as the USA are divided into smaller areas called states .

The USA is sometimes referred to as the States .

You can refer to the government of a country as the state .

State industries or organizations are financed and organized by the government rather than private companies.

A state occasion is a formal one involving the head of a country.

When you talk about the state of someone or something, you are referring to the condition they are in or what they are like at a particular time.

If you state something, you say or write it in a formal or definite way.

If you say that someone is not in a fit state to do something, you mean that they are too upset or ill to do it.

If you are in a state or if you get into a state, you are very upset or nervous about something.

If the dead body of an important person lies in state, it is publicly displayed for a few days before it is buried.