In
international relations, the condition of a
person who is not considered a
national by any existing
state. You can achieve this condition by:
- having your state vanish out from under you, (usually in combination with an inability or unwillingness to adopt the nationality of the successor regime) as in the case of, say, Palestinian refugees.
- renouncing your nationality (expatriation) if such renunciation is recognized by your state
The United Nations has several conventions and multilateral treaties concerning stateless persons; see http://www.unhchr.ch/ for more details.