population; (b) a defined territory; (c) government; (d) capacity to enter into relations with other states.’ and Indeed, in some instances consideration of this element alone will be decisive. Examples of areas that are not recognised states under international law include contested areas like Western Sahara, areas on the Sudan and South Sudan borders (such as Abeyei) and Palestine. In situations where there are differences of opinion between various other states regarding an entity's statehood, it would be relevant to consider whether South Africa has an official stance towards that entity. It may also be relevant to consider whether the entity has received large-scale recognition of statehood by other states or whether it has become a member state of the United Nations.73 (2) What are the laws of the state? The next step is to examine the issue of whether the individual is or is ‘not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law.’ Every state with which the client has links must be assessed. A good resource for citizenship law is www.refworld.org. It is also wise to contact the foreign missions of the states in question to obtain reliable and up to date citizenship laws. Should the literal letter of the law of these countries reveal that the client does not qualify as a national, the client can likely be determined to fall within the definition of a ‘stateless person’. It may be necessary to obtain written confirmation from a foreign mission that a client is not a citizen of that state when presenting the client's case to the South African government (in order to obtain protection through an exemption). Does the client have a claim to citizenship by birth or by descent? Most countries grant citizenship either on the basis of birth on the territory (jus soli), birth to a national (jus sanguini), or a combination of the two. As a result, the client may be able to access the nationality of the country in which they were born (if the law of this country grants nationality jus soli) and/or the client may be able to access the nationality of his/her parents through nationality by descent (if the law of the country of the parents grants nationality jus sanguini). 73 44 UNHCR Definition Guidelines (n 7 above) para 13. Promoting citizenship and preventing statelessness in South Africa: A practitioner’s guide