A nation with ships yes, but understandably one with a collective psyche perpetually at odds with much of the galaxy.

An 'individual' in my nation would be a massive microbial mat and everything that feeds on it, meaning it's entirely possible for a planet to describe its population as four even as it houses billions of critters.  The critters themselves are distinct, but they are constantly under the influence of the mat mind and thus cannot be properly called individuals with free will.