Possession is nine-tenths of the law. If a group of people settle or conquer a plot of land (or body of water, or server farm, or some other thing that can be possessed), and they can control that property, then that property belongs to them and they are _the owners_. The larger and more complex the property, the harder it is for only one person to: * hold it -- keep someone else from taking it, and * control it -- limit access to it and determine how it should be used. That is why larger or more complex properties tend to be owned by companies (groups of people, who work together to achieve some particular objective). That company coordinates to hold (defend) and control (govern) the property, and to settle internal and external disputes (mediate) concerning the property. It may decide to levy fees to support that effort, including from people using the property that are not owners of it, or from people who wish to become owners. But disputes often begin to accumulate and the members of the company decide to formalize its structure with a charter (a sovereign owner granting rights to someone else) or a constitution (a sovereign owner granting itself rights, often by declaring God the sovereign and claiming that Natural Law determined that they are the rightful owners, due to their possession and control of the property). That company is then incorporated, and can raise taxes (general levies for running the corporation) and fees (levies demanded for some particular service). That corporation is then called a government. HTH