A satellite state (sometimes referred to as a client state) is a political term that refers to a country that is formally independent, but under heavy political and economic influence or control by another country. The term was coined by analogy to planetary objects orbiting a larger object, such as smaller moons revolving around larger planets, and is used mainly to refer to Central and Eastern European countries of the Warsaw Pact during the Cold War or to Mongolia between 1924 and 1990, for example.[citation needed] As used for Central and Eastern European countries it implies that the countries in question were "satellites" under the hegemony of the Soviet Union. In some contexts it also refers to other countries in the Soviet sphere of influence during the Cold War—such as North Korea (especially in the years surrounding the Korean War) and Cuba (particularly after it joined the Comecon). In Western usage, the term has seldom been applied to states other than those in the Soviet orbit. In Soviet usage, the term was applied to the states in the orbit of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy.[citation needed]
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