Coalescence
Amazing how terms associated with cosmology can apply to human affairs.
The stuff about Portugal was facetious but still, it remains somewhat a mystery that Spain and Portugal never came together as a nation considering the proximity and cultures, in the way that the other European regions did.
Interesting point regarding Italy. Most people who are familiar with City States would assume, as I did for most of my life, that they ended with ancient Greece. It is hard to imagine that Italy remained disjointed for so long.