Looking to build on my understanding of city states and I am having trouble finding information through Google. If the questions below amount too closely for asking for an outright history lesson, I will gladly accept some sources that seem to focus on the questions I have.
How large were ancient city states? Off of this, did they often include smaller villages within their borders?
Were there ever unclaimed lands between city states or nation states that people would reside in communities?
Was there often dispute between nation states and city states over the sovereignty of the city states that bordered nation's?
Has there been examples of or was it common for a city state to be encompassed by the land of a Nation state?
I know of wars between city states such as Athens and Sparta, but was this the norm through history? What was this aggression largely based on (I assume resources and land)?
u/Iphikrates provided me with a great answer to a similar question awhile back that may be of some help to you here. The Copenhagen Polis Center he mentions in one of his answers includes detailed information about city-states in the ancient Greek world and beyond.
Many city states did include surrounding villages and smaller settlements. If you define these vaguely enough - all city states I am aware of would fall into this category.
One useful thing to keep in mind thinking about city states, especially of the Greek kind, is that Athens and Sparta are aberrations, not the norm of the Greek world. They were significantly larger, both geographically, and in terms of population than many other poleis, as well as more politically consolidated.