some thoughts, or nation in ME

[Kuruharan]

dwarves means “whole of the dwarves”

But the Dwarves are divided into different Houses. It is not exactly nations but there are apparently differences between them, and the members of the same House share a degree of unity.

As best as I can understand the King of Durin's Folk has some degree of authority over all of the Longbeards, and I expect that it is the same in the other Houses, although this is more of a clanish or tribal system rather than a nation-state system.