Enthusiast101 at 07:00, 3 May 2022

2022-05-03T07:00:00Z

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{{short description|Territorial entity for administration purposes}}
{{for|administrative division in the sense of a company department|Division (business)}}
{{redirects here|Political division|division into political factions|Political polarization}}
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{{Basic forms of government}}
{{politics}}
'''Administrative division''',<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Administrative divisions - The World Factbook|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/administrative-divisions|access-date=2021-03-26|website=www.cia.gov|archive-date=2021-03-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210325023220/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/administrative-divisions|url-status=live}}</ref> '''administrative unit''',<ref>{{Cite web|title=General maps {{!}} Geospatial, location information for a better world|url=https://www.un.org/geospatial/mapsgeo/generalmaps|access-date=2021-03-26|website=www.un.org|archive-date=2021-04-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410203627/https://www.un.org/geospatial/mapsgeo/generalmaps|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":1">Article 3(1). {{Cite web|title=EUR-Lex - 02003R1059-20191113 - EN - EUR-Lex|url=https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2003/1059|access-date=2021-03-25|website=eur-lex.europa.eu|language=en|archive-date=2021-05-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521123340/https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2003/1059|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> '''administrative region''',<ref>{{Cite web|title=OECD Glossary of Statistical Terms - Administrative regions Definition|url=https://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=6226|access-date=2021-08-27|website=stats.oecd.org|archive-date=2021-08-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827100049/https://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=6226|url-status=live}}</ref> '''subnational entity''', '''constituent state''', as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, independent [[sovereign state]] (country) is divided. Such a unit usually has an administrative authority with the power to take administrative or policy decisions for its area.<ref name=":1" />

Usually, countries have several levels of administrative division. The common names for the principal (largest) administrative divisions are: [[Federated state|states]] (i.e. "subnational states", rather than sovereign states), [[province]]s, [[States of Germany|lands]], [[oblast]]s, [[governorate]]s, [[Canton (administrative division)|canton]]s, [[Prefecture|prefectures]], [[counties]], [[Region#Administrative_regions|regions]], [[Department (administrative division)|departments]], and [[Emirate|emirates]]. These, in turn, are often subdivided into smaller administrative units known by names such as [[Circuit (administrative division)|circuits]], [[county|counties]], [[comarca|''comarcas'']], [[raion]]s, ''[[Județ|județe]]'', or [[District|districts]], which are further subdivided into [[municipality|municipalities]], [[Commune (administrative division)|commune]]s or communities constituting the smallest units of subdivision (the [[Local government|local governments]]).

The exact number of the levels of administrative divisions and their structure largely varies by country (and sometimes within a single country). Usually, the smaller the country is (by area or population), the fewer levels of administrative divisions it has. For example, [[Vatican City|the Vatican]] does not have any administrative subdivisions and [[Monaco]] has only one level, while such countries as [[France]] and [[Pakistan]] have five levels each. The [[United States]] is composed of states, possessions, [[Territory|territories]], and a [[federal district]], each with varying numbers of subdivisions.

The '''principal''' administrative division of a country is sometimes called the "''first-level'' (or ''first-order'') administrative division" or "first administrative level". Its next subdivision might be called "second-level administrative division" or "second administrative level" and so on.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{cite web|title=Global Administrative Unit Layers (GAUL)|publisher=FAO|url=http://www.fao.org/geonetwork/srv/en/metadata.show?id=12691&currTab=simple|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924150111/http://www.fao.org/geonetwork/srv/en/metadata.show?id=12691&currTab=simple|archive-date=24 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Second Administrative Level Boundaries {{!}} Geospatial Information Section & Statistics Division {{!}} United Nations|url=https://www.unsalb.org/|access-date=2021-03-26|archive-date=2021-04-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210404034644/https://www.unsalb.org/|url-status=live}}</ref> An alternative terminology is provided by [[Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics]] which terms the principal division as the second level or NUTS-2.

Administrative divisions are conceptually separate from [[dependent territory|dependent territories]], with the former being an integral part of the state and the other being only under some lesser form of control. However, the term "administrative division" can include dependent territories as well as accepted administrative divisions (for example, in [[geographical database]]s).{{Citation needed}}

Communities united in a [[federation]] under a federal government are more specifically known as federated states. A federated state may be referred to not only as a ''state'', but also as a ''province'', a ''region'', a ''[[canton (country subdivision)|canton]]'', a ''land'', a governorate, an ''oblast'', an emirate or a ''country''.<ref>[http://www.forumfed.org/en/products/magazine/vol8_num2/overview-dependency.php Constituent Units Risk Lengthy Dependency on Federal Aid] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101218004657/http://www.forumfed.org/en/products/magazine/vol8_num2/overview-dependency.php }}. Bird, Richard M (2009). [[Forum of Federations]]. Accessed 2009-11-01.</ref><ref>''The Australian National Dictionary: Fourth Edition'', pg 1395. (2004) Canberra. {{ISBN|978-0-19-551771-2}}.</ref><ref>[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/89503/California California] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150504181415/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/89503/California }}. [[Encyclopædia Britannica]]. Accessed 2009-11-01.</ref>

Administrative units that are not federated or confederated but enjoy a greater degree of [[autonomy]] or self-government than other territories within the same country can be considered constituent states of that country. This relationship is by some authors called a [[federacy]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Stepan |first=Alfred |author-link=Alfred Stepan |title=Federalism and Democracy: Beyond the U.S. Model |url=https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/fesnic/fspub/6_7_Stepan_1999_Federalism_J_of_Dem.pdf |journal=Journal of Democracy |volume=10 |issue=4 |pages=19–34 |year=1999 |doi=10.1353/jod.1999.0072 |s2cid=201765897 }}{{dead link|bot=NormandDew91793 |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> An example is the autonomous republic of [[Karakalpakstan]] within [[Uzbekistan]].<ref>[http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/898586b1dc7b4043c1256a450044f331/8be9009ac37f2d75c1256f17004b6e68/$FILE/G0443118.doc International Covenant On Civil And Political Rights] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010055933/http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/898586b1dc7b4043c1256a450044f331/8be9009ac37f2d75c1256f17004b6e68/$FILE/G0443118.doc }}, p 5. [[United Nations]] [[Human Rights Committee]]. Accessed 2009-11-01.</ref>

== Examples of administrative divisions ==
=== English terms ===
[[File:Blank Map World Secondary Political Divisions.svg|thumb|upright=1.8|World political divisions]]
In many of the following terms originating from British cultural influence, areas of relatively low mean population density might bear a title of an entity one would expect to be either larger or smaller. There is no fixed rule, for "[[all politics is local]]" as is perhaps well demonstrated by their relative lack of systemic order. In the realm of self-government, any of these can and does occur along a stretch of road—which for the most part is passing through rural, unsettled countryside. Since the terms are administrative political divisions of the local regional government, their exact relationship and definitions are subject to [[home rule]] considerations, tradition, as well as [[sovereign state|state]] [[statute law]] and local governmental (administrative) definition and control. In British cultural legacy, some territorial entities began with fairly expansive counties which encompass an appreciably large area, but were divided over time into a number of smaller entities.
Within those entities are the large and small cities or towns, which may or may not be the [[county seat]]. Some of the world's larger cities culturally, if not officially, span several counties, and those crossing state or provincial boundaries have much in common culturally as well, but are rarely incorporated within the same municipal government. Many sister cities share a water boundary, which quite often serves as a border of both cities and counties. For example, [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]] and [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]] appear to the casual traveler as one large city, while locally they each are quite culturally different and occupy different counties.

==== List ====
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
*[[Region|Area]]
*[[Autonomous community]]
*[[Banners of Inner Mongolia|Banner]]
*[[Barangay]]
*[[Barony (county division)|Barony]]
*[[Capital city]]
*[[Canton (administrative division)|Canton]]
*[[County]]
*[[Community (Wales)|Community]]
*[[Constituency]]
*[[Crown Dependencies|Crown Dependency]]
*[[Department (administrative division)|Department]]
*[[District]]
*[[Division (political geography)|Division]]
*[[Duchy]]
*[[Governorate]]
* Legal entity
*[[Hundred (county division)|Hundred]]
*[[Federal subjects]]
*[[Federal monarchy|Kingdom]]
*[[Local council (disambiguation)|Local council]]
*[[Municipality]]
**[[Regional municipality|Regional]]
**[[Regional county municipality|Regional county]]
**[[Rural municipality|Rural]]
*[[Oblast]]
*[[Parish (administrative division)|Parish]]
*[[Prefecture]]
*[[Principality]]
*[[Province]]
*[[Public body (Netherlands)|Public body]]
*[[Region (administrative)|Region]]
*[[Autonomous republic|Republic]]
*[[Riding (division)|Riding]]
*[[Federated state|State]]
*[[Special administrative region (disambiguation)|Special administrative region]]
*[[Territory]]
*[[Theme (Byzantine district)|Theme]]
*[[Voivodeship]]
{{div col end}}

==== Urban or rural regions ====
General terms for these [[incorporated town|incorporated]] places include "[[municipality]]," "[[human settlement|settlement]]," "locality," and "populated place."
*[[Borough]], [[burgh]] or "boro"
*[[City]]
*[[Hamlet (place)|Hamlet]]
*[[Shire]]
*[[Town]]
*[[Township]]
*[[Village]]

==== Indigenous ====
*[[Tribe]]
*[[Indian reservation]]
*[[Indian reserve]]
*[[Band society|Band]]
*[[Ranchería]]

=== Non-English terms ===
{{main list|List of terms for administrative divisions}}
Due to variations in their use worldwide, consistency in the translation of terms from non-English to English is sometimes difficult to maintain.

For example, "country subdivision codes"<ref>{{Cite web|title=ISO 3166-2:2020|url=https://www.iso.org/cms/render/live/en/sites/isoorg/contents/data/standard/07/24/72483.html|url-status=live|access-date=2021-03-26|website=ISO|language=en}}</ref> is a neologism shortening "Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions". This is not about any "country subdivision", rather these are codes per subdivision per country. The original document is in French. For example, such translation results in: "Schweiz (die) is local short country name in German language for the Switzerland."

== See also ==
*[[GADM]], a high-resolution database of country administrative areas.
*[[ISO 3166-2]], specifically ''Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions — Part 2''.
*[[List of administrative division name changes]]
*[[List of etymologies of country subdivision names]]
*[[List of administrative divisions by country]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
*[http://www.unsalb.org SALB] Second Administrative Level Boundaries (SALB) programme of the United Nations.
*[http://www.statoids.com Statoids], an international convention with standardized two-letter-based multi-level summaries of administrative divisions worldwide (e.g. [http://www.statoids.com/ygh.html GH.AH.AS] represents [[Adansi South District|Adansi South]] (AE) in the [[Greater Accra Region|Accra Home]] (AH) [[Regions of Ghana|region of]] Ghana (GH)).

{{Types of administrative division}}
{{Lists of administrative divisions}}

[[Category:Administrative divisions| ]]
[[Category:Types of administrative division| ]]
[[Category:Types of geographical division]]

Administrative division - Revision history

Enthusiast101 at 07:00, 3 May 2022