View source for Administrative division

{{short description|Territorial entity for administration purposes}}
{{for|administrative division in the sense of a company department|Division (business)}}
{{redirect|Political division|division into political factions|Political polarization}}
{{Basic forms of government}}
{{politics}}

'''Administrative divisions'''<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=Central Intelligence Agency |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> (also '''administrative units''',<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=United Nations |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">{{Cite web |at=Article 3(1) |title=02003R1059-20191113 |url=https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2003/1059|access-date=2021-03-25|website=EUR-Lex |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 regions''',<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=OECD Statistics |date=August 26, 2004 |archive-date=2021-08-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827100049/https://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=6226|url-status=dead }}</ref> '''subnational entities''', or '''constituent states''', as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent [[sovereign state]] 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" /> Administrative divisions are often used as polygons in [[geospatial analysis]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Polygon Simplification for the Efficient Approximate Analytics of Georeferenced Big Data |url=https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/23/19/8178}}</ref>

== Description ==
Usually, [[sovereign state]]s have several levels of administrative division. Common names for the principal (largest) administrative divisions include: [[Federated state|states]] (subnational states, rather than sovereign states), [[province]]s, [[States of Germany#States|lands]], [[oblast]]s and [[Region#Administrative regions|regions]]. These in turn are often subdivided into smaller administrative units known by names such as [[comarca]]s, [[raion]]s or [[district]]s, which are further subdivided into [[municipality|municipalities]], [[Commune (administrative division)|commune]]s or communities constituting the smallest units of subdivision (the [[local government]]s). Some administrative division names (such as [[Department (administrative division)|departments]], [[Canton (administrative division)|canton]]s, [[prefecture]]s, [[County|counties]] or [[governorate]]s) can be used for principal, second-level, or third-level divisions.

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]] does not have any administrative subdivisions, and [[Monaco]] has only one level (both are [[city-states]]), 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 |website=GeoNetwork |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=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Second Administrative Level Boundaries {{!}} Geospatial Information Section & Statistics Division {{!}} United Nations|url=https://www.unsalb.org/ |website=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=dead }}</ref> An alternative terminology is provided by the [[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|date=March 2021}}

Communities united in a [[federation]] under a federal government are more specifically known as [[federated state]]s. A federated state may be referred to as a province, region, canton, land, governorate, oblast, emirate, or country.<ref>{{cite web |url-status=dead |url=http://www.forumfed.org/en/products/magazine/vol8_num2/overview-dependency.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101218004657/http://www.forumfed.org/en/products/magazine/vol8_num2/overview-dependency.php |archive-date=2010-12-18 |last1=Bird |first1=Richard M |website= [[Forum of Federations]] |access-date=2009-11-01 |date= 2009 |title=Overview: Constituent units risk lengthy dependency on federal aid }}</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 |date=2015-05-04 }}. [[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 [[Autonomous administrative division|autonomous regions]] or de facto constituent states of that country. This relationship is by some authors called a [[federacy]] or [[asymmetric federalism]].<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|date=April 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |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 |date=2017-10-10 }}, p 5. United Nations [[Human Rights Committee]]. Accessed 2009-11-01.</ref>

== Examples ==
[[File:Blank Map World Secondary Political Divisions.svg|thumb|upright=1.8|World political divisions]]

=== Terminology ===
Due to variations in their use worldwide, consistency in the translation of terms from non-English to English is sometimes difficult to maintain. 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 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 ====
{{main list|List of terms for administrative divisions
}}
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
*[[Region|Area]]
*[[Autonomous community]]
*[[Banners of Inner Mongolia|Banner]]
*[[Barangay]]
*[[Barony (county division)|Barony]]
*[[Capital city]]
*[[Canton (administrative division)|Canton]]
*[[Cantref]]
*[[County]]
*[[Community (Wales)|Community]]
*[[Constituency]]
*[[Crown Dependencies|Crown Dependency]]
*[[Department (administrative division)|Department]]
*[[District]]
*[[Division (political geography)|Division]]
*[[Duchy]]
*[[Federal subjects]]
*[[Governorate]]
*[[Hundred (county division)|Hundred]]
*[[Kampong]]
*[[Federal monarchy|Kingdom]]
* Legal entity
*[[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]]
*[[Regency (Indonesia)|Regency]]
*[[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]]
*[[Local service district (disambiguation)|Local service district]]
*[[Shire]]
*[[Town]]
*[[Township]]
*[[Village]]
*[[Ward (electoral subdivision)|Ward]]

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

== 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&nbsp;— Part 2''.
*[[List of administrative division name changes]]
*[[List of etymologies of administrative divisions]]
*[[List of administrative divisions by country]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
*[http://www.unsalb.org SALB] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140115100427/http://www.unsalb.org/ |date=2014-01-15 }} 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}}
{{Authority control}}

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