Subnational entity is a generic term for an administrative region within a country — on an arbitrary level below that of the sovereign state — typically with a local government encompassing multiple municipalities, counties, or provinces with a certain degree of autonomy in a varying number of matters. Confusingly, in countries that are not nation states, this may well mean that some or all "subnational" entities in reality are also national entities. This article describes a type of political entity. ... This article discusses states as sovereign political entities. ... Local governments are administrative offices of an area smaller than a state. ... A municipality or general-purpose district (compare with: special-purpose district) is an administrative local area generally composed of a clearly defined territory and commonly referring to a city, town, or village government. ... Originally, a county was the land under the jurisdiction of a count (in Great Britain, an earl, though the original earldoms covered larger areas) by reason of that office. ... Province is a name for a secondary, or subnational entity of government in most countries. ... Autonomy is the condition of something that does not depend on anything else. ... -1... A nation is an imagined community of people created by a national ideology, to which certain norms and behavior are usually attributed. ...

Subnational entities are conceptually separate from dependent areas so that the former are included in the core or mainland of the respective state. Dependent areas are territories that for some reason do not enjoy full independence or sovereignty as states. ... This article discusses states as sovereign political entities. ...

Designations

Some of the designations for subnational entities are:

• Autonomous community - Autonomous communities of Spain
• Autonomous region - Political divisions of China
• Bailiwick - Channel Islands
• Bundesland - States of Austria, States of Germany
• Canton - Cantons of Bosnia, Cantons of Switzerland, Cantons of France
• City - Nelson, New Zealand (the only city in the country that is not part of a larger region)
• Commune - Commune in France, Comune of Italy
• Community (subdivision) - Belgium
• County - Counties of Ireland
• Department - Departments of France, Departments of Bolivia
• District
• Krai - Krais of Russia
• Län - Counties of Sweden, Provinces of Finland
• Municipality - Municipality of China, Municipalities_of_Sweden
• Oblast
• Parish
• Periphery - Peripheries of Greece
• Prefecture - Prefectures of Japan
• Province - Provinces of Thailand, Provinces of the Philippines, Political divisions of China, Provinces of Spain, Provinces of Canada
• Region - Regions of Finland, Regions of France, List of regions in New Zealand
• Republic - Republics of Russia
• Subprefecture
• State - U.S. state, Australian states and territories, States and territories of India
• Territory - Provinces and territories of Canada, Chatham Islands
• Voivodship - Voivodships of Poland

Self-governance is an abstract concept that refers to several scales of organization. ... Community is a set of people (or agents in a more abstract sense) with some shared element. ... Spains fifty provinces (provincias) are grouped into seventeen autonomous communities (comunidades aut nomas), in addition to two African autonomous cities (ciudades aut nomas) (Ceuta and Melilla). ... An autonomous region or autonomous district is a subnational region with special powers of self-rule. ... Due to Chinas large population and area, the political divisions of China have always consisted of several levels since ancient times. ... A bailiwick is the area of jurisdiction of a bailiff. ... Alternative meaning: Channel Islands of California The Channel Islands are a group of islands off the coast of Normandy, France, in the English Channel. ... Since Austria is a federal republic according to the constitutional framework of Austrian politics, Austrias nine provinces are customarily referred to as States of Austria or Bundesländer, singular Bundesland. ... Germany is a federation of 16 states called Länder (singular Land) or unofficially Bundesländer (singular Bundesland, German federal state). ... A canton is a territorial subdivision of a country, e. ... Cantons are provincial units used in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. ... The twenty-six cantons of Switzerland are the states of the federal state of Switzerland. ... The canton is an administrative division of France. ... A city is an urban area, differentiated from a town, village, or hamlet by size, population density, importance, or legal status. ... The city of Nelson stands on the eastern side of Tasman Bay at the northern end of the South Island of New Zealand. ... For other meanings, see commune. ... The commune is an administrative division of France. ... In Italy, the commune (comune, plural comuni) is the basic administrative unit of both provinces and regions, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township. ... Originally, a county was the land under the jurisdiction of a count (in Great Britain, an earl, though the original earldoms covered larger areas) by reason of that office. ... The island of Ireland is often referred to as the 32 counties, with its two states, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, being nicknamed respectively the six counties and the twenty-six counties. ... The départements (or departments) are administrative units of France, roughly analogous to British counties and are now grouped into 22 metropolitan and four overseas régions. ... The départements (or departments) are administrative units of France, roughly analogous to British counties and are now grouped into 22 metropolitan and four overseas régions. ... Bolivia is divided into nine departments (capitals in parentheses)- Departmento Beni (Trinidad) Departmento Chuquisaca (Sucre) Departmento Cochabamba (Cochabamba) Departmento La Paz (La Paz) Departmento Oruro (Oruro) Departmento Pando (Cobija) Departmento Potosí (Potosí) Departmento Santa Cruz (Santa Cruz) Departmento Tarija (Tarija) Each of the departments is subdivided into provincias. ... Districts are a form of local government in several countries. ... Krai (Russian: край; British English transliteration: kray, compare Polish kraj), often translated as region, territory, or province, is a term used to refer to several of Russias 89 administrative regions (federal subjects). ... The Russian Federation is divided into 89 subjects (administrative units), 6 of which are krais: Altai Krai Khabarovsk Krai Krasnodar Krai Krasnoyarsk Krai Primorsky Krai Stavropol Krai See also Republics of Russia Oblasts of Russia Autonomous Districts of Russia Autonomous Oblasts of Russia Federal cities of Russia Categories: Krais of... Län and lääni are the Swedish and Finnish terms for the administrative divisions used in Sweden and Finland, and sometimes in other countries, especially as a translation of the Russian word oblast. ... A County, or Län, is an administrative and political subdivision of Sweden. ... Finland consists of 6 provinces (Finnish: läänit, Swedish: län), following a 1997 redesign that reduced their number from 12. ... A municipality or general-purpose district (compare with: special-purpose district) is an administrative local area generally composed of a clearly defined territory and commonly referring to a city, town, or village government. ... Direct-controlled municipalities are the highest-level cities in China, with status equal to that of the provinces. ... The Municipalities or Kommuner represent the local level of self government in Sweden. ... An oblast (Russian, Ukrainian: о́бласть) is a name for the subnational entity of Bulgaria, Russian Federation, Ukraine, and the former Soviet Union. ... A parish is a subdivision of a diocese or bishopric within the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Church of Sweden, and of some other churches. ... The peripheries (περιφέρειες) are the subnational subdivisions of Greece. ... The term prefecture has been used to denote a self-governing body or area since the time of Constantine I, who divided the Roman Empire into 4 districts (each divided into dioceses). ... Map of the prefectures of Japan in ISO 3166-2:JP order. ... Province is a name for a secondary, or subnational entity of government in most countries. ... Thailand is divided into 76 provinces (Thai: จังหวัด, changwat, singular and plural), which are grouped into 5 groups of provinces - sometimes the East and Central are grouped together. ... Map of the Philippines showing all the regions and their provinces. ... Due to Chinas large population and area, the political divisions of China have always consisted of several levels since ancient times. ... In addition to its seventeen autonomous communities, Spain is divided into fifty provinces. ... Canada consists of ten provinces and three territories. ... A region can be any area that has some unifying feature. ... Finland is divided into 20 regions (maakunta/landskap in Finnish/Swedish). ... France is divided into 26 régions, further subdivided into départements. ... Regions is the formal term for the top tier of local government in New Zealand. ... In a broad definition a republic is a state or country that is led by people that dont found their power status on any principle beyond the control of the people living in that state or country. ... The Russian Federation is divided into 89 federal subjects (administrative units), 21 of which are republics: Constitutional Status Republics differ from other federal subjects in that they have the right to establish their own official language (Article 68 of the Constitution of Russia). ... Subprefecture is an administrative level that is below prefecture or province. ... In some federations, a province (subnational entity) is called a state. ... A U.S. state is any one of the 50 states which have membership of the federation known as the United States of America (USA or U.S.). The separate state governments and the U.S. federal government share sovereignty. ... Australia, having a federal system of government, is divided into states and territories. ... India is subdivided into 28 states, 6 union territories and a national capital territory. ... A territory is a defined area (including land and waters), usually considered to be a possession of an animal, person, organization, or institution. ... Canada consists of ten provinces and three territories. ... The Chatham Islands from Space. ... A Voivodship ( Romanian: Voievodat, Polish: Województwo, Serbian: Vojvodstvo or Vojvodina) was a feudal state in medieval Romania, Hungary, Poland, Russia and Serbia (see Vojvodina), ruled by a Voivod. ... A voivodship (in Polish województwo) has been a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland since the 14th century. ...

Compare:

• Country (a national or supra-national entity)
• Empire (a supra-national entity)
• State (a national or supra-national entity)

This article describes a type of political entity. ... For alternative meanings, see Empire (disambiguation) An empire (also known technically, abstractly or disparagingly as an imperium, and with powers known among Romans as imperium) comprises a set of regions locally ruled by governors, viceroys or client kings in the name of an emperor. ... This article discusses states as sovereign political entities. ...

See also

• List of subnational entities by country
• List of capitals of subnational entities
• List of subnational name etymologies
• List of the most populous subnational entities
• list of the largest subnational entities by area

This is a list of current subnational entities by country: See also: ISO 3166-2 country subdivision codes based on ISO 3166-1 country codes. ... List of capitals of subnational entities covers currently the following national entities: #A-C: Angola, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Peoples Republic of China, Colombia, Cuba, Czech Republic, #D-F: Denmark, Finland, France, #G-L: Germany, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Ireland, Japan... This article provides a collection of the etymology of the names of subnational entities. ... This is a list of the most populous subnational entities in the world in order of population. ... This is a list of the largest subnational entities by area in square kilometres. ...