Sum, sumu, sumon, and somon are a type of administrative district used in Mongolia and nearby areas.

Mongolia

The provinces of Mongolia are subdivided into sums. Mongolia is divided into 21 aymags (provinces). ...

China

In Inner Mongolia, a sumu (Chinese: 苏木; pinyin: sūmù) is a township-level political/administrative division. The sumu division is equivalent to a township but is unique to Inner Mongolia. It is therefore larger than a village and smaller than a banner (the Inner Mongolia equivalent of the county-level division). Inner Mongolia (Mongolian: ᠥᠪᠦᠷ ᠮᠣᠨᠺᠤᠯᠤᠨ ᠥᠪᠡᠷᠲᠡᠺᠡᠨ ᠵᠠᠰᠠᠬᠤ ᠣᠷᠤᠨ r Mongghul-un bertegen Jasaqu Orun; Chinese: 内蒙古自治区; Hanyu Pinyin: N i Měnggǔ Z qū) is an Autonomous Region of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: 汉语拼音; Traditional Chinese: 漢語拼音; Hanyu Pinyin: , lit. ... Due to Chinas large population and area, the political divisions of China have always consisted of several levels since ancient times. ... When referring to Political Divisions of China, township is the standard English translation of the Chinese 乡 (xiāng). ... The village (Chinese:, pinyin: cun) in China serves as organizational (census, mail system) and not so much importance in political representative power. ... A banner (Mongolian: khoshuu, Chinese: 旗, pinyin: qí) is an administrative division of Inner Mongolia. ... Inner Mongolia (Mongolian: ᠥᠪᠦᠷ ᠮᠣᠨᠺᠤᠯᠤᠨ ᠥᠪᠡᠷᠲᠡᠺᠡᠨ ᠵᠠᠰᠠᠬᠤ ᠣᠷᠤᠨ r Mongghul-un bertegen Jasaqu Orun; Chinese: 内蒙古自治区; Hanyu Pinyin: N i Měnggǔ Z qū) is an Autonomous Region of the Peoples Republic of China. ... In the context of Political divisions of China, county is the standard English translation of 县 (xiàn). ...

Sumu whose population is predominated by ethnic minorities are designated ethnic sumu – parallel with the ethnic township in the rest of China. The Peoples Republic of China officially describes itself as a multinational unitary state and as such officially recognizes 56 nationalities or Mínzú (民族), within China: the Han being the majority (>92%), and the remaining 55 nationalities being the national minorities. ... The Peoples Republic of China has created, following Soviet nationality policy, a number of administrative divisions designated as autonomous, although many disagree of their actual autonomy. ... The Peoples Republic of China has created, following Soviet nationality policy, a number of administrative divisions designated as autonomous, although many disagree of their actual autonomy. ...

Russian Federation

In Russia, a sumon is an administrative division of the Tuva Republic, and somon is that of the Buryat Republic. Both are describing the Russian term "selsoviet". The Tuva Republic (Russian: ; Tuvan: Тыва Республика) is a federal subject of Russia (a republic). ... The Buryat Republic (Russian: ; Buryat: Буряад Республика) is a federal subject of the Russian Federation (a republic). ... Selsoviet or selsovet (Russian: сельсове́т, short for се́льский сове́т), literally: rural soviet, was the lowest level administrative subdivision, similar to a rural district, in rural areas in the Soviet Union. ...