Anarchangel: WP+NODEL Start

2011-02-06T20:32:40Z

WP+NODEL Start

New page

{{WP+NODEL|Country subdivision}}
Infrastructural and administrative subdivisions of countries, or anything that performs those functions whose classifications are subdivided. Geographical in the larger sense of geography, as being concerned with the economy and geologic resources and even the society of countries ([[Human geography]] [[Wikipedia:Human geography|(WP)]], and to avoid the incompleteness of 'Country subdivisions', the original title (many services and social entities that can be categorized in this way are not specific to current states, even ones shown here, such as Banking and Boy Scouts).

A country subdivision is a part of a [[Wikipedia:country]]'s territory. As such it can, apart from land-based territory also include [[Wikipedia:territorial waters]].

Subdivisions of a country's territory exist to support specific tasks. Local government, postal addressing, observance of official time, gathering information for census or votes in elections or arrangement of competitions are tasks for which countries are often subdivided into smaller parts.

In some countries certain subdivisions are used for a large variety of tasks, e.g. the territories defined by the [[Wikipedia:departments of France]], primarily existing as administrative subdivisions, are also used for [[Wikipedia:postal codes in France|postal code zones]] and have been used as primary zones for [[Wikipedia:Telephone numbers in France|geographic telephone numbers in France]].
[[File:Gini_Coefficient_World_CIA_Report_2009.png|thumb|500px|''Click on image for original, larger version.'' Differences in national income equality around the world as measured by the national [[Wikipedia:Gini coefficient]]. International organizations, such as the [[United Nations]] and [[CIA]], classify international subdivisions. The [[Gini coefficient]] is a number between 0 and 1, where 0 corresponds with perfect equality (where everyone has the same income) and 1 corresponds with perfect inequality (where one person has all the income, and everyone else has zero income)]]

==Use of the term "subdivision"==
===Subdivision as an act===
* International Bureau of the American Republics in ''Hand book of the American republics'' - 1891: ''the present arrangement of the country's subdivision into States under the new constitution'', referring to the [[Wikipedia:states of Brazil]] <ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=jxJPV_nVcnEC&q=%22Country+subdivision%22 Hand book of the American republics, p.56]</ref>
* [[Wikipedia:Chase Manhattan Bank]] - 1964 The European markets: a guide for American businessmen: "''As a result of the country's subdivision into rather autonomous cantons''" <ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=Z9G5AAAAIAAJ&q=%22Country+subdivision%22 Chase Manhattan Bank - 1964 The European markets: a guide for American businessmen]</ref>

===Subdivision, Sub-division or Sub-Division as a territory===
* [[Wikipedia:Statistics Canada]] 2003-01-20: "[[Wikipedia:Census Subdivision]]" <ref>http://geodepot.statcan.ca/Diss/Reference/COGG/ShortDescription_e.cfm?GEO_LEVEL=10&TUTORIAL=1&ABBRV=CSD</ref>
* In India a [[Wikipedia:Subdivisions_of_India#Sub-divisions|Sub-division or Sub-Division]] is a term for a specific type of territory below a district. Example: "[[Wikipedia:Udaipur Sub-Division]]" <ref>[http://southtripura.nic.in/tribalwf/Boarding%20House%20for%20ST%20students.htm Use of the term Sub-Division in Tripura]</ref>

===Subdivision of a country as a territory===
* [[Wikipedia:USCIS]]/ [[Wikipedia:Immigration and Nationality Act]]: ACT 241 - DETENTION AND REMOVAL OF ALIENS ORDERED REMOVED: "''to a country, or a political or territorial '''subdivision of a country'''''" <ref>[http://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/SLB/HTML/SLB/0-0-0-1/0-0-0-29/0-0-0-6631.html uscis.gov]</ref>
* [[Wikipedia:USSEC]] Final Rule: Offer and Sale of Securities to Canadian Tax-Deferred Retirement Savings Accounts Rule: "''the government of any foreign country or of any political '''subdivision of a''' foreign '''country'''''" <ref>[http://www.sec.gov/rules/final/33-7860.htm sec.gov]</ref>
* Labeling Imported Wines With Multistate Appellations (2008R-265P): "''A state, province, territory, or similar '''political subdivision of a country''' equivalent to a state or county''" <ref>[http://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2010/11/03/2010-27736/labeling-imported-wines-with-multistate-appellations-2008r-265p#p-26 federalregister.gov]</ref>
* BBC in definition of data fields - 2002 : ''first subdivision of a country'' - examples: Federal states, LÃ¤nder, Scotland, ''second subdivision of a country'' - examples: Provence, South-East England, Schwaben, ''third subdivision of a country'' - examples: "County, Kreis, Department, Kanton" <ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/travelnews/xml/loc/loc06.htm 29 October 2002, Timothy Hilgenberg, BBC]</ref>

===Country subdivision as a compound noun referring to a territory===
* [[Wikipedia:National Council for Geographic Education]] - The Journal of geography, Volume 26 - 1927 "''Each '''country subdivision''' (variously called states or provinces in South America) is given a number''"<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=2F8VAAAAIAAJ&q=%22Country+subdivision%22 The Journal of geography, Volume 26, p.271]</ref>
* [[Wikipedia:International Organization for Standardization]] in [[Wikipedia:ISO 3166-2]], 1998: ''Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions - Part 2: '''Country subdivision''' code'' - the term "country subdivision" is used in the title of the standard. The text clarifies that ''ISO 3166-2 contains a complete breakdown into a '''relevant''' level of '''administrative''' subdivisions of all countries'' <ref>[http://www.iso.org/iso/country_codes/background_on_iso_3166/iso_3166-2.htm iso.org]</ref>, thus the standard only refers to a specific kind of country subdivisions, namely administrative ones.
** ''Part 2: '''Country subdivision''' code which gives codes for the names of the '''principal''' subdivisions (e.g provinces or states) of all countries'' - <ref>http://phinvads.cdc.gov/vads/ViewValueSet.action?id=99020EE0-BF11-DF11-80E4-0015173D1785</ref>
* [[Wikipedia:Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]] CDC, description of PHIN vocabulary <ref>[http://phinvads.cdc.gov/vads/DownloadCodeSystemRepresentation.action phinvads.cdc.gov PHIN VOCABULARY ACCESS AND DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM (VADS) CODE SYSTEM REPRESENTATION IN PHIN VADS - Version 1.0 - 1/30/2009]</ref>
** "''contains '''country subdivision''' codes''"
** "''Preferred concept name has been created by concatenating the ISO 3166-2 '''country subdivision''' concept name''", Example: Concept name - "A CoruÃ±a", Preferred Concept Name - "A CoruÃ±a, ES"<ref>[http://phinvads.cdc.gov/vads/ViewValueSetConcept.action?id=50BBA8C6-C011-DF11-80E4-0015173D1785 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Example for ''country subdivision concept name'']</ref>
** "''Country Subdivision type (Province, State)''"
* [[Wikipedia:Food and Drug Administration]] USFDA: "''country subdivision and/or mail/zip code''" ... "''page displays with the new country in static text and the '''Country Subdivision''' drop-down list contains applicable subdivisions for that country.''", "''Business Name; Street Address; '''Country Subdivision'''''" <ref>[https://www.access.fda.gov/pn/html/help/Prior_Notices.htm FDA]</ref>
* Hamilton A. Tyler, Keith S. Brown, Kent H. Wilson - 1994: "''for each country from N to S. Each locality is followed by its state, department or province ('''country subdivision''', in parentheses)''" <ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=RJPwAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Country+subdivision%22 Swallowtail butterflies of the Americas: a study in biological dynamics, ecological diversity, biosystematics, and conservation]</ref>

==Comparison with other geographic areas==
A country subdivision is an abstract creation and distinct from a landform as studied in [[Wikipedia:physical geography]], e.g. a [[Wikipedia:Drainage basin|basin]], a [[Wikipedia:desert]], a forest, a [[Wikipedia:valley]]. Nevertheless, the border of a country subdivision can be influenced by physical characteristics of an area or also match the borders of a [[Wikipedia:landform]] exactly.

{| class="wikitable"
! Type of area
! Abstraction
! Examples
|-
| Group of countries
| abstract
| [[Wikipedia:European Union]], [[Wikipedia:Eurozone]], [[Wikipedia:Union of South American Nations]]
|-
| Country
| abstract
| [[Wikipedia:Australia]]
|-
| Country subdivision
| abstract
| [[Wikipedia:Artemisa Province]], [[Wikipedia:United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit]]
|-
| Landform
| non-abstract
| [[Wikipedia:Atlantic Ocean]], [[Wikipedia:Amazon Basin]], [[Wikipedia:Africa]]
|}

==Amount of tasks, changes of tasks==
The amount of tasks performed within the borders of a specific country subdivision varies, e.g. the [[Wikipedia:departments of France]] had been used not only as a basis for enacting laws but also car license plates, [[Wikipedia:telephone numbers in France|telephone number prefixes]] and [[Wikipedia:postal codes in France|postal code zones]] were based on the departmental borders.

Some entities also lose certain functions, e.g. the [[Wikipedia:Traditional districts of Denmark]], have once been administrative but are now only used to identify location in some cases. A similar loss of functionality applies to the counties in England, now named [[Wikipedia:ceremonial counties of England|ceremonial counties]].

==Differences in territorial coverage==
Some maps as illustration of the differences in territorial coverage, United States:
<gallery>
File:USFederalRegions.svg|10 Standard Federal Regions
File:U.S. Census Bureau Regions.svg|US Census Bureau Regions
File:US 9 regions.svg|US Census Bureau - 4 official regions, 9 official divisions
File:Regions of the Forest Service.jpg|9 Regional Areas of the [[Wikipedia:United States Forest Service|Forest Service]]
File:National-atlas-timezones-2006.gif|6 time zones
File:US Court of Appeals and District Court map.svg|12 [[Wikipedia:United States federal judicial circuits|geographic Court of Appeals districts]], incl. 1 for D.C.
File:ZIP code zones.png|10 [[Wikipedia:ZIP code]] zones
File:LATAs.png|[[Wikipedia:Local access and transport area]] (LATA) used in U.S. telecommunications regulation.
File:Boy Scouts of America regional division map.svg|Boy Scouts of America regional division
File:EGRID NERC.gif|10 [[Wikipedia:Emissions & Generation Resource Integrated Database (eGRID)|EGRID]] NERC Regions,
File:EGRIDSubregionmap.jpg|24 EGRID Subregions
File:FEMA regions.png|10 [[Wikipedia:Federal Emergency Management Agency|FEMA]] regions
File:Federal Reserve Districts Map.svg|12 [[Wikipedia:Federal Reserve Bank]]s
File:Weather Forecast Offices.PNG|122 regions of the [[Wikipedia:National Weather Service]]
</gallery>

Netherlands:
<gallery>
File:Landsdeel.png|[[Wikipedia:NUTS:NL|4 NUTS 1 regions - "Landsdeel"]]
File:Netnummers in Nederland.png|6 primary telephone prefix areas
File:Postcodes in Nederland.gif|[[Wikipedia:Postal codes in the Netherlands|9 primary postal code regions]]
File:2012-Politieregios-0650.png|10 Police regions (2012)
File:2011-Justitie-Regs-versie10-0650.png|10 Judical regions "arrondissements", 4 "resorts"
File:NederlandseProvinciesLarge.png|12 NUTS 2 regions - [[Wikipedia:provinces of the Netherlands|provinces]]
File:Politie-public-600.png|25 Police regions (1993)
File:Ambulance-public-600.png|[[Wikipedia:Emergency medical services in the Netherlands|25 ambulance regions]]
File:2011-Waterschappen-Prov-nl1250px-logo.png|26 [[Wikipedia:Water boards]]
File:Coropgebieden plain.png|40 NUTS 3 regions - [[Wikipedia:COROP]] (Statistical areas)
File:2010-PC2-Prov-650px.png|Second-level post code areas (2-digits)
File:Telefoondistricten nederland 1952.svg|1952 telephone regions
</gallery>

==Country subdivisions by type of task==
Specific tasks may include, administration, collection of information, coordination of observed time, arrangement of sport competitions etc.

===Administrative division===
{{main|Wikipedia:Administrative division}}
[[Wikipedia:Administrative division]] are used to directly administer or govern a specific territory, i.e. special laws for that territory may exist.

A few countries have administrative divisions that are themselves called "[[Wikipedia:Division (country subdivision)|division]]" or "[[Wikipedia:Subdivision (administrative division)|subdivision]]".

====ISO 3166-2====
In [[Wikipedia:ISO 3166-2]] (''Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions - Part 2: Country subdivision code'') the term "country subdivision" is used in the title of the standard. The text clarifies that ''ISO 3166-2 contains a complete breakdown into a '''relevant''' level of '''administrative''' subdivisions of all countries'' <ref>[http://www.iso.org/iso/country_codes/background_on_iso_3166/iso_3166-2.htm iso.org]</ref>, thus the standard only refers to a specific kind of country subdivisions.

===Census division===
{{main|Wikipedia:Census division}}
Census divisions are divisions of a territory for the purpose to perform a [[Wikipedia:census]], e.g. [[Wikipedia:census geographic unit]]s, [[Wikipedia:census metropolitan area]]s, and [[Wikipedia:census subdivision]].

In North America, "Census division" and "census subdivision" are themselves types of census divisions.

===Electoral division===
{{main|Wikipedia:Electoral district}}
An electoral division is a distinct territorial subdivision for holding a separate election for one or more seats in a legislative body. Effectively it groups together the people that make up the [[Wikipedia:constituency|body of eligible voters]] within a specific territory.

In some countries these terms or their native equivalents are used to identify types of administrative country subdivisions; for example, the [[Wikipedia:constituencies of Namibia]]. The term [[Wikipedia:Ward (country subdivision)|ward]] is used in both ways.

===Irrigation district===
{{Main|Wikipedia:Irrigation district}}

===Judicial district===
{{Main|Wikipedia:Legal district}}
A [[Wikipedia:legal district]] or judicial district denotes the territorial area for which a legal [[Wikipedia:court (law)|court]] has [[Wikipedia:jurisdiction]].

===Military district===
{{Main|Wikipedia:Military district}}
Military districts are [[Wikipedia:formation (military)|formation]]s of a state's armed forces which are responsible for a certain area of territory. They are often more responsible for administrative than operational matters, and in countries with conscript forces, often handle parts of the conscription cycle.

[[Wikipedia:Navies]] have also used a similar model, with organizations such as the [[Wikipedia:United States naval districts]]. A number of navies in South America used naval districts at various points in time.

===Police district===
{{Main|Wikipedia:Police division}}

===Postal district===
{{Main|Wikipedia:Postal code}}
Some countries have [[Wikipedia:postal code]] zones. In the UK there also existed [[Wikipedia:postal counties]].

===Sanitary district===
{{Main|Wikipedia:Sanitary district}}

===Sport district===
Sport organizations sometimes create their own territorial groupings to arrange competitions. The territories can follow administrative subdivision boundaries, but can also create new regions, e.g. in Germany the [[Wikipedia:FuÃŸball-Regionalliga]] groups states together. In the British Isles, [[Wikipedia:The Football Association]] groups England, a part of the [[Wikipedia:United Kingdom]] with the three [[Wikipedia:Crown dependencies]] of [[Wikipedia:Jersey]], [[Wikipedia:Guernsey]] and the [[Wikipedia:Isle of Man]]. This grouping is not a territorial subdivision of a country.

===Statistical division===
The European Union's [[Wikipedia:Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics]] define areas to be used for statistical purposes.

===Telephone dialing prefix division===
{{Main|Wikipedia:Telephone numbering plan}}
Most countries have a geographic numbering plan included in their telephone numbering plan.

[[Wikipedia:Area codes in the United States]] do not relate directly to administrative divisions. E.g. [[Wikipedia:area code 207]] covers only area in the state of [[Wikipedia:Maine]], while the reverse is not true, and some part of Maine is covered by a code mainly used in the neighboring country of Canada.

===Water district===
{{Main|Wikipedia:Water board}}
Some countries divide their territory to organize [[Wikipedia:fresh water]] supply.

===Other types===
Other types of country subdivision include [[Wikipedia:Regional planning|planning or]] [[Wikipedia:development region]]s, [[Wikipedia:school district]]s, [[Wikipedia:special-purpose district]]s, [[Wikipedia:time zone]]s, and [[Wikipedia:transport region]]s.

==See also==
* [[Wikipedia:Supranationalism]]
* [[Wikipedia:Trade bloc]]

== References ==
{{reflist|2}}

[[Category:Subdivisions by country| ]][[Category:Human geography]][[Category:Infrastructural subdivisions]][[Category:Geographical subdivisions]][[Category:Human geography]]
[[da:Subnational enhed]][[id:Pembagian negara]][[ja:å›½ã®åœ°æ–¹åŒºåˆ†]][[pt:SubdivisÃ£o de paÃs]][[ro:Subdiviziunea unei È›Äƒri]]

Geographical subdivisions - Revision history

Anarchangel: WP+NODEL Start