Federated state

A federated state (which may also be

referred to as a state, a province, a region, a
canton, a land, a governorate, an oblast, an
emirate, or a country) is a territorial and
constitutional community forming part of a
federation.[1] Such states differ from fully
sovereign states, in that they do not have full
sovereign powers, as the sovereign powers
have been divided between the federated
states and the central or federal government.
Importantly, federated states do not have
Federated states of various types exist within many of the
standing as entities of international law.
modern federal states (represented in green color)
Instead, the federal union as a single entity is
the sovereign state for purposes of
international law.[2] Depending on the constitutional structure of a particular federation, a federated
state can hold various degrees of legislative, judicial, and administrative jurisdiction over a defined
geographic territory and is a form of regional government.

In some cases, a federation is created from the union of political entities that are either independent
or dependent territories of another sovereign entity (most commonly a colonial power).[A] In other
cases, federated states have been created out of the administrative divisions of previously unitary
states.[B] Once a federal constitution is formed, the rules governing the relationship between federal
and regional powers become part of the country's constitutional law and not international law.

In countries with federal constitutions, there is a division of power between the central government
and the component states. These entities – states, provinces, counties, cantons, Länder, etc. - are
partially self-governing and are afforded a degree of constitutionally guaranteed autonomy that varies
substantially from one federation to another.[C] Depending on the form the decentralization of powers
takes, a federated state's legislative powers may or may not be overruled or vetoed by the federal
government. Laws governing the relationship between federal and regional powers can be amended
through the national or federal constitution, and, if they exist, state constitutions as well.

In terms of internal politics, federated states can have republican or monarchical forms of
government. Those of republican form (federated republics) are usually called states (like states of the
US) or republics (like republics in the former USSR).

List of constituents by federation

The federated units in the table below have inherent governmental authority in the federation's
constitutional system, while the "other units" are delegated authority by the federal government or are
administered directly by it.
Federation Federated units Other units

Argentina[3] 23 provinces:
Buenos Aires Misiones
Catamarca Neuquén
Chaco Río Negro
Chubut Salta
Córdoba San Juan
1 autonomous city:
Corrientes San Luis
Buenos Aires[D]
Entre Ríos Santa Cruz
Formosa Santa Fe
Jujuy Santiago del Estero
La Pampa Tierra del Fuego
La Rioja Tucumán
Mendoza

Australia[4] 3 internal territories:

Australian Capital
Territory[D]
Jervis Bay Territory
Northern Territory

7 external territories:
Ashmore and Cartier
6 states:
Islands
New South Wales Tasmania
Australian Antarctic
Queensland Victoria Territory
South Australia Western Australia Christmas Island
Cocos (Keeling)
Islands
Coral Sea Islands
Territory
Heard Island and
McDonald Islands
Norfolk Island

Austria[5] 9 states:
Vienna[D] Tyrol
Lower Austria Carinthia
Upper Austria Salzburg
Styria Vorarlberg
Burgenland

Belgium[6] 3 regions:[E]
Flanders
Wallonia
Brussels[D]

3 communities:[F]
Flemish
French
German-speaking
 Bosnia and 2 entities:[G]
Herzegovina Republika Srpska
Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is itself a federation

of 10 cantons:
Una-Sana
Posavina 1 self-governing district:
Brčko (officially
Tuzla
condominium of both
Zenica-Doboj constituents)
Bosnian Podrinje
Central Bosnia
Herzegovina-Neretva
West Herzegovina
Sarajevo[D]
Canton 10[7]

Brazil[8] 26 states:
Acre
Amapá
Amazonas
Pará
Rondônia
Roraima
Tocantins
Alagoas
Bahia
Ceará
Maranhão
Paraíba
Pernambuco
Piauí
Rio Grande do Norte
Sergipe
Goiás
Mato Grosso
Mato Grosso do Sul
Espírito Santo
Minas Gerais
Rio de Janeiro
São Paulo
Paraná
Rio Grande do Sul
Santa Catarina

1 federal district:
Distrito Federal[D][H]

Canada[9] 10 provinces: 3 territories:

 Alberta Northwest Territories
British Columbia Nunavut
Manitoba Yukon
New Brunswick
Newfoundland and Labrador
Nova Scotia
Ontario
Prince Edward Island
Quebec
Saskatchewan

Comoros 3 islands:[G]
Anjouan
Grande Comore
Mohéli

Ethiopia[10] 11 regions:
Afar
Amhara
Benishangul-Gumuz
Gambela
2 chartered cities:
Harari
Addis Ababa[D]
Oromia
Dire Dawa
Sidama
Somali
South West
Southern
Tigray

Germany[11] 16 states:
Baden-Württemberg
Bavaria
Berlin[D]
Brandenburg
Bremen
Hamburg
Hesse
Lower Saxony
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
North Rhine-Westphalia
Rhineland-Palatinate
Saarland
Saxony
Saxony-Anhalt
Schleswig-Holstein
Thuringia

India[12] 28 states: 8 union territories:

Andhra Pradesh Andaman and
Arunachal Pradesh Nicobar Islands
 Assam Chandigarh
Bihar Dadra and Nagar
Chhattisgarh Haveli and Daman and Diu
National Capital
Goa
Territory of Delhi[D]
Gujarat
Jammu and Kashmir[I]
Haryana
Himachal Pradesh Ladakh[I]
Jharkhand Lakshadweep
Karnataka Puducherry
Kerala
Madhya Pradesh
Maharashtra
Manipur
Meghalaya
Mizoram
Nagaland
Odisha
Punjab
Rajasthan
Sikkim
Tamil Nadu
Telangana
Tripura
Uttar Pradesh
Uttarakhand
West Bengal

Iraq[13] 19 governorates:
Al Anbar Diyala Najaf
Arbil Dohuk Nineveh 1 autonomous region:
Babil Halabja Al-Qādisiyyah Iraqi Kurdistan[G]
Baghdad[D] Karbala Saladin (region overlaps the area
Kirkuk Sulaymaniyah of the governorates)
Basra
Dhi Qar Maysan Wasit
Muthanna

Malaysia[14] 13 states:
Johor Perak
Kedah Perlis 3 federal territories:
Kelantan Sabah Putrajaya
Malacca Sarawak Kuala Lumpur[D]
Negeri Sembilan Selangor Labuan
Pahang Terengganu
Penang

Mexico[15] 31 states:
Aguascalientes Campeche
Baja California Chiapas
Baja California Sur Chihuahua
 Coahuila Puebla
Colima Querétaro
Durango Quintana Roo
Guanajuato San Luis Potosí
Guerrero Sinaloa
Hidalgo Sonora
Jalisco Tabasco
México Tamaulipas
Michoacán Tlaxcala
Morelos Veracruz
Nayarit Yucatán
Nuevo León Zacatecas
Oaxaca

1 autonomous city:
Mexico City[D]

Micronesia[16] 4 states:
Chuuk
Kosrae
Pohnpei
Yap

Nepal 7 provinces:
Bagmati Koshi Sudurpashchim
Gandaki Lumbini
Karnali Madhesh

Nigeria[17] 36 states:
Abia Ekiti Nasarawa
Adamawa Enugu Niger
Akwa Ibom Gombe Ogun
Anambra Imo Ondo
Bauchi Jigawa Osun 1 territory:
Bayelsa Kaduna Oyo Federal Capital
Benue Kano Plateau Territory[D]
Borno Katsina Rivers
Cross River Kebbi Sokoto
Delta Kogi Taraba
Ebonyi Kwara Yobe
Edo Lagos Zamfara

Pakistan[18] 4 provinces: 2 autonomous

Balochistan territories:[G]
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Azad Jammu and
Punjab Kashmir[I]
Sindh Gilgit-Baltistan[I]

1 federal territory:

Islamabad Capital
Territory[D]
Russia[19][20] 46 oblasts:
Amur Omsk
Arkhangelsk Orenburg
Astrakhan Oryol
Belgorod Penza
Bryansk Pskov
Chelyabinsk Rostov
Irkutsk Ryazan
Ivanovo Sakhalin
Kaliningrad Samara
Kaluga Saratov
Kemerovo Smolensk
Kirov Sverdlovsk
Kostroma Tambov
Kurgan Tomsk
Kursk Tver
Leningrad Tula
Lipetsk Tyumen
Magadan Ulyanovsk
Moscow Oblast Vladimir
Murmansk Volgograd
Nizhny Novgorod Vologda
Novgorod Voronezh
Novosibirsk Yaroslavl

21 republics:[G]
Adygea Karachay-Cherkessia
Altai Republic Karelia
Bashkortostan Khakassia
Buryatia Komi
Chechnya Mari El
Chuvashia Mordovia
Dagestan North Ossetia-Alania
Ingushetia Sakha
Kabardino-Balkaria Tatarstan
Kalmykia Tuva
Udmurtia

9 krais:
Altai Krai Perm
Kamchatka Primorsky
Khabarovsk Stavropol
Krasnodar Zabaykalsky
Krasnoyarsk

4 autonomous okrugs:[G]
Chukotka
 Khanty–Mansi
Nenets
Yamalo-Nenets

2 federal cities:
Moscow[D]
Saint Petersburg

1 autonomous oblast:[G]
Jewish Autonomous Oblast

Saint Kitts 1 autonomous island: Saint Kitts:

and Nevis Nevis Saint Kitts

5 federal member states:[J]

[21][22]
Somalia Galmudug
Hirshabelle
Jubaland
Puntland
South West[G]

South Sudan 10 states:[23]

Northern Bahr el Ghazal
Western Bahr el Ghazal
Lakes 3 administrative
Warrap areas:[23]
Western Equatoria Abyei[I]
Central Equatoria Pibor
Eastern Equatoria Ruweng
Jonglei
Unity
Upper Nile

Sudan[24] 18 states:
Al Jazirah Kassala
Blue Nile Al Qadarif
Sennar Red Sea
1 special administrative
White Nile Khartoum[D] status area:[25]
Central Darfur
North Kurdufan Abyei[I]
East Darfur South Kurdufan
North Darfur West Kurdufan
South Darfur Northern
West Darfur River Nile

26 cantons:
Switzerland[26] Aargau
Appenzell Ausserrhoden
Appenzell Innerrhoden
Basel-Landschaft
Basel-Stadt
 Bern
Fribourg
Geneva
Glarus
Grisons
Jura
Lucerne
Neuchâtel
Nidwalden
Obwalden
Schaffhausen
Schwyz
Solothurn
St. Gallen
Thurgau
Ticino
Uri
Valais
Vaud
Zug
Zürich

United Arab 7 emirates:

Emirates[27] Abu Dhabi Ras Al Khaimah
Ajman Sharjah
Dubai Umm al-Quwain
Fujairah

United 50 states:
States[28] 1 federal district:
Alabama Maryland
District of Columbia[D]
Alaska Massachusetts
Arizona Michigan
Arkansas Minnesota 1 incorporated territory:
California Mississippi Palmyra Atoll
Colorado Missouri
Connecticut Montana 13 unincorporated
territories:
Delaware Nebraska
American Samoa
Florida Nevada
Guam
Georgia New Hampshire Northern Mariana
Hawaii New Jersey Islands
Idaho New Mexico Puerto Rico
Illinois New York U.S. Virgin Islands
Indiana North Carolina Baker Island · Howland
North Dakota Island · Jarvis Island ·
Iowa
Johnston Atoll · Kingman
Kansas Ohio Reef · Midway Atoll ·
Kentucky Oklahoma Navassa Island · Wake
Island · Bajo Nuevo Bank[I]
Louisiana Oregon
· Serranilla Bank[I]
Maine Pennsylvania
 Rhode Island Vermont
South Carolina Virginia
South Dakota Washington
Tennessee West Virginia
Texas Wisconsin
Utah Wyoming

Venezuela[29] 23 states:
Amazonas Mérida
1 capital district:
Anzoátegui Miranda
Distrito Capital[D]
Apure Monagas
Aragua Nueva Esparta
Barinas Portuguesa
Bolívar Sucre
Carabobo Táchira
1 federal dependency:
Cojedes Trujillo Federal
Delta Amacuro Vargas Dependencies of
Falcón Yaracuy Venezuela
Guárico Zulia
Lara

See also
Associated state
Federal district
Federal territory
Federation
List of administrative divisions by country
List of autonomous areas by country
List of sovereign states
Supranational union
-stan

Notes
A. Examples are Australia and the United States.
B. This occurred in Belgium in 1993. The Belgian regions had previously devolved powers.
C. For instance, Canadian provinces and Swiss cantons possess substantially more powers and
enjoy more protection against interference and infringements from the central government than
most non-Western federations.
D. Federal capital district, region or territory.
E. Flanders and Wallonia are subdivided into five provinces each, which are mandated by the
Constitution of Belgium. Provincial governance is the responsibility of the regional governments.
F. The communities and regions of Belgium are separate government institutions with different areas
of responsibility. The communities are organized based on linguistic boundaries, which are
different from regional boundaries.
G. autonomous area
H. The Brazilian federal district has a level of self-ruling equal to the other main federal units.
I. Sovereignty over territory actively disputed by another sovereign state or the international
community.
J. Adopted constitution accommodates existing regional governments, with the ultimate number and
boundaries of the Federal Member States to be determined by the House of the People of the
Federal Parliament.

References
1. The Australian National Dictionary: Fourth Edition, pg 1395. (2004) Canberra. ISBN 978-0-19-
551771-2.
2. Crawford, J. (2006). The Creation of States in International Law. Oxford, Clarendon Press.
3. Daniel, Kate; Special Broadcasting Service Corporation (2008). SBS World Guide: The Complete
Fact File on Every Country, 16th ed (https://books.google.com/books?id=wU1LMAAACAAJ&q=SB
S+World+Guide:+The+Complete+Fact+File+On+Every+Country). Prahran, Victoria, Australia:
Hardie Grant Books. p. 827. ISBN 978-1-74066-648-0. p26. Archived (https://web.archive.org/we
b/20210727022927/https://books.google.com/books?id=wU1LMAAACAAJ&q=SBS+World+Guide:
+The+Complete+Fact+File+On+Every+Country) from the original on 2021-07-27. Retrieved
2020-11-11.
4. SBS World Guide 2008, p38
5. SBS World Guide 2008, p46
6. SBS World Guide 2008, p74
7. "Decision of the Constitutional Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina on Canton 10"
(http://www.ustavnisudfbih.ba/hr/open_page_nw.php?l=hr&pid=158). Constitutional Court of the
Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20200731121839/ht
tp://www.ustavnisudfbih.ba/hr/open_page_nw.php?l=hr&pid=158) from the original on 31 July
2020. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
8. SBS World Guide 2008, p101
9. SBS World Guide 2008, p132
10. SBS World Guide 2008, p239
11. SBS World Guide 2008, p275
12. SBS World Guide 2008, p328
13. SBS World Guide 2008, p346
14. SBS World Guide 2008, p460
15. SBS World Guide 2008, p481
16. SBS World Guide 2008, p486
17. SBS World Guide 2008, p537
18. SBS World Guide 2008, p549
19. SBS World Guide 2008, p600
20. "Chapter 3. The Federal Structure: Article 65" (http://www.constitution.ru/en/10003000-04.htm).
The Constitution of the Russian Federation. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/201812251322
51/http://www.constitution.ru/en/10003000-04.htm) from the original on 2018-12-25. Retrieved
2010-07-11.
21. "The Federal Republic of Somalia – Harmonized Draft Constitution" (https://web.archive.org/web/2
0130120021519/http://dastuurkeenna.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/120708-Harmonized-Draf
t-Constitution-Eng-Tran-_incl-errata-changes.pdf) (PDF). Federal Republic of Somalia. Archived
from the original (http://dastuurkeenna.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/120708-Harmonized-Dra
ft-Constitution-Eng-Tran-_incl-errata-changes.pdf) (PDF) on 20 January 2013. Retrieved 2 August
2012.
22. "Guidebook to the Somali Draft Provisional Constitution" (https://web.archive.org/web/201301200
21547/http://unpos.unmissions.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=v067edqd7a8%3D&tabid=9705&lang
uage=en-US). Archived from the original (http://unpos.unmissions.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=v0
67edqd7a8%3D&tabid=9705&language=en-US) on 20 January 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
23. Mednick, Sam (2020-02-23). "After 6 years of war, will peace finally come to South Sudan? |
News" (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/02/6-years-war-peace-finally-south-sudan-2002231
14919537.html). Al Jazeera. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20200820130930/https://www.
aljazeera.com/news/2020/02/6-years-war-peace-finally-south-sudan-200223114919537.html)
from the original on 2020-08-20. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
24. SBS World Guide 2008, p687
25. "Sudan: Protocol on the resolution of Abyei conflict – Sudan" (https://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/su
dan-protocol-resolution-abyei-conflict). ReliefWeb. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/2021102
1094030/https://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/sudan-protocol-resolution-abyei-conflict) from the
original on 2021-10-21. Retrieved 2021-10-21.
26. SBS World Guide 2008, p700
27. SBS World Guide 2008, p760
28. SBS World Guide 2008, p774
29. SBS World Guide 2008, p798

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Federated_state&oldid=1174968669"