11/23/23, 10:32 AM Unitary state - Wikipedia

Unitary state
A unitary state is a sovereign state governed as a single entity in which the
central government is the supreme authority. The central government may
create or abolish administrative divisions (sub-national units).[1] Such units
exercise only the powers that the central government chooses to delegate.
Although political power may be delegated through devolution to regional or
local governments by statute, the central government may override the
decisions of devolved governments, curtail their powers, or expand their
powers. Unitary states in its modern concept originated in France, in the
aftermath of the Hundred Years’ War, national feeling that emerged from the
war unified France. The Hundred Years' War accelerated the process of
transforming France from a feudal monarchy to a unitary state. The French
Unitary states
then later spread unitary states by conquests, throughout Europe during and
after the Napoleonic Wars, and to the world through the vast French colonial Federal states
empire.[2]

Unitary states stand in contrast to federations, also known as federal states. A large majority of the UN member countries, 166 out of
193, have a unitary system of government.[3]

Devolution compared with federalism

A unitary system of government can be considered to be the opposite of federalism. In federations, the provincial/regional governments
share powers with the central government as equal actors through a written constitution, to which the consent of both is required to
make amendments. This means that the sub-national units have a right to existence and powers that cannot be unilaterally changed by
the central government.[4]

There are, however, similarities between federalism and devolution. Devolution within a unitary state, like federalism, may be
symmetrical, with all sub-national units having the same powers and status, or asymmetric, with sub-national units varying in their
powers and status. Many unitary states have no areas possessing a degree of autonomy.[5] In such countries, sub-national regions
cannot decide their own laws. Examples are Romania, Ireland and Norway.

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The spectrum of regional integration or separation

List of unitary states

Italics: States with limited recognition from other sovereign states or intergovernmental organizations.

Unitary republics
Albania
Algeria[1]
Angola
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Bangladesh[1]
Barbados[6]
Belarus
Benin
Bolivia
Botswana
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Cape Verde

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Central African Republic

Chad
Chile
People's Republic of China
Colombia
Democratic Republic of the Congo[1]
Republic of the Congo
Costa Rica
Croatia
Cuba
Cyprus
North Cyprus
Czech Republic
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
East Timor
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Estonia
Fiji
Finland
France
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Ghana
Greece
Guatemala[1]
Guinea

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Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Haiti[1]
Honduras
Hungary
Iceland[1]
Indonesia[1]
Iran
Ireland
Israel
Italy[1]
Ivory Coast
Kazakhstan[1]
Kenya[1]
Kiribati
North Korea
South Korea
Kosovo
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Latvia
Lebanon
Liberia
Libya
Lithuania
Madagascar
Malawi
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Marshall Islands
Mauritania
Mauritius
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Moldova
Mongolia
Montenegro
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nauru
Nicaragua
Niger
North Macedonia
Palau
Palestine
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines[1]
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Rwanda
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
Samoa
San Marino
São Tomé and Príncipe
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
Sri Lanka

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Suriname
Syria
Republic of China (Taiwan)[7]
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Togo
Transnistria
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Uganda[1]
Ukraine
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Vietnam
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe

Unitary monarchies

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is an example of a unitary state. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have
a degree of autonomous devolved power, but such power is delegated by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which may enact laws
unilaterally altering or abolishing devolution. Similarly in Spain, the devolved powers are delegated through the central government.

Andorra
Antigua and Barbuda
Bahrain
The Bahamas
Belize
Bhutan

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Brunei
Cambodia
Denmark[1]
Eswatini
Grenada
Jamaica
Japan[1]
Jordan
Kuwait
Lesotho
Liechtenstein
Luxembourg
Monaco
Morocco[1]
Netherlands
New Zealand[8]
Norway
Oman
Papua New Guinea[4]
Qatar
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Saudi Arabia
Solomon Islands
Spain
Sweden
Thailand
Tonga
Tuvalu
United Kingdom[9][1]
Vatican City

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Unitary states with a unique form of government

Afghanistan (theocratic emirate)[10][11][12]

See also
Centralized government
Constitutional economics
Political economy
Regional state
Rule according to higher law
Unicameralism
Unitary authority

References
1. "What is a Unitary State?" (https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-is-a-unitary-state.html). WorldAtlas. August 2017. Retrieved
2019-02-22.
2. Holmes, Urban T. Jr. & Schutz, Alexander Herman [in German] (1948). A History of the French Language (https://www.questia.com/r
ead/82238646) (revised ed.). Columbus, OH: Harold L. Hedrick. p. 61.
3. "Democracy" (https://web.archive.org/web/20210213090624/https://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/democracy/index.html).
www.un.org. 2015-11-20. Archived from the original (http://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/democracy/index.html) on 2021-02-
13. Retrieved 2019-02-22.
4. Ghai, Yash; Regan, Anthony J. (September 2006). "Unitary state, devolution, autonomy, secession: State building and nation
building in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea" (https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar//handle/123456789/21028). The Round Table. 95
(386): 589–608. doi:10.1080/00358530600931178 (https://doi.org/10.1080%2F00358530600931178). ISSN 0035-8533 (https://ww
w.worldcat.org/issn/0035-8533). S2CID 153980559 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:153980559).
5. "unitary system | government" (https://www.britannica.com/topic/unitary-system). Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2017-08-11.
6. Faulconbridge, Guy; Ellsworth, Brian (2021-11-30). "Barbados ditches Britain's Queen Elizabeth to become a republic" (https://www.
reuters.com/world/prince-charles-travels-barbados-celebrate-creation-republic-2021-11-29/). Reuters. Retrieved 2021-11-30.
7. See also Political status of Taiwan, two Chinas and Cross-Strait relations.
8. "Story: Nation and government – From colony to nation" (https://www.teara.govt.nz/en/nation-and-government/page-2). The
Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 29 August 2013. Retrieved 19 April 2014.

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9. "Social policy in the UK" (https://web.archive.org/web/20140704080747/http://www2.rgu.ac.uk/publicpolicy/introduction/uk.htm). An

introduction to Social Policy. Robert Gordon University – Aberdeen Business School. Archived from the original (http://www2.rgu.ac.
uk/publicpolicy/introduction/uk.htm) on 4 July 2014. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
10. Gul, Ayaz (28 September 2021). "Taliban Say They Will Use Parts of Monarchy Constitution to Run Afghanistan for Now" (https://ww
w.voanews.com/a/taliban-say-they-will-use-parts-of-monarchy-constitution-to-run-afghanistan-for-now/6248880.html). Voice of
America. Islamabad, Pakistan. Retrieved 21 October 2022. "The Taliban said Tuesday they plan to temporarily enact articles from
Afghanistan's 1964 constitution that are 'not in conflict with Islamic Sharia (law)' to govern the country."
11. "1964 Constitution of Afghanistan" (https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=afghanenglish).
University of Nebraska-Omaha. Retrieved 21 October 2022. "Afghanistan is a Constitutional Monarchy; an independent, unitary and
indivisible state."
12. George, Susannah (18 February 2023). "Inside the Taliban campaign to forge a religious emirate" (https://www.washingtonpost.com/
world/interactive/2023/afghanistan-taliban-islamic-law-rights/). The Washington Post. Retrieved 19 February 2023.

External links
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