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Viceroyalty

2025-10-27T14:30:46Z

2A02:8012:227B:0:A468:4D01:5F84:7728:

{{Short description|Political entity headed by a viceroy}}
{{Basic Forms of government}}

A '''viceroyalty''' was an entity headed by a [[viceroy]]. It dates back to the [[Spanish colonization of the Americas]] in the sixteenth century.

==British Empire==
===India===
* [[British Raj|India]] was governed by the [[Governor-General of India|Governor-General and Viceroy of India]] from 1858 to 1947, commonly shortened to "Viceroy of India".
===Ireland===
* [[Kingdom of Ireland|Ireland]] was governed by the [[Lord Lieutenant of Ireland]], who was the representative of the British Monarchy in Ireland from the Williamite period until independence, was also called the Viceroy of Ireland.

==France==
* [[Viceroyalty of New France]]

==Portuguese Empire==
In the scope of the [[Portuguese Empire]], the term "[[Viceroyalty of Brazil]]" is also occasionally used to designate the colonial [[State of Brazil]], in the historic period while its governors had the title of "Viceroy". Some of the governors of [[Portuguese India]] were also called "Viceroy".

* [[Viceroyalty of Brazil]]
* [[List of governors of Portuguese India|Governors of Portuguese India]]

==Russian Empire==
* [[List of viceroyalties of the Russian Empire]]

==Spanish Empire==
The '''viceroyalty''' ({{langx|es|virreinato}}) was a local, political, social, and administrative institution, created by the [[Monarchy of Spain|Spanish monarchy]] in the sixteenth century, for ruling its overseas territories.<ref>{{cite web|title=viceroyalty|url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/viceroyalty|website=The Free Dictionary}}</ref>

The administration over the vast territories of the [[Spanish Empire]] was carried out by [[viceroy]]s, who became governors of an area, which was considered not as a colony but as a province of the empire, with the same rights as any other province in [[Peninsular Spain]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Madariaga|first1=Salvador de|title=El auge y el ocaso del imperio español en América|date=1986|publisher=Espasa-Calpe|location=Madrid|isbn=9788423949434|edition=Tercera|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/elaugeyelocasode0000mada}}</ref>

=== Europe ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Name
!Capital or main city
!Dates
!Later status
|-
|[[Kingdom of Aragon|Viceroyalty of Aragon]]
|[[Zaragoza]]
|1517–1707
|[[Nueva Planta decrees|Integrated]] into the [[Spain|Kingdom of Spain]]
|-
|[[Principality of Catalonia|Viceroyalty of Catalonia]]
|[[Barcelona]]
|1520–1716
|[[Nueva Planta decrees|Integrated]] into the [[Spain|Kingdom of Spain]]
|-
|[[Kingdom of Galicia|Viceroyalty of Galicia]]
|[[Santiago de Compostela]]
|1486–?
|Integrated into the [[Spain|Kingdom of Spain]]
|-
|[[Kingdom of Majorca|Viceroyalty of Majorca]]
|[[Palma de Mallorca|Palma de Majorca]]
|1520–1715
|[[Nueva Planta decrees|Integrated]] into the [[Spain|Kingdom of Spain]]
|-
|[[List of viceroys of Naples|Viceroyalty of Naples]]
|[[Naples]]
|1504–1707
|[[Peace of Rastatt|Ceded]] to [[Habsburg monarchy|Austria]]
|-
|[[Kingdom of Navarre|Viceroyalty of Navarre]]
|[[Pamplona]]
|1512–1841
|[[End of Basque home rule in Spain|Integrated]] into the [[Spain|Kingdom of Spain]]
|-
|[[Kingdom of Portugal|Viceroyalty of Portugal]]
|[[Lisbon]]
|1580–1640
|[[Portuguese Restoration War|Achieved independence]] as [[Kingdom of Portugal|Portugal]]
|-
| rowspan="2" |[[List of viceroys of Sardinia|Viceroyalty of Sardinia]]
| rowspan="2" |[[Cagliari]]
|1417–1714
|[[Peace of Rastatt|Ceded]] to [[Habsburg monarchy|Austria]]
|-
|1717–1720
|[[Treaty of The Hague (1720)|Ceded]] to [[Piedmont-Sardinia|Savoy]]
|-
|[[List of viceroys of Sicily|Viceroyalty of Sicily]]
|[[Palermo]]
|1415–1713
|[[Peace of Utrecht|Ceded]] to [[Savoyard state|Savoy]]
|-
|[[Kingdom of Valencia|Viceroyalty of Valencia]]
|[[Valencia]]
|1520–1707
|[[Nueva Planta decrees|Integrated]] into the [[Spain|Kingdom of Spain]]
|}

=== America and Asia ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Name
!Capital or main city
!Dates
!Later status
|-
| rowspan="3" |[[Viceroyalty of New Granada]]
| rowspan="3" |[[Bogotá|Santa Fe de Bogotá]]
|1717–1723
|[[Bourbon Reforms|Integrated]] into [[Viceroyalty of Peru|Peru]]
|-
|1739–1810
|[[Colombian War of Independence|Achieved independence]] as [[United Provinces of New Granada|New Granada]]
|-
|1815–1822
|[[Colombian War of Independence|Achieved independence]] as [[Colombia]]
|-
|[[Viceroyalty of New Spain]]
|[[Mexico City]]
|1535–1821
|[[Mexican War of Independence|Achieved independence]] as [[Mexico]]
|-
|[[Viceroyalty of Peru]]
|[[Lima]]
|1542–1824
|[[Peruvian War of Independence|Achieved independence]] as [[Peru]]
|-
|[[Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata]]
|[[Buenos Aires]]
|1776–1810
|[[Argentinian War of Independence|Achieved independence]] as [[Argentina]]
|-
|[[Columbian Viceroyalty|Viceroyalty of the Indies]]
|[[Santo Domingo]]
|1492–1535
|[[Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire|Became]] the Viceroyalty of New Spain
|}

==== Controversy over whether the American Viceroyalties were Colonies or Provinces ====
According to the lawyer [[Fernando de Trazegnies]], the status of the Viceroyalties was like that of a Kingdom among the Kingdoms of the Indies, and that the fact that [[Legal pluralism|legal Pluralism]] was practiced in [[:es:Derecho_indiano|Derecho Indiano]] would be sufficient proof that the Crown did not seek to practice a Exploitative colonialism (where local institutions, which protect the socioeconomic rights of the [[Vassal]] people, are ignored, under the excuse of the [[Right of conquest|Right of Conquest]]), if not political integration into the [[Spanish Empire|Hispanic Monarchy]] in the same plural way that had already been done with the rest of its territories in Europe, based on the characteristic [[Fuero|Fueros]] of the traditional and [[Composite monarchy|composite Monarchy]] that maintained the regional laws of each nation integrated into the [[Monarchy of Spain|Spanish Monarchy]] (and that was even practiced within peninsular Spain after the [[Reconquista]], such as the [[:es:Fueros_de_Aragón|Fueros of Aragón]] or the [[Fueros of Navarre|Fueros of Navarra]]). This would be evidenced by the creation of the [[Indian political society|República de Indios]] in which the political traditions of indigenous [[customary law]] would remain alive as a state within the several states that made up the Composite Monarchy, or the desire of the [[Spanish conquistadors]] to make [[:es:Pactismo|pacts]] with the [[Cacique|Natural Lords]] of the new lands (indigenous nobility and chiefs) to legitimize the conquest in [[natural law]] and integrate them into the [[Manorialism|seigneurial system]], respecting the sovereignty of the natives and their ethnic [[Lordship|lordships]], which could not be deprived of their rights and was only possible its annexation to the Spanish Empire through [[Indian auxiliaries|alliance pacts]] (whose conditions of such pacts had to include the part of the indigenous sovereign, protector of the [[Estates of the realm|common]] Indian).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Granda |first=Fernando de Trazegnies |date=2011-11-01 |title=Pluralismo jurídico en el derecho indiano |url=https://revistas.pucp.edu.pe/index.php/themis/article/view/9073 |journal=THEMIS Revista de Derecho |language=es |issue=60 |pages=341–345 |issn=1810-9934}}</ref>
{{Quote|text="However, although there was only one Crown, the diversity of the kingdoms was maintained, with their own jurisdictions, with their national law. So, when taking possession of America, the Crown of Castile proceeded in a similar way as in Spain for manage diversity; and this is how he recognizes two great kingdoms: that of New Spain (today Mexico) and that of New Castilla (today Peru). And his first reaction is to govern them in the same plural form as in Spain, that is, integrating local customs and authorities within a larger political perspective represented by the Crown of Castile (...) aims to create two “republics” under the same Crown: the “republic of Spaniards” and the “republic of Indians”, each with their own authorities and rules, although both subject to the mandates of the Crown. As it was evident that the Spanish King could not personally govern such distant towns and territories, he established that such kingdoms are Viceroyalties, that is, political spaces with their own identity that are in charge of a personal representative of the Monarch, who was the Viceroy. This was not an oppressive political form that placed the people governed by the Viceroy in inferior conditions. Nor is it an invention specially designed to subdue the American Indians. Viceroyalties exist in Europe and the Spanish Crown itself has governed some of the different Hispanic kingdoms in this way; Thus, Valencia and Naples were viceroyalties of Aragon and, after the annexation of Navarre to the Crown of Castile, it remained as a viceroyalty (...) It is not surprising then that this new dynasty, known as the Austrias, used a pluralistic imperial model also to annex the new lands of America. On the other hand, the Papal Bull itself, which granted the Catholic Monarchs the dominion of these new lands, established the Supreme and Universal Principality for the Crown of Castile, but did not deprive the kings and natural lords of the Indies of their lordships."|author=Fernando de Trazegnies}}
At the same time, the Spanish Empire itself and the [[Council of the Indies]] did not perceive the American Viceroyalties as possessions analogous to the [[Factory (trading post)|Factories]] or administrative Colonies, in the style of other empires with a more [[Mercantilism|Mercantilist]] behavior towards the Natives of their non-European possessions, but rather perceived the Viceroyalties as [[Overseas province|overseas Provinces]], with rights equivalent in hierarchy to those of the rest of the provinces of the [[Crown of Castile]] (according to the [[Laws of the Indies]]), of which they were an integral part.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Levene |first=Ricardo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KHdqAAAAMAAJ |title=Las Indias no eran colonias |date=1973 |publisher=Espasa-Calpe |isbn=978-84-239-1060-1 |language=es}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Büschges |first=Christian |date=2008 |title=De reinos, virreinatos y colonias: las relaciones centro-periferia en la monarquía hispánica y la independencia de hispanoamérica (Debate) |url=http://repositorio.uasb.edu.ec/handle/10644/415 |journal=Procesos: Revista ecuatoriana de historia. |issn=1390-0099 |hdl=10644/415}}</ref> Even the word colony would not have been used in any legal document of the Spanish Monarchy with respect to the Indies until the 17th century, and after the arrival of the Bourbons it would be used in reference to its classic etymological sense of human settlements established in new territories, and not in the modern sense with connotations of [[economic exploitation]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Donzé |first=Javier Rubio |date=2018-01-10 |title=Virreinatos sí, colonias también (pero con matices) |url=https://academiaplay.es/virreinatos-si-colonias-tambien/ |access-date=2024-01-15 |website=academiaplay |language=es}}</ref>

That would be reaffirmed in the late empire by official statements of the [[Supreme Central Junta]] (legal representative of occupied Spain in the middle of the [[Peninsular War]]).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rodríguez O. |first=Jaime E. |date=2009-11-01 |title=The Hispanic Revolution: Spain and America, 1808-1826 |url=https://journals.openedition.org/lerhistoria/1848?lang=en&fbclid=IwAR3NvEhyr3Nn_19YpwB_e7nHFU8Iyo-uoc8ELhHD4Yx0wae1eAoDpsZ8t2A |journal=Ler História |language=en |issue=57 |pages=73–92 |doi=10.4000/lerhistoria.1848 |issn=0870-6182|doi-access=free }}</ref>
{{Quote|text="Considering that the vast and precious dominions that Spain possesses in the Indies are not properly colonies or factories like those of other nations, but rather an essential and integral part of the Spanish monarchy..., His Majesty has been pleased to declare... that the kingdoms, provinces and Islands that form the aforementioned domains must have immediate national representation in their royal person and constitute part of the Central Board... through their corresponding deputies. For this royal resolution to take effect, they must appoint the Viceroyalties of New Spain, Peru, New Reyno de Granada and Buenos Aires, and the independent General Captaincies of the island of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, Chile, the Province of Venezuela and the Philippines, one individual each representing their respective district."|author=«Real Orden de la Junta Central expedida el 22 de enero de 1809»}}
Such statements would not have been questioned by American representatives in the [[Cortes of Cádiz]], such as the Peruvian [[Vicente Morales Duárez]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-12-02 |title="Quito fue España: Historia del Realismo Criollo" (2016) by Adelante Reunificacionistas de Puerto Rico y España - Issuu |url=https://issuu.com/adelantereunificacionistas/docs/quito_fue_espa_a._historia_del_realismo_criollo_-_ |access-date=2024-01-15 |website=issuu.com |language=en}}</ref>
{{Quote|text="America since the conquest and its indigenous people have enjoyed the privileges of Castile. Listen to the words with which a chapter of the titled laws of the year 1542 ends, where the Emperor Charles thus speaks: -we want and command that the Indians be treated as vassals ours from Castile, since they are. With respect to this justice, he had previously made a declaration in Barcelona in September 1529 that gave merit to Law 1. Title 1, of book 3 of the Compilation of the Indies, where it is said that the Americas are incorporated and united to the Crown of Castile, in accordance with the intentions of Pope Alexander VI. It must be noted in those words incorporated and united, to understand that the provinces of America have not been and are not slaves or vassals of the provinces of Spain; they have been and are like provinces of Castile, with the same privileges and honors."|author=Vicente Morales Duárez}}
However, there would still be historiographical debates in this regard, among those (the ''nationalist'' or ''colonialist school'') who say that this was only [[De jure]] positions on paper, and not a [[De facto]] reality in social dynamics (the ''revisionist school''). Authors such as [[Annick Lempérière]] consider that the “colonial” concept in Hispanic reality would have been an anachronistic concept that serves mostly an ideological use by historians (wanting to develop an idyllic vision of Spanish-American Independence) rather than to make a scientific description of the history of the Spanish empire, going so far as to question its apparent “objective” usefulness that modern historiography gave to the colonial concept to relate it to the causes of the [[Spanish American wars of independence|Spanish-American Wars of Independence]] (that is, that there is an artificial consensus that American social formations, the [[:es:Reinos_de_Indias|Reinos de Indias]] and it's viceroyalties, have been institutionally formed for their economic exploitation and dependence on the metropolis, instead of being an integral part of the Empire like any extension of the Crown, just like its [[:es:Imperio_español_en_Europa|European dominions]]).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ortega |first=Francisco A. |title=Colonia, nación y monarquía. El concepto de colonia y la cultura política de la Independencia |url=https://www.academia.edu/280611}}</ref>

{{Quote|text="Lempérière points out that from the first dates of the arrival of Europeans to America until – at least – the beginning of the 19th century, the term “colony” means – following the ancient Roman convention – a settlement that is established outside its political community. Colonize, writes Lempérière, means "above all to populate; a migration and a foundation that did not imply the domination of one people over another, but rather the taking possession of a territory" (2004c: 114). This vision of populations that are extensions of the European matrix would have facilitated, in part, the evolution of an institutionality and legal body in which the American provinces were an integral part of the Spanish Crown. At the same time, this institutionality corresponded to an adhesion that was not imposed nor the result of the military strength of the Crown, but of the common involvement in the monarchical, Catholic, corporatist and pactist ideology, in short, a sincere belonging for a long time elaborated and that had the participation of broad social sectors, from the Creoles to castes and indigenous people (...) Therefore, it is more appropriate to compare New Granada with Aragon or even Naples than with Haiti, the [[British possessions]] in the Caribbean or, what is considered even more misguided, with colonial domination imposed by England on India at the end of the 18th century. For Lempérière, the process of decisive fragmentation of that Hispanic community after 1810 will be a consequence of an unexpected situation – the crisis of legitimacy that emanates from the vacatio regis and the Napoleonic invasion of 1808. Even more, he will say following François Guerra, the initial reaction, unanimous and identical on both sides of the Atlantic, will be to swear loyalty to the King (Guerra, 1993 and 2005). At no time did the Americans, Creoles or other classes, in 1808 present themselves as colonized subjects confronted in a struggle for national liberation. And, in this way, for Guerra and Lempérière it cannot be said that there was a local social ferment that promoted and made the break with Spain inevitable."|author=Francisco Ortega}}

== See also ==
* [[Viceroy]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Terms for types of administrative territorial entities}}

[[Category:Viceroyalties| ]]
[[Category:Types of administrative division]]
[[Category:Monarchy]]

Administrative division

2025-10-27T14:28:01Z

2A02:8012:227B:0:A468:4D01:5F84:7728: Category:Types of administrative division is already a subcategory of Category:Types of geographical division

{{short description|Territorial entity for administration purposes}}
{{for|administrative division in the sense of a company department|Division (business)}}
{{redirect|Political division|division into political factions|Political polarization}}
{{Basic forms of government}}
{{politics}}

'''Administrative divisions'''<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Administrative divisions - The World Factbook|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/administrative-divisions|access-date=2021-03-26|website=Central Intelligence Agency |archive-date=2021-03-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210325023220/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/administrative-divisions|url-status=live}}</ref> (also '''administrative units''',<ref>{{Cite web|title=General maps {{!}} Geospatial, location information for a better world|url=https://www.un.org/geospatial/mapsgeo/generalmaps|access-date=2021-03-26|website=United Nations |archive-date=2021-04-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410203627/https://www.un.org/geospatial/mapsgeo/generalmaps|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |at=Article 3(1) |title=02003R1059-20191113 |url=https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2003/1059|access-date=2021-03-25|website=EUR-Lex |language=en|archive-date=2021-05-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521123340/https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2003/1059|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> '''administrative regions''',<ref>{{Cite web|title=OECD Glossary of Statistical Terms - Administrative regions Definition|url=https://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=6226|access-date=2021-08-27|website=OECD Statistics |date=August 26, 2004 |archive-date=2021-08-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827100049/https://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=6226|url-status=dead }}</ref> '''subnational entities''', or '''constituent states''', as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent [[sovereign state]] is divided. Such a unit usually has an administrative authority with the power to take administrative or policy decisions for its area.<ref name=":1" /> Administrative divisions are often used as polygons in [[geospatial analysis]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Al Jawarneh |first1=Isam Mashhour |last2=Luca |first2=Foschini |last3=Paolo |first3=Bellavista |title=Polygon Simplification for the Efficient Approximate Analytics of Georeferenced Big Data |journal=Sensors |date=January 2023 |volume=23 |issue=19 |url=https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/23/19/8178}}</ref>

== Description ==
Usually, [[sovereign state]]s have several levels of administrative division. Common names for the principal (largest) administrative divisions include: [[Federated state|states]] (subnational states, rather than sovereign states), [[province]]s, [[States of Germany#States|lands]], [[oblast]]s and [[Region#Administrative regions|regions]]. These in turn are often subdivided into smaller administrative units known by names such as [[comarca]]s, [[raion]]s or [[district]]s, which are further subdivided into [[municipality|municipalities]], [[Commune (administrative division)|commune]]s or communities constituting the smallest units of subdivision (the [[local government]]s). Some administrative division names (such as [[Department (administrative division)|departments]], [[Canton (administrative division)|canton]]s, [[prefecture]]s, [[County|counties]] or [[governorate]]s) can be used for principal, second-level, or third-level divisions.

The levels of administrative divisions and their structure largely varies by country (and sometimes within a single country). Usually the smaller the country is (by area or population), the fewer levels of administrative divisions it has. For example, [[Vatican City]] does not have any administrative subdivisions, and [[Monaco]] has only one level (both are [[city-states]]), while such countries as [[France]] and [[Pakistan]] have five levels each. The [[United States]] is composed of states, possessions, [[Territory|territories]], and a [[federal district]], each with varying numbers of subdivisions.

The principal administrative division of a country is sometimes called the "''first-level'' (or ''first-order'') administrative division" or "first administrative level". Its next subdivision might be called "second-level administrative division" or "second administrative level" and so on.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{cite web|title=Global Administrative Unit Layers (GAUL)|publisher=FAO |website=GeoNetwork |url=http://www.fao.org/geonetwork/srv/en/metadata.show?id=12691&currTab=simple|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924150111/http://www.fao.org/geonetwork/srv/en/metadata.show?id=12691&currTab=simple|archive-date=24 September 2015|url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Second Administrative Level Boundaries {{!}} Geospatial Information Section & Statistics Division {{!}} United Nations|url=https://www.unsalb.org/ |website=unsalb.org |access-date=2021-03-26|archive-date=2021-04-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210404034644/https://www.unsalb.org/|url-status=dead }}</ref> An alternative terminology is provided by the [[Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics]] which terms the principal division as the second level or NUTS-2.

Administrative divisions are conceptually separate from [[dependent territory|dependent territories]], with the former being an integral part of the state and the other being only under some lesser form of control. However, the term "administrative division" can include dependent territories as well as accepted administrative divisions (for example, in [[geographical database]]s).{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}

Communities united in a [[federation]] under a federal government are more specifically known as [[federated state]]s. A federated state may be referred to as a province, region, canton, land, governorate, oblast, emirate, or country.<ref>{{cite web |url-status=dead |url=http://www.forumfed.org/en/products/magazine/vol8_num2/overview-dependency.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101218004657/http://www.forumfed.org/en/products/magazine/vol8_num2/overview-dependency.php |archive-date=2010-12-18 |last1=Bird |first1=Richard M |website= [[Forum of Federations]] |access-date=2009-11-01 |date= 2009 |title=Overview: Constituent units risk lengthy dependency on federal aid }}</ref><ref>''The Australian National Dictionary: Fourth Edition'', pg 1395. (2004) Canberra. {{ISBN|978-0-19-551771-2}}.</ref><ref>[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/89503/California California] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150504181415/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/89503/California |date=2015-05-04 }}. [[Encyclopædia Britannica]]. Accessed 2009-11-01.</ref> Administrative units that are not federated or confederated but enjoy a greater degree of autonomy or self-government than other territories within the same country can be considered [[Autonomous administrative division|autonomous regions]] or de facto constituent states of that country. This relationship is by some authors called a [[federacy]] or [[asymmetric federalism]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Stepan |first=Alfred |author-link=Alfred Stepan |title=Federalism and Democracy: Beyond the U.S. Model |url=https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/fesnic/fspub/6_7_Stepan_1999_Federalism_J_of_Dem.pdf |journal=Journal of Democracy |volume=10 |issue=4 |pages=19–34 |year=1999 |doi=10.1353/jod.1999.0072 |s2cid=201765897 }}{{dead link|date=April 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> An example is the autonomous republic of [[Karakalpakstan]] within [[Uzbekistan]].<ref>[http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/898586b1dc7b4043c1256a450044f331/8be9009ac37f2d75c1256f17004b6e68/$FILE/G0443118.doc International Covenant On Civil And Political Rights] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010055933/http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/898586b1dc7b4043c1256a450044f331/8be9009ac37f2d75c1256f17004b6e68/$FILE/G0443118.doc |date=2017-10-10 }}, p 5. United Nations [[Human Rights Committee]]. Accessed 2009-11-01.</ref>

== Examples ==
[[File:Blank Map World Secondary Political Divisions.svg|thumb|upright=1.8|World map showing top-level divisions for every country]]

=== Terminology ===
Due to variations in their use worldwide, consistency in the translation of terms from non-English to English is sometimes difficult to maintain. In many of the following terms originating from British cultural influence, areas of relatively low mean population density might bear a title of an entity one would expect to be either larger or smaller. There is no fixed rule, for "[[all politics is local]]" as is perhaps well demonstrated by their relative lack of systemic order.

In the realm of self-government, any of these can and does occur along a stretch of road—which for the most part is passing through rural, unsettled countryside. Since the terms are administrative political divisions of the local regional government, their exact relationship and definitions are subject to [[home rule]] considerations, tradition, as well as state [[statute law]] and local governmental (administrative) definition and control. In British cultural legacy, some territorial entities began with fairly expansive counties which encompass an appreciably large area, but were divided over time into a number of smaller entities.

Within those entities are the large and small cities or towns, which may or may not be the [[county seat]]. Some of the world's larger cities culturally, if not officially, span several counties, and those crossing state or provincial boundaries have much in common culturally as well, but are rarely incorporated within the same municipal government. Many sister cities share a water boundary, which quite often serves as a border of both cities and counties. For example, [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]] and [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]] appear to the casual traveler as one large city, while locally they each are quite culturally different and occupy different counties.

==== List ====
{{main list|List of terms for administrative divisions
}}
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
*[[Region|Area]]
*[[Autonomous administrative division|Autonomous community]]
*[[Banners of Inner Mongolia|Banner]]
*[[Barangay]]
*[[Barony (county division)|Barony]]
*[[Capital city]]
*[[Canton (administrative division)|Canton]]
*[[Cantref]]
*[[County]]
*[[Community (Wales)|Community]]
*[[Constituency]]
*[[Crown Dependencies|Crown Dependency]]
*[[Department (administrative division)|Department]]
*[[District]]
*[[Division (political geography)|Division]]
*[[Duchy]]
*[[Federal subjects]]
*[[Governorate]]
*[[Hundred (county division)|Hundred]]
*[[Kampong]]
*[[Federal monarchy|Kingdom]]
* Legal entity
*[[Local council (disambiguation)|Local council]]
*[[Municipality]]
**[[Regional municipality|Regional]]
**[[Regional county municipality|Regional county]]
**[[Rural municipality|Rural]]
*[[Oblast]]
*[[Parish (administrative division)|Parish]]
*[[Prefecture]]
*[[Principality]]
*[[Province]]
*[[Public body (Netherlands)|Public body]]
*[[Regency (Indonesia)|Regency]]
*[[Region (administrative)|Region]]
*[[Autonomous republic|Republic]]
*[[Riding (division)|Riding]]
*[[Federated state|State]]
*[[Special administrative region (disambiguation)|Special administrative region]]
*[[Territory]]
*[[Theme (Byzantine district)|Theme]]
*[[Voivodeship]]
{{div col end}}

==== Urban or rural regions ====
General terms for these [[incorporated town|incorporated]] places include "[[municipality]]", "[[human settlement|settlement]]", "locality", and "populated place".
*[[Borough]], [[burgh]] or "boro"
*[[City]]
*[[Hamlet (place)|Hamlet]]
*[[Local service district (disambiguation)|Local service district]]
*[[Shire]]
*[[Town]]
*[[Township]]
*[[Village]]
*[[Ward (electoral subdivision)|Ward]]

==== Indigenous ====
*[[Tribe]]
*[[Indian reservation]]
*[[Indian reserve]]
*[[Band society|Band]]
*[[Ranchería]]

== See also ==
*[[GADM]], a high-resolution database of country administrative areas.
*[[ISO 3166-2]], specifically ''Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions — Part 2''.
*[[List of administrative division name changes]]
*[[List of etymologies of administrative divisions]]
*[[List of administrative divisions by country]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
*[http://www.unsalb.org SALB] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140115100427/http://www.unsalb.org/ |date=2014-01-15 }} Second Administrative Level Boundaries (SALB) programme of the United Nations.
*[http://www.statoids.com Statoids], an international convention with standardized two-letter-based multi-level summaries of administrative divisions worldwide (e.g. [http://www.statoids.com/ygh.html GH.AH.AS] represents [[Adansi South District|Adansi South]] (AE) in the [[Greater Accra Region|Accra Home]] (AH) [[Regions of Ghana|region of]] Ghana (GH)).

{{Types of administrative division}}
{{Lists of administrative divisions}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Administrative divisions| ]]
[[Category:Types of administrative division| ]]

Police division

2025-10-27T14:25:25Z

2A02:8012:227B:0:A468:4D01:5F84:7728: Category:Police divisions is already a subcategory of Category:Types of geographical division

{{Short description|Largest territorial subdivision of most British police forces}}
{{refimprove|date=October 2021}}
A '''division''' was the usual term for the largest territorial subdivision of most [[Law enforcement in the United Kingdom|British police]] forces. In major reforms of police organisation in the 1990s divisions of many forces were restructured and retitled [[Basic command unit|Basic Command Unit]]s (BCUs), although {{As of|2009|lc=on}} some forces continue to refer to them as divisions.

The term was and {{As of|2009|alt=is}} used in many other countries of the [[British Empire]] and [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]].

==United Kingdom==

The term has existed since the creation of police forces in the early 19th century. Most police forces were divided into divisions, usually commanded by a [[Superintendent (police)|Superintendent]]. Divisions were usually divided into Sub-Divisions, commanded by [[Inspector]]s (or, in the Metropolitan Police, [[Sub-Divisional Inspector]]s, a higher rank). Some rural forces did not acquire this further organisational level until well into the 20th century, however. Sub-divisional commanders were later regraded as [[Chief Inspector]]s in most forces. In London, divisions were later grouped together as districts, each commanded by a [[Chief Constable]] and later a [[Deputy Assistant Commissioner]].

Each division could cover a wide rural area, a substantial town, or a portion of a city, depending on the population ([[London]], for instance, was divided at one point into 67 [[Metropolitan Police]] [[History of the Metropolitan Police Service#The Metropolitan Police 1829-2009|divisions]] and sub-divisions<ref>'Division' and 'Sub-Division', in Martin Fido and Keith Skinner, ''The Official Encyclopedia of Scotland Yard'' (London; Virgin Books, 1999), pages 70-71 and 255</ref> and a further four [[City of London Police]] divisions{{Citation needed|date=October 2020}}). In 1949, the Metropolitan Police regraded its divisional commanders as [[Chief Superintendent]]s and most other forces followed suit. With the reforms of the 1990s, sub-divisions and divisions acquired a variety of new names – for instance, in 1999 the Metropolitan Police replaced its divisions with "Borough Policing", whose boundaries were based on the 1965 [[London boroughs]].<ref>'Borough Policing', in Martin Fido and Keith Skinner, ''The Official Encyclopedia of Scotland Yard'' (London; Virgin Books, 1999), pages 25</ref>

===Metropolitan Police divisions, 1829–1999===
1829
{{columns-list|colwidth=15em|style=width: 900px|
*A (Whitehall)
*B (Westminster{{efn|Later known as Chelsea}})
*C (St James's)
*D (Marylebone)
*E (Holborn)
*F (Covent Garden{{efn|Abolished c.1869}})
*G (Finsbury)
*H (Whitechapel)
*K (Stepney{{efn|Later known as Bow}})
*L (Lambeth)
*M (Southwark)
*N (Islington)
*P (Camberwell)
*R (Greenwich)
*S (Hampstead)
*T (Kensington{{efn|Later known as Hammersmith}})
*V (Wandsworth)
}}

Later additions by formation date
{{columns-list|colwidth=15em|style=width: 900px|
*W (Clapham) (1865)
*X (Willesden) (1865)
*Y (Highgate{{efn|Later Tottenham}}) (1865)
*J (Bethnal Green{{efn|Later known as Hackney}}) (1886)
*F (Paddington) (1886)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://fomphc.com/timeline-1829-to-1899/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022112142/http://fomphc.com/timeline-1829-to-1899/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=October 22, 2019|title=Timeline - 1829 to 1899|publisher=Friends of the Metropolitan Police Heritage Centre|access-date=2 November 2020}}</ref>
*Z (Croydon) (1921)
*Q (Kilburn) (1965)
*I (Heathrow) (1984{{efn|Abolished 1986}})
}}

==Hong Kong==

The [[Hong Kong Police Force]] divides its [[Hong Kong|territory]] into 23 divisions or districts, each reporting to one of the six regions.

==India==

In [[India]], the equivalent to a division is a Police District. Policing in India is on a state basis, and every state is divided into a number of districts. Each district is headed by a Superintendent of Police. The district is subdivided into Sub Divisions, each commanded by a [[Deputy Superintendent]] of Police. Sub Divisions are further divided into Police Circles. In the case of a district including large cities, two separate police districts are created, known as the City Police District, headed by a Commissioner, and the Rural District Police, headed by a Superintendent.

==Ireland==
In [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]], the [[Garda Síochána]] divides its operational area into 26 divisions, which in turn report to one of four regions. Most, but not all of these divisions, are aligned to county borders. Each division is commanded by a [[Chief Superintendent]]. Divisions are further divided into districts, commanded by a [[Superintendent (police)|Superintendent]].

==Singapore==

The [[Singapore Police Force]] divides the [[Singapore|city-state]] into seven divisions of varying physical sizes and population. These boundaries tend to be demarcated in terms of cases handled by observing criminal trends over time, instead of being based on area or population sizes alone.

==Canada==

A few police departments in Canada use divisions to represent stations or patrol areas, but some are a mix of operational and administrative units with the force.

A few police agencies using divisions include:

* [[Peel Regional Police]] - 5 (4 geographic and 1 operational)
* [[Ottawa Police Service]] - 3 (geographic)
* [[Edmonton Police Service]] - 5 (geographic)
* [[Halifax Regional Police]] - 4 (3 geographic and 1 operational)
* [[Hamilton Police Service]] - 3 (geographic)
* [[Toronto Police Service]] - 17 (geographic)
* [[Vancouver Police Department]] - 3 (operational)
* [[Victoria Police Department]] - 6 (operational and administrative)
* [[Waterloo Regional Police Service]] - 5 (geographic)
* [[Winnipeg Police Service]] - 5 (geographic)

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Terms for types of country subdivisions}}

[[Category:Police divisions| ]]

Ecclesiastical province

2025-10-27T14:23:45Z

2A02:8012:227B:0:A468:4D01:5F84:7728: Category:Ecclesiastical provinces is already a subcategory of Category:Types of geographical division

{{Short description|Type of territorial division within Christian churches}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=April 2012}}

An '''ecclesiastical province''' is one of the basic forms of [[Ecclesiastical jurisdiction|jurisdiction]] in [[Christianity|Christian churches]], including those of both [[Western Christianity]] and [[Eastern Christianity]], that have traditional hierarchical structures. An ecclesiastical province consists of several [[diocese]]s (or [[eparchy|eparchies]]), one of them being the [[archdiocese]] (or [[archeparchy]]), headed by a [[metropolitan bishop]] or [[archbishop]] who has [[ecclesiastical jurisdiction]] over all other bishops of the province.

In the [[Greco-Roman world]], ''ecclesia'' ({{langx|grc|ἐκκλησία}}; {{langx|la|ecclesia}}) was used to refer to a lawful assembly, or a called [[legislative body]]. As early as [[Pythagoras]], the word took on the additional meaning of a community with shared beliefs.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Diogenis Laertius 8|at = §41 |url=http://www.mikrosapoplous.gr/dl/dl08.html|access-date=2023-02-17|date=1964
| editor=H.S. Long
|website=www.mikrosapoplous.gr}}</ref> This is the meaning taken in the Greek translation of the [[Hebrew Scriptures]] (the [[Septuagint]]), and later adopted by the Christian community to refer to the assembly of believers.<ref>F. Bauer, W. Danker, ''A Greek English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature,'' third ed., (Chicago:University of Chicago Press, 2000), {{lang|grc|ἐκκλησία}}.</ref>

In the history of [[Western world]] (sometimes more precisely as [[Greco-Roman world]]) adopted by the [[Roman Empire]] and the [[Byzantine Empire]], Christian ecclesiastical provinces were named by analogy with the secular [[Roman province]] as well as certain [[Extraterritoriality|extraterritorial]] formations of the western world in early medieval times (see [[Early Middle Ages]]). The administrative seat of each province is an [[episcopal see]]. In hierarchical Christian churches that have dioceses, a ''province'' is a collection of those dioceses (as a basic unit of administration).

Over the years certain provinces adopted the status of [[Metropolis (religious jurisdiction)|metropolis]] and have a certain degree of self-rule. A bishop of such province is called the ''metropolitan bishop'' or ''metropolitan''. The [[Catholic Church]] (both Latin and Eastern Catholic), the [[Orthodoxy|Orthodox]] Churches and the [[Anglican Communion]] all have provinces. These provinces are led by a ''metropolitan archbishop''.{{citation needed|date=September 2016}}

==Early history==
Ecclesiastical provinces first corresponded to the civil provinces of the [[Roman Empire]]. From the second half of the 2nd century, the bishops of these provinces were accustomed to assemble on important occasions for common counsel in [[synod]]s. From the end of that century the summons to attend these increasingly important synods was usually issued by the bishop of the capital or metropolis of the province, who also presided over the assembly, especially in the East. Important communications were also forwarded to the bishop of the provincial capital to be brought to the notice of the other bishops. Thus in the East during the 3rd century the bishop of the provincial metropolis came gradually to occupy a certain superior position, and received the name of metropolitan.<ref name=Catholic/>

At the [[First Council of Nicaea]] (325) this position of the metropolitan was taken for granted, and was made the basis for conceding to him definite rights over the other bishops and [[dioceses]] of the state province. In Eastern canon law since the 4th century (cf. also the [[Synod of Antioch]] of 341, can. ix), it was a principle that every civil province was likewise a church province under the supreme direction of the metropolitan, i.e. of the bishop of the provincial capital.<ref name=Catholic/>

This division into ecclesiastical provinces did not develop so early in the Western Empire. In North Africa the first metropolitan appears during the 4th century, the [[Bishop of Carthage]] being recognized as primate of the dioceses of Northern Africa; metropolitans of the separate provinces gradually appear, although the boundaries of these provinces did not coincide with the divisions of the empire. A similar development was witnessed in [[Spain]], [[Gaul]], and [[Italy]]. The migration of the nations, however, prevented an equally stable formation of ecclesiastical provinces in the Christian West as in the East. It was only after the 5th century that such gradually developed, mostly in accordance with the ancient divisions of the Roman Empire. In Italy alone, on account of the central ecclesiastical position of Rome, this development was slower. However, at the end of antiquity the existence of church provinces as the basis of ecclesiastical administration was fairly universal in the West. In the [[Carolingian period]] they were reorganized, and have retained their place ever since.<ref name=Catholic>{{Catholic|wstitle=Ecclesiastical Province|inline=1}}</ref>

==Provincial church organisation==

===Catholic Church===
{{further|List of Catholic dioceses (alphabetical)}}

====In general====
In the [[Catholic Church]], a province consists of a metropolitan archdiocese and one or more (1–13) [[suffragan diocese]]s headed by diocesan bishops or territorial prelatures and missions sui iuris. The [[archbishop]] of the metropolitan see is the [[metropolitan bishop#Roman Catholic|metropolitan]] of the province. The [[Electoral boundary delimitation|delimitation]] of church provinces in the [[Latin Church]] is reserved to the [[Holy See]].

There are exceptions to these rules:
* A few dioceses are not part of any province. Their bishops are [[Exemption in the Catholic Church|exempt]] from the authority of a metropolitan archbishop, instead reporting directly to the pope. For example, the bishop of the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Oslo|Diocese of Oslo]] in Norway.
* A few archdioceses do not belong to provinces and contain no suffragan dioceses. For example, the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Strasbourg|Archdiocese of Strasbourg]] in France is not part of a province and has no diocesan bishops reporting to its archbishop.
* Not all archdioceses are metropolitan sees. Five archdioceses are exempt: [[Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem]]; [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Udine|Metropolitan Archdiocese of Udine]]; [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Boniface|Metropolitan Archdiocese of Saint Boniface]]; [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of İzmir|Metropolitan Archdiocese of Izmir]] and [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Corfu, Zakynthos, and Cephalonia|Metropolitan Archdiocese of Corfu–Zakynthos–Kefalonia]] its leader reports directly to the pope. Other non-metropolitan archdioceses, in contrast, are not exempt. Their archbishops report directly to metropolitan archbishops.

The authority of a Latin Church metropolitan over the other sees within his province is now very limited. During a [[sede vacante|vacancy]] in a suffragan diocese, the metropolitan names a temporary [[vicar capitular|diocesan administrator]] if the college of [[Consultor]]s of the diocese fails to elect one within the prescribed period.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Code of Canon Law | at= Canon 421
|url=http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P1G.HTM|access-date=2023-02-17|website=www.intratext.com}}</ref> A metropolitan generally presides at the installation and consecration of a new bishop in the province. The tribunal of the metropolitan see generally serves as the first court of appeal regarding canonical matters of provincial diocesan tribunals. The metropolitan's insignia is the pallium. The article in the ''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]'' of 1911 on ''metropolitan'' shows that the metropolitan then had scarcely any more power than now.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10244c.htm |title=Metropolitan |encyclopedia= Catholic Encyclopedia |access-date=9 July 2017}}</ref>

In the [[Eastern Catholic Churches]], the [[patriarch]]al or [[major archbishop|major archiepiscopal]] Churches may also be divided into ecclesial provinces, each headed by a metropolitan. The [[Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church]] has [[Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church#Current administrative division|several]], two of them in the United States and Canada. Some other Eastern Catholic Churches of a lower category and generally less populous, are known as [[Sui iuris#metropolitan churches|metropolitanates]]. They are headed by a single metropolitan, the hierarch of a fixed [[episcopal see]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum orientalium, die XVIII Octobris anno MCMXC | author=Ioannes Paulus PP. II
| at=canon 155 §1
|url=https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/la/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_jp-ii_apc_19901018_codex-can-eccl-orient-1.html|access-date=2023-02-17|website=www.vatican.va}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://perswww.kuleuven.be/~u0050551/RIC-project/BOOKS/EASTERN%20CHURCHES%20-%20CCEO/FARIS-John%20D%20-%20East%20Cath%20Churches%20ALL.PDF |title=John D. Faris, ''The Eastern Catholic Churches: Constitution and Governance'' (Saint Maron Publications, New York 1992), p. 376 |access-date=2017-07-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820033504/https://perswww.kuleuven.be/~u0050551/RIC-project/BOOKS/EASTERN%20CHURCHES%20-%20CCEO/FARIS-John%20D%20-%20East%20Cath%20Churches%20ALL.PDF |archive-date=2017-08-20 |url-status=dead }}</ref> As head of an autonomous Church, his name is mentioned in the [[liturgy]] of that Church immediately after that of the [[Pope]] and, in suffragan eparchies, ahead of that of the local hierarch.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum orientalium, die XVIII Octobris anno MCMXC - Ioannes Paulus PP. II | Ioannes Paulus II|url=https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/la/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_jp-ii_apc_19901018_codex-can-eccl-orient-1.html#TITULUS_VI|access-date=2023-02-17|website=www.vatican.va}}</ref>

====Provincial boundary lines====
The borders of provinces have often been inspired, or even determined, by historical or present political [[border]]s; the same is often true of diocesan borders within a province. The following are some examples:

* In France, where the boundaries partly reflected later Roman provinces, most were rearranged in 2002 to fit new administrative regions.
* A comparable process to that of France occurred earlier in Spain.
* In southern Germany, the diocesan boundaries follow the political boundaries that existed between 1815 and 1945.
* In Ireland, the [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Ireland|four ecclesiastical provinces]] fixed by the [[Synod of Kells]] in 1152 reflected the contemporary boundaries of the [[provinces of Ireland|secular provinces]], but the ecclesiastical provinces and dioceses do not coincide with the present civil province and [[counties of Ireland|county]] borders. Since the [[Partition of Ireland]] in 1920–1922 six dioceses in the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Armagh|province of Armagh]] straddle [[Irish border|the international border]] between the [[Republic of Ireland]] and [[Northern Ireland]], which is part of the United Kingdom.
* In Scotland, the dioceses, and subsequently the two provinces, follow both civil and geographical boundaries such as rivers.
* In geographically large nations with a sizeable Catholic population, such as the United States, ecclesiastical provinces typically follow state [[border|lines]], with less populous states being grouped into provinces. In the United States, there are five exceptions:
** California has two metropolitan archdioceses and provinces: [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles|Los Angeles]] and [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco|San Francisco]].
** Texas has two metropolitan archdioceses and provinces: [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston|Galveston-Houston]] and [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Antonio|San Antonio]].
** Maryland is unusual in that fourteen of its 23 counties belong to dioceses whose see cities are outside Maryland: (1) the nine counties of Maryland's [[Eastern Shore of Maryland|Eastern Shore]] ([[Delmarva Peninsula]]) are part of the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Wilmington|Diocese of Wilmington]], Delaware, and (2) the five counties adjacent to the District of Columbia and in southern Maryland are part of the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington|Archdiocese of Washington]], which is a different province. Only the remaining nine counties and the City of Baltimore are part of the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore|Archdiocese of Baltimore]].
** [[Fishers Island]], a part of Suffolk County, New York, and north of [[Long Island]], is part of the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Norwich|Diocese of Norwich]], Connecticut, which is in a different province.
** Those parts of Idaho and Montana that are within [[Yellowstone National Park]] are part of the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cheyenne|Diocese of Cheyenne]], Wyoming, which is in a different province.
:In addition, the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup|Diocese of Gallup]] (New Mexico) contains two Arizona [[County (United States)|counties]]—[[Apache County]] and [[Navajo County]]—and part of a third county, i.e., those parts of the [[Navajo Nation|Navajo]] and [[Hopi Reservation|Hopi]] [[Indian reservation|reservations]] that are in [[Coconino County, Arizona|Coconino County]] (Arizona). New Mexico and Arizona, however, together form one province.
* Many countries contain more than one province, except those with a small population or few Catholics.
* In at least one case, a province contains dioceses that are in more than one nation, e.g., the Province of Samoa-Apia, of which the metropolitan see (the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Samoa-Apia|Archdiocese of Samoa-Apia]]) is in the Independent State of Samoa, and its only suffragan see (the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Samoa-Pago Pago|Diocese of Samoa-Pago Pago]]) is in American Samoa (an unincorporated territory of the United States). Even individual dioceses, let alone ecclesiastical provinces, can comprise more than one state: examples are [[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Marino-Montefeltro|San Marino-Montefeltro]] ([[San Marino]] and part of Italy), [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Urgell|Urgell]] ([[Andorra]] and part of Spain), and the [[Diocese of Rome]] itself ([[Vatican City]] and part of Italy).

===Eastern Orthodox Church===
Historical development of ecclesiastical provinces in the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] was influenced by strong tendencies of internal administrative centralization. Since the [[First Ecumenical Council]] (325), the Archbishop of Alexandria was given supreme jurisdiction over all provinces of Egypt. Similar authority was also granted to Archbishop of Antioch regarding jurisdiction over provinces of Orient. Since the [[Fourth Ecumenical Council]] (451), [[Patriarch of Constantinople]] was given the right to consecrate metropolitan bishops in all regions that were placed under his supreme jurisdiction.{{sfn|Meyendorff|1989}} In time, previous administrative autonomy of original ecclesiastical provinces was gradually and systematically reduced in favor of patriarchal centralization. Ancient practice of annual councils of provincial bishops, headed by their local metropolitans, was also abandoned in favor of centralized councils, headed by patriarchs and attended by metropolitan bishops.

The creation of new autonomous and [[Autocephaly|autocephalous]] jurisdictions was also marked by tendencies of internal centralization. The newly created [[Archbishopric of Ohrid]] (1018) was structured as a single ecclesiastical province, headed by an archbishop who had jurisdiction over all of his suffragan bishops. In 1219, autocephalous [[Serbian Orthodox Church]] was also organized as one ecclesiastical province, headed by an archbishop with direct jurisdiction over all Serbian bishops.{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=40-46}} By the end of [[Middle Ages]], each autocephalous and autonomous church in Eastern Orthodoxy was functioning as a single, internally integrated ecclesiastical province, headed by a local patriarch or archbishop.

Only in modern times, some Eastern Orthodox Churches have revived the ancient practice by creating internal ecclesiastical provinces on the middle (regional) level of church administration. In the [[Romanian Orthodox Church]] there are six regional metropolitanates, headed by local metropolitans who preside over regional synods of local bishops, and have special duties and privileges. For example, the [[Metropolis of Oltenia|Metropolitan of Oltenia]] has regional jurisdiction over four local dioceses. On the other hand, a majority of Eastern Orthodox Churches remain and function as highly centralized church bodies, each of them functioning as a single ecclesiastical province.{{sfn|Kiminas|2009}}

=== Protestantism===

====Anglican Communion====
{{Hatnote|Further information: [[Anglican Communion#Provinces|Anglican Communion § Provinces]]}}
Member churches of the [[Anglican Communion]] are often referred to as '''provinces'''. Some provinces are coterminous with the boundaries of political states, some include multiple nations while others include only parts of a nation. Some, such as the [[Church of the Province of West Africa]], have the word "province" in their names. These member churches are known as "provinces of the Anglican Communion", and are headed by a [[primate (bishop)|primate]], who is usually also styled archbishop, but may have an alternative title such as primus (for example, the [[Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church]]), [[presiding bishop]], or [[Moderator of the General Assembly|moderator]].

The word is also used to refer to a grouping of [[diocese]]s within a member church, commonly known as a metropolitical province, metropolitan province, or internal province. The [[Church of England]] is divided into two such provinces: [[Province of Canterbury|Canterbury]] and [[Province of York|York]]. The [[Anglican Church of Australia]] has five provinces: [[Province of New South Wales|New South Wales]], [[Province of Queensland|Queensland]], [[Anglican Province of South Australia|South Australia]], [[Province of Victoria|Victoria]] and [[Province of Western Australia|Western Australia]], and an extraprovincial diocese of [[Anglican Diocese of Tasmania|Tasmania]]. The [[Anglican Church of Canada]] has four: [[Ecclesiastical Province of British Columbia and Yukon|British Columbia and Yukon]], [[Ecclesiastical Province of Canada|Canada]], [[Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario|Ontario]], and the [[Ecclesiastical Province of the Northern Lights|Northern Lights]]. The [[Church of Ireland]] has two: [[Province of Armagh (Church of Ireland)|Armagh]] and [[Province of Dublin (Church of Ireland)|Dublin]]. The [[Episcopal Church in the United States of America]] (ECUSA) numbers, rather than names, its [[Ecclesiastical Provinces and Dioceses of the Episcopal Church|nine provinces]]. In all cases apart from ECUSA each metropolitan or internal province is headed by a [[metropolitan bishop]] with the title archbishop.

====Evangelical State Church in Prussia====
The ''Evangelical State Church in Prussia'', formed in 1821 (renamed: ''Evangelical State Church in Prussia's older Provinces'' in 1875, [[Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union]] in 1922), had ecclesiastical provinces (Kirchenprovinzen) as administrative subsections mostly following the boundaries of those political [[Provinces of Prussia]] which formed part of the state before 1866, with some border changes after 1920 following WWI territorial cessions.

{| class="sortable wikitable" width="100%"
|- class="hintergrundfarbe5"
! width = "22%" | Name
! width = "17%" | Congregations comprised were located in
! width = "8%" | Seat
! width = "25%" | Leading bodies (legislation, executive) and persons
! width = "6%" | Status as eccl. province
! width = "22%" | Successor organisation


|- valign=top
| '''Ecclesiastical Province of Brandenburg''' (1821–1926) {{langx|de|link=no|Kirchenprovinz Brandenburg}} '''Ecclesiastical Province of the March of Brandenburg''' (1926–1948) {{langx|de|link=no|Kirchenprovinz Mark Brandenburg}}
| [[Province of Brandenburg]] and [[Berlin]] (politically separate since 1881)
| Berlin, [[Sulechów|Züllichau]] (1944–1945)
| provincial synod (Provinzialsynode), [[Consistory (Protestantism)|consistory]], 1829–1933: general superintendents for (1) Berlin inner city, (2) Berlin suburbia (1911–1933), (3) [[Kurmark]] and (4) [[Lusatia]] and [[New March]] 1933–1935: provincial bishops of Berlin and of Brandenburg, provosts of Kurmark and of New March-Lower Lusatia
| 1821–1948
| [[Evangelical Church in Berlin, Brandenburg and Silesian Upper Lusatia#Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg|Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg]]

|- valign=top
| '''[[Regional Synodal Federation of the Free City of Danzig]]''' {{langx|de|link=no|Landessynodalverband der Freien Stadt Danzig}}
| [[Free City of Danzig]]
| [[Gdańsk|Danzig]]
| regional synod (Landessynode), consistory, 1922-1933: general supintendent 1933–1940: provincial bishop of Danzig
| 1922–1940
| Ecclesiastical Region of Danzig-West Prussia

|- valign=top
| '''Ecclesiastical Region of Danzig-West Prussia''' {{langx|de|link=no|Kirchengebiet Danzig-Westpreußen}}
| [[Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia]]
| [[Gdańsk|Danzig]]
| no synod, consistory, bishop of Danzig
| 1940–1945
| de facto dissolved by flight, murder and expulsion of parishioners

|- valign=top
| '''{{Interlanguage link|Ecclesiastical Province of East Prussia|de|3=Kirchenprovinz Ostpreußen}}''' {{langx|de|link=no|Kirchenprovinz Ostpreußen}}
| [[Province of East Prussia]] plus West Prussia governorate in 1922 minus Memel Territory in 1925 plus Memel Territory March 1939 minus West Prussia governorate in 1940
| [[Königsberg|Königsberg in Prussia]]
| provincial synod, consistory, 1886–1933: general superintendent, 1933–1945: provincial bishop and general superintendent for Memel (1939–1944)
| 1886–1945
| de facto dissolved by flight, murder and expulsion of parishioners

|- valign=top
| '''Regional Synodal Federation of the Memel Territory''' {{langx|de|link=no|Landessynodalverband Memelgebiet}}
| [[Klaipėda Region]]
| [[Klaipėda|Memel]]
| regional synod, consistory (est. 1927), general superintendent (as of 1926)
| 1925–1939
| Ecclesiastical Province of East Prussia

|- valign=top
| '''{{Interlanguage link|United Evangelical Church in Polish Upper Silesia|pl|3=Ewangelicki Kościół Unijny na polskim Górnym Śląsku}}''' {{langx|de|link=no|Unierte Evangelische Kirche in Polnisch Oberschlesien}} {{langx|pl|link=no|Ewangelicki Kościół Unijny na polskim Górnym Śląsku}}
| [[East Upper Silesia]]
| [[Katowice]]
| regional synod, regional ecclesiastical council (Landeskirchenrat), church president
| 1923–1937
| church body continued without status as ecclesiastical province till 1939, then merged in the Ecclesiastical Province of Silesia

|- valign=top
| '''[[Ecclesiastical Province of Pomerania]]''' {{langx|de|link=no|Kirchenprovinz Pommern}}
| [[Province of Pomerania (1815–1945)|Province of Pomerania]]
| [[Szczecin|Stettin]] (till 1945), [[Greifswald]] (since 1945)
| provincial synod, consistory, 1883–1933: general superintendents (east and west region), 1933–1945: provincial bishop
| 1821–1950
| [[Pomeranian Evangelical Church]]

|- valign=top
| '''Ecclesiastical Province of Posen''' {{langx|de|link=no|Kirchenprovinz Posen}}
| [[Province of Posen]]
| [[Poznań|Posen]]
| provincial synod, consistory, general superintendent
| 1821–1920
| Ecclesiastical Province of Posen-West Prussia (west), {{Interlanguage link|United Evangelical Church in Poland|pl|3=Ewangelicki Kościół Unijny w Polsce}} (centre; {{langx|de|link=no|Unierte Evangelische Kirche in Polen}}, {{langx|pl|link=no|Ewangelicki Kościół Unijny w Polsce}})

|- valign=top
| '''Ecclesiastical Province of Posen-West Prussia''' {{langx|de|link=no|Kirchenprovinz Posen-Westpreußen}}
| [[Posen-West Prussia|Province of the Frontier March of Posen-West Prussia]]
| [[Piła|Schneidemühl]]
| provincial synod, consistory, 1923–1933: general superintendent, 1933–1939: provost
| 1921–1939
| Ecclesiastical Province of Pomerania

|- valign=top
| '''Ecclesiastical Province of Prussia''' {{langx|de|link=no|Kirchenprovinz Preußen}}
| [[Province of Prussia]]
| [[Königsberg|Königsberg in Prussia]]
| provincial synod, consistory, general superintendent
| 1821–1886
| Ecclesiastical Province of East Prussia (east), Ecclesiastical Province of West Prussia (west)

|- valign=top
| '''Ecclesiastical Province of the Rhineland''' {{langx|de|link=no|Kirchenprovinz Rheinland}}
| [[Rhine Province]], western parts of the [[Saar Protectorate]] (1920–1935), [[Hohenzollern Province]] (since 1899)
| [[Koblenz|Coblence]] (till 1934), [[Düsseldorf]] (since)
| provincial synod, consistory, general superintendents
| 1821–1947
| [[Evangelical Church in the Rhineland]]

|- valign=top
| '''Ecclesiastical Province of Saxony''' {{langx|de|link=no|Kirchenprovinz Sachsen}}
| [[Province of Saxony]]
| [[Magdeburg]]
| provincial synod, 4 consistories in Magdeburg (1815–2008), [[Roßla]] (1719–1947), [[Stolberg, Saxony-Anhalt|Stolberg at the Harz]] (1553–2005) and [[Wernigerode]] (1658–1930; the latter three with regional competences), 1815–1933: 3 general superintendents, 1933–1950: provincial bishops
| 1821–1950
| [[Evangelical Church of the Church Province of Saxony|Evangelical Church of the Ecclesiastical Province of Saxony]]

|- valign=top
| '''Ecclesiastical Province of Silesia''' {{langx|de|link=no|Kirchenprovinz Schlesien}}
| [[Silesia Province|Province of Silesia]] (1821–1919, 1938–1941) [[Lower Silesia Province (Prussia)|Province of Lower Silesia]] and [[Upper Silesia Province|Province of Upper Silesia]] (1919–1938, and 1941–1945)
| [[Wrocław|Breslau]] (till end of 1946), [[Görlitz]] (1947–2003)
| provincial synod, consistory, 1829–1933: 2 general superintendents, 1933–2003: (provincial) bishop
| 1821–1947
| [[Evangelical Church of Silesia]]

|- valign=top
| '''Ecclesiastical Province of Westphalia''' {{langx|de|link=no|Kirchenprovinz Westfalen}}
| [[Province of Westphalia]]
| [[Münster|Münster in Westphalia]]
| provincial synod, consistory, general superintendent
| 1821–1945
| [[Evangelical Church of Westphalia]]

|- valign=top
| '''Ecclesiastical Province of West Prussia''' {{langx|de|link=no|Kirchenprovinz Westpreußen}}
| [[Province of West Prussia]]
| [[Gdańsk|Danzig]]
| provincial synod, consistory, 1883–1920: general superintendent
| 1886–1921
| [[Free City of Danzig#Regional Synodal Federation of the Free City of Danzig|Regional Synodal Federation of the Free City of Danzig]] (north), Ecclesiastical Province of East Prussia (east), Ecclesiastical Province of Posen-West Prussia (southwest), {{Interlanguage link|United Evangelical Church in Poland|pl|3=Ewangelicki Kościół Unijny w Polsce}} (centre)
|}

==Religious institutes==
The term ''province'', or occasionally '''religious province''', also refers to a geographical and administrative subdivision in a number of [[Catholic religious order|orders]] and [[religious congregation|congregations]]. This is true of most, though not all, religious communities founded after the year AD 1000, as well as the [[Augustinians]], who date from earlier.

A province of a religious institute is typically headed by a [[provincial superior]]. The title differs by each institute's tradition (provincial minister for [[Franciscan]]s; provincial prior for [[Dominican Order|Dominicans]]; provincial for the Augustinians, simply "provincial" or "provincial father" for the [[Jesuit]]s and many others, for instance).

The borders of a religious institute's provinces are determined independently of any diocesan structure, and so the borders often differ from the 'secular', or diocesan, ecclesiastical provinces. The orders' provinces are usually far larger than a diocese, a secular province, or even a country, though sometimes they are smaller in an institute's [[:wikt:heartland|heartland]].

Most [[monastic order]]s are not organized by provinces. In general, they organise their administration through autonomous houses, in some cases grouped in larger families. For example, each [[Benedictine]] [[abbey]] is an independent foundation, but will often choose to group themselves into [[Congregation (group of houses)|congregations]] based on historical connections.

==See also==
* [[Catholic Church by country]]
* [[Global organisation of the Catholic Church]]
* [[List of Catholic archdioceses]] (by country and continent)
* [[List of Catholic dioceses (alphabetical)]] (including archdioceses)
* [[List of Catholic dioceses (structured view)]] (including archdioceses)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{Cite book|last=Meyendorff|first=John|author-link=John Meyendorff|year=1989|title=Imperial unity and Christian divisions: The Church 450-680 A.D.|series=The Church in history|volume=2|location=Crestwood, NY|publisher=St. Vladimir's Seminary Press|isbn=9780881410563 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6J_YAAAAMAAJ}}
* {{Cite book|last=Ćirković|first=Sima|author-link=Sima Ćirković|year=2004|title=The Serbs|location=Malden|publisher=Blackwell Publishing|isbn=9781405142915 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Wc-DWRzoeIC}}
* {{Cite book|last=Kiminas|first=Demetrius|title=The Ecumenical Patriarchate: A History of Its Metropolitanates with Annotated Hierarch Catalogs|year=2009|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QLWqXrW2X-8C|publisher=Wildside Press LLC|isbn=9781434458766 }}
* [http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/data/typemetr.htm List of Metropolitan Archdioceses, including all Catholic ecclesiastical provinces] GCatholic.org
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ecclesiastical Province}}
[[Category:Ecclesiastical provinces| ]]
[[Category:Types of Christian organization]]
[[Category:Episcopacy in Anglicanism]]
[[Category:Types of Roman Catholic organization]]

Hans Christian Ostrø

2025-10-27T11:08:29Z

2A02:8012:227B:0:A468:4D01:5F84:7728: - Category:Victims of Islamic terrorism + Category:People killed by Islamic terrorism

#REDIRECT [[1995 kidnapping of western tourists in Kashmir]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ostro, Hans Christian}}
[[Category:Kidnapped Norwegian people]]
[[Category:Norwegian people murdered abroad]]
[[Category:People murdered in Jammu and Kashmir]]
[[Category:People killed by Islamic terrorism]]