Federated state

"Federated states" redirects here. For the western Pacific state, see Federated States of Micronesia.

Not to be confused with Federation or Federal republic.

Federated states of various types exist within many of the modern federal states (represented in green)

A federated state (also state, province, region, canton, land, governorate, oblast, emirate, or country) is a territorial and constitutional community forming part of a federation.^[1] A federated state does not have international sovereignty since powers are divided between the other federated states and the federal government. Unlike international sovereign states, which have what is often referred to as Westphalian sovereignty (such as exercised by their federal government), federated states operate under their domestic or federal law with relation to the rest of the world.

Importantly, federated states do not have automatic standing as entities of international law. Instead, the federal union (federation) 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. A federated state may nonetheless establish offices internationally, for example, to promote trade or tourism, while still operating only within the trade policy or other applicable law of their federation, and their host country. They also may enter into international regional agreements under the laws of their federation and state, such as to protect a cross-border resource like water or other shared matters.

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.^{[citation needed]}

Further information: Federal district and Federal territory

Federation	Federated units	Other units
Argentina[3]	23 provinces:  Buenos Aires  Catamarca  Chaco  Chubut  Córdoba  Corrientes  Entre Ríos  Formosa  Jujuy  La Pampa  La Rioja  Mendoza  Misiones  Neuquén  Río Negro  Salta  San Juan  San Luis  Santa Cruz  Santa Fe  Santiago del Estero  Tierra del Fuego  Tucumán	1 autonomous city:  Buenos Aires[D]
Australia[4]	6 states:  New South Wales  Queensland  South Australia  Tasmania  Victoria  Western Australia	3 internal territories:  Australian Capital Territory[D] Jervis Bay Territory  Northern Territory
		7 external territories: Ashmore and Cartier Islands Australian Antarctic Territory  Christmas Island  Cocos (Keeling) Islands Coral Sea Islands Territory Heard Island and McDonald Islands  Norfolk Island
Austria[5]	9 states:  Vienna[D]  Lower Austria  Upper Austria  Styria  Tyrol  Carinthia  Salzburg  Vorarlberg  Burgenland
Belgium[6]	3 regions:[E]  Flanders  Wallonia  Brussels[D]
	3 communities:[F]  Flemish  French  German-speaking
Bosnia and Herzegovina	2 entities:[G]  Republika Srpska Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina	1 self-governing district: Brčko (officially condominium of both constituents)
	The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is itself a federation of 10 cantons: Una-Sana Posavina Tuzla Zenica-Doboj Bosnian Podrinje Central Bosnia Herzegovina-Neretva West Herzegovina Sarajevo[D] Canton 10[7]
Brazil[8]	26 states:  Acre  Alagoas  Amapá  Amazonas  Bahia  Ceará  Espírito Santo  Goiás  Maranhão  Mato Grosso  Mato Grosso do Sul  Minas Gerais  Pará  Paraíba  Paraná  Pernambuco  Piauí  Rio de Janeiro  Rio Grande do Norte  Rio Grande do Sul  Rondônia  Roraima  Santa Catarina  São Paulo  Sergipe  Tocantins
	1 federal district:  Distrito Federal[D][H]
Canada[9]	10 provinces:  Alberta  British Columbia  Manitoba  New Brunswick  Newfoundland and Labrador  Nova Scotia  Ontario  Prince Edward Island  Quebec  Saskatchewan	3 territories:  Northwest Territories  Nunavut  Yukon
Comoros	3 islands:[G]  Anjouan  Grande Comore  Mohéli
Ethiopia[10]	12 regions: Afar Amhara Benishangul-Gumuz Central Ethiopia Gambela Harari Oromia Sidama Somali South Ethiopia Southwest Tigray	2 chartered cities: Addis Ababa[D] Dire Dawa
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: Andhra Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh Assam Bihar Chhattisgarh Goa Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh Jharkhand Karnataka Kerala Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Manipur Meghalaya Mizoram Nagaland Odisha Punjab Rajasthan Sikkim Tamil Nadu Telangana Tripura Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand West Bengal	8 union territories: Andaman and Nicobar Islands Chandigarh Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu National Capital Territory of Delhi[D] Jammu and Kashmir[I] Ladakh[I] Lakshadweep Puducherry
Iraq[13]	18 (official) governorates: Al Anbar Erbil Babylon Baghdad[D] Basra Dhi Qar Diyala Dohuk Halabja (unofficial) Karbala Kirkuk Maysan Muthanna Najaf Nineveh Al-Qādisiyyah Saladin Sulaymaniyah Wasit	1 federal region:  Kurdistan Region[J] (overlaps the area of Duhok, Erbil, and Sulaymaniyah—including Halabja—governorates)
Malaysia[14]	13 states:  Johor  Kedah  Kelantan  Malacca  Negeri Sembilan  Pahang  Penang  Perak  Perlis  Sabah  Sarawak  Selangor  Terengganu	3 federal territories:  Putrajaya  Kuala Lumpur[D]  Labuan
Mexico[15]	31 states:  Aguascalientes  Baja California  Baja California Sur  Campeche  Chiapas  Chihuahua  Coahuila  Colima  Durango  Guanajuato  Guerrero  Hidalgo  Jalisco  México  Michoacán  Morelos  Nayarit  Nuevo León  Oaxaca  Puebla  Querétaro  Quintana Roo  San Luis Potosí  Sinaloa  Sonora  Tabasco  Tamaulipas  Tlaxcala  Veracruz  Yucatán  Zacatecas
	1 autonomous city:  Mexico City[D]
Micronesia[16]	4 states:  Chuuk  Kosrae  Pohnpei  Yap
Nepal	7 provinces: Bagmati Gandaki Karnali Koshi Lumbini Madhesh Sudurpashchim
Nigeria[17]	36 states: Abia Adamawa Akwa Ibom Anambra Bauchi Bayelsa Benue Borno Cross River Delta Ebonyi Edo Ekiti Enugu Gombe Imo Jigawa Kaduna Kano Katsina Kebbi Kogi Kwara Lagos Nasarawa Niger Ogun Ondo Osun Oyo Plateau Rivers Sokoto Taraba Yobe Zamfara	1 territory: Federal Capital Territory[D]
Pakistan[18]	4 provinces:  Balochistan  Khyber Pakhtunkhwa  Punjab  Sindh	2 autonomous territories:[G]  Azad Jammu and Kashmir[I]  Gilgit-Baltistan[I]
		1 federal territory:  Islamabad Capital Territory[D]
Russia[19][20]	48 oblasts:  Amur  Arkhangelsk  Astrakhan  Belgorod  Bryansk  Chelyabinsk  Irkutsk  Ivanovo  Kaliningrad  Kaluga  Kemerovo  Kirov  Kherson[K]  Kostroma  Kurgan  Kursk  Leningrad  Lipetsk  Magadan  Moscow Oblast  Murmansk  Nizhny Novgorod  Novgorod  Novosibirsk  Omsk  Orenburg  Oryol  Penza  Pskov  Rostov  Ryazan  Sakhalin  Samara  Saratov  Smolensk  Sverdlovsk  Tambov  Tomsk  Tver  Tula  Tyumen  Ulyanovsk  Vladimir  Volgograd  Vologda  Voronezh  Yaroslavl  Zaporozhye[K]
	24 republics:[G]  Adygea  Altai Republic  Bashkortostan  Buryatia  Chechnya  Chuvashia  Crimea[K]  Dagestan  Donetsk[K]  Ingushetia  Kabardino-Balkaria  Kalmykia  Karachay-Cherkessia  Karelia  Khakassia  Komi  Luhansk[K]  Mari El  Mordovia  North Ossetia-Alania  Sakha  Tatarstan  Tuva  Udmurtia
	9 krais:  Altai Krai  Kamchatka  Khabarovsk  Krasnodar  Krasnoyarsk  Perm  Primorsky  Stavropol  Zabaykalsky
	4 autonomous okrugs:[G]  Chukotka  Khanty–Mansi  Nenets  Yamalo-Nenets
	3 federal cities:  Moscow[D]  Saint Petersburg  Sevastopol[K]
	1 autonomous oblast:[G]  Jewish Autonomous Oblast
Saint Kitts and Nevis	1 autonomous island:  Nevis	Saint Kitts: Saint Kitts
Somalia[21][22]	6 federal member states:[L]  Galmudug Hirshabelle  Jubaland Khatumo  Puntland South West[G]
South Sudan	10 states:[23] Central Equatoria Eastern Equatoria Jonglei Lakes Northern Bahr el Ghazal Unity Upper Nile Warrap Western Bahr el Ghazal Western Equatoria	3 administrative areas:[23] Abyei[I] Greater Pibor Ruweng
Sudan[24]	18 states: Blue Nile Central Darfur East Darfur Gezira Kassala Khartoum[D] North Darfur North Kurdufan Northern Al Qadarif Red Sea Sennar South Darfur South Kurdufan River Nile West Darfur West Kurdufan White Nile	1 special administrative status area:[25] Abyei[I]
Switzerland[26]	26 cantons:  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 Emirates[27]	7 emirates:  Abu Dhabi  Ajman  Dubai Fujairah  Ras Al Khaimah  Sharjah  Umm al-Quwain
United States[28]	50 states:  Alabama  Alaska  Arizona  Arkansas  California  Colorado  Connecticut  Delaware  Florida  Georgia  Hawaii  Idaho  Illinois  Indiana  Iowa  Kansas  Kentucky  Louisiana  Maine  Maryland  Massachusetts  Michigan  Minnesota  Mississippi  Missouri  Montana  Nebraska  Nevada  New Hampshire  New Jersey  New Mexico  New York  North Carolina  North Dakota  Ohio  Oklahoma  Oregon  Pennsylvania  Rhode Island  South Carolina  South Dakota  Tennessee  Texas  Utah  Vermont  Virginia  Washington  West Virginia  Wisconsin  Wyoming	1 federal district:  District of Columbia[D]
		1 incorporated territory:   Palmyra Atoll
		13 unincorporated territories:  American Samoa  Guam  Northern Mariana Islands  Puerto Rico  U.S. Virgin Islands Minor outlying islands: Baker Island Howland Island Jarvis Island Johnston Atoll Kingman Reef Midway Atoll Navassa Island Wake Island Bajo Nuevo Bank[I] Serranilla Bank[I]
Venezuela[29]	23 states: Amazonas  Anzoátegui  Apure  Aragua  Barinas  Bolívar  Carabobo  Cojedes  Delta Amacuro  Falcón  Guárico  Lara  Mérida  Miranda  Monagas  Nueva Esparta  Portuguesa  Sucre  Táchira  Trujillo  Vargas  Yaracuy  Zulia	1 capital district: Distrito Capital[D]
		1 federal dependency:  Federal Dependencies of Venezuela

See also

• Associated state
• Federal district
• Federal territory
• Federation
• List of countries by federal system
• List of administrative divisions by country
• List of autonomous areas by country
• List of sovereign states
• Supranational union

Notes

1. Examples are Australia, Canada and the United States.
2. This occurred in Belgium in 1993. The Belgian regions had previously devolved powers.
3. 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.
4. Federal capital district, region or territory.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. autonomous area
8. The Brazilian federal district has a level of self-ruling equal to the other main federal units.
9. Sovereignty over territory actively disputed by another sovereign state or the international community.
10. Has the authority to manage its internal affairs, provided it does not conflict with the provisions of the constitution of Iraq and/or the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal government.
11. Claimed by Ukraine and considered by most of the international community to be part of Ukraine.
12. 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. Prahran, Victoria, Australia: Hardie Grant Books. p. 827. ISBN 978-1-74066-648-0. p26. Archived 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". Constitutional Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Archived 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. "CONSTITUTION (AMENDMENT) ACT 2022" (PDF). Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia. January 25, 2022. Retrieved April 24, 2024.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
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". The Constitution of the Russian Federation. Archived from the original on 2018-12-25. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
21. "The Federal Republic of Somalia – Harmonized Draft Constitution" (PDF). Federal Republic of Somalia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 January 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
22. "Guidebook to the Somali Draft Provisional Constitution". Archived from the original 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". Al Jazeera. Archived 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". ReliefWeb. 26 May 2004. Archived 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