User talk:ChrisO/Country subdivisions
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text of draft WikiProject
WikiProject Country Subdivisions is an attempt to formulate a generic template for articles on national subdivisions. These are administrative entities within a country: provinces, states, dictricts and so on.
The reason is the lack of structure for most of the country subdivision articles, which often contain a basic set of information in a loosely organised framework. This WikiProject suggests a structure for country subdivision articles which would make them more structured, while also giving them a common look and feel.
A number of countries already have subdivision templates defined: Thai provinces, German districts, Swedish counties, French départements, Chinese provinces, Finnish provinces, Japanese prefectures
The template is based on the models used in those country subdivisions, but adopting a generic set of items.
Remember that everything below are guidelines. Not all subdivisions are the same, and not everything can be pushed into a framework in the same way. However, having the same "look & feel" for the subdivision articles would be great.
Contents |
[edit] Title
WikiProject Country Subdivisions
[edit] Scope
This WikiProject aims to structure all country subdivision articles, other than those which have already been structured in separate templates (see Descendant WikiProjects, below).
[edit] Parentage
Wikipedia:WikiProject_Countries
[edit] Descendant WikiProjects
The descendant wikiprojects are WikiProject U.S. States, WikiProject French departements, WikiProject Chinese provinces , WikiProject Swedish counties, WikiProject Finnish provinces and WikiProject Thai provinces.
[edit] Participants
- ChrisO
- Enlil Ninlil 09:35, 28 July 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Structure
This structure is advisory only, and should not be enforced against the wishes of those actually working on the article in question.
The article should start with a good introduction, giving name of the subdivision, the country, its location within the country, bordering major geographical features such as seas, rivers, mountain ranges and the like. Also give other names by which the subdivision may still be known (for instance, much of North Yorkshire was formerly the North Riding of Yorkshire). Also, add a few facts about the subdivision, the things that it is known for.
Next, there is a table or infobox with quick facts about the subdivision. A template for the table can be found at the bottom of this page. The contents are as follows:
- The official full name of the country in the local language and character set is to go on top as the caption, followed by the name in the local language and Latin character set (if applicable), followed by the English name (if applicable). If there are several official names, list them all.
- A picture of the subdivision's flag. (A good source for flag information is Flags of the World at http://flagspot.net/flags/ ) The displayed thumbnail image should be no more than 150 pixels in width.
- A picture of the subdivision's coat of arms, if applicable. A good source is required for this, but not yet available. It should be no more than 125 pixels in width.
- The official language(s) of the subdivision. This will in many cases include a minority language in addition to the national language.
- The political status. Specific what type of subdivision it is, e.g. autonomous region, province, county, state etc.
- Governmental information - president, chief minister, governor or prefect (or the local equivalents).
- The administrative capital city.
- Land area: The area of the country in sq km (km²) and the world-ranking of this country. (If sq mi are also used locally, give this - mi²). Also add the % of water, which can be calculated from the data in the Geography article (make it n/a if ~0%).
- Population: The number of inhabitants; also include a year for this estimate. Try to use the most recent figures available (national statistical agencies are usually the best source for these data).
- Currency: use this field only if the subdivision uses one or more currencies other than the national one.
- Time zone(s): use this field only if the subdivision's parent country has multiple time zones.
The rest of the article should consists of a few short paragraphs. These paragraphs should give an outline of the history/politics/etc. of the subdivision and link to a full article on them.
The heading should look like:
== Politics == ''Main article: [[Politics of Dagestan]]''
The sections are:
- History - A brief outline of the major events in the country's history (about 4 to 6 paragraphs should do), including at least a paragraph on the current events going on there. Link to "History of X".
- Politics - Short overview of the current governmental system, possibly previous forms, some short notes on the parliament. Link to article "Politics of X".
- (Subdivisions) - Quick overview of the administrative subdivisions of a larger regional unit; a state or region will often have smaller administrative units. Name the section after the first level of subdivisions (e.g. counties, municipalities etc.) and give the English name. This section could also include an overview map of the subdivision.
- Major towns - List of the major towns within a subdivision. List these by the English (or transliterated) name first, then the local name.
- Geography - Quick description of the subdivision's main features, climate, etc. If more detail is required, link to "Geography of X".
- Economy - Quick description of the subdivision's economy, major industries, etc.
If more detail is required, link to "Economy of X".
- Demographics - Mention the languages spoken, the major religions, some well known properties of the people of X, by which they are known. If more detail is required, link to "Demographics of X".
- Miscellaneous topics - a list of links to all the other topics closely related to the country.
- External links - Links to (official) websites about the country.
[edit] References
[edit] Secessionist subdivisions
Some subdivisions will be in a state of attempted or actual secession from the parent country (e.g. Kosovo, Northern Cyprus, South Ossetia). The treatment of these can be tricky, as supporters of one side or the other can perceive any mention of the other side's representatives or insignia as being an endorsement of that side. The following rules of thumb should be applied:
- Flags. Where two flags are in use, give both in the table.
- Independence. Include if the government or legislative body of the subdivision have formally declared independence. Do not use if the declaration has come from a non-administrative body, e.g. a political faction. Note who if anybody has recognised this declaration.
- Political representatives. If a secessionist subdivision is under the de facto rule of the secessionist side, give the names of the chief officials of the secessionist government and the "government in exile", if it exists. If a subdivision is under the rule of the national government, give only the name of the chief government official. A secessionist movement does not constitute a government unless it actually controls the territory in question.
[edit] Template
When applying this template to a subdivision article (which already all exist), it is common practice to create a temporary page to work on, with the following notice:
- ''This temporary page is being used to expand and convert the article [[_]] over to the new format agreed to at [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Country Subdivisions]]. Please feel free to add or edit anything on this page to help in the conversion process.''
Don't forget to replace the "_" with the name of the article being converted.
To notify readers/writers that a new page is being created, place the following text on the country article itself:
- '''A new page based on the new [[WikiProject Countries|template]] is being worked on at [[_/Temp]], please make any changes you want to make on that page.'''
Recalling that anyone can edit a page, please consider adding a link to this project in the source of any subdivision article you edit, so those who don't know about this project will find out about it before accidentally changing something in a way contrary to the template.
Definition paragraph.
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| LocationMap | |||||
| Official language | Xxxxx | ||||
| Administration type | state, province, region etc. | ||||
| Administrative Capital | Xxxxx | ||||
| (optionally) Capital's coordinates | X° X' N/S, X° X' E/W | ||||
| (optionally) Largest city | Xxxxx | ||||
| Title of chief political leader | Xxxxx | ||||
| (optionally) Independence - Declared Recognition |
(From Xxxxx) 19xx Xxxxx or none |
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| Area - Total - % water |
xx,xxx km² xx% / Negligible |
||||
| Population
- Density |
xxx/km² |
||||
| (optionally) Ethnic groups | Xxxxxxxs: xx% Yyyyyyys: yy% Zzzzzzz: zz% |
||||
| (optionally) Currency | Xxxxx | ||||
| (optionally) Time zone | UTC +/-X | ||||
[edit] History
Main article: History of _
[edit] Politics
Main article: Politics of _
[edit] (Subdivisions)
Main article: (Subdivisions) of _
[edit] Geography
Main article: Geography of _
[edit] Economy
Main article: Economy of _
[edit] Demographics
Main article: Demographics of _
[edit] Culture
Main article: Culture of _
[edit] Miscellaneous topics
- Communications in
- Transportation in
