An autonomous area or autonomous entity is an area of a country that has a degree of autonomy, or freedom from an external authority. Typically it is either geographically distinct from the rest of the country or populated by a national minority. Countries that include autonomous areas are often federacies. Autonomous areas can be divided into territorial autonomies, subregional territorial autonomies and local autonomies.
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Many autonomous areas lie within two of the world's largest countries, People's Republic of China and Russia.
Iraqi Kurdistan is the only region that has gained official recognition internationally as an autonomous federal entity.
China (PRC) has five types of autonomous areas.
Found only as divisions of Inner Mongolia. In effect, these are autonomous counties (see below).
The most numerous type of autonomous area in China, found both within and outside the larger autonomous prefectures and regions.
China has 30 prefectures that are autonomous, mostly in the periphery of the country.
A first-level administrative subdivision of China. There are five ARs in China. They are Inner Mongolia AR, Tibet AR, Ningxia Hui AR, Xinjiang Uyghur AR, and Guangxi Zhuang AR. Regardless of the names, these regions are in fact less autonomous than the special administrative regions of China.
Although not autonomous in name, in practice China's special administrative regions, Hong Kong and Macau, enjoy a very high degree of autonomy.
Apart from its republics, which by definition have a degree of autonomy, Russia has two types of autonomies:
Okrug is a transliterated Slavic loanword usually translated as "district". Okrugs, however, vary more widely in size than other areas commonly identified as "districts", from large first-level divisions to third-level divisions within cities. As of 2008, Russia has four autonomous okrugs.
Oblast is a transliterated Slavic loanword usually understood to mean "province". As of 2011, one autonomous oblast exists: the Jewish Autonomous Oblast.
The other types of autonomous areas to be found in the world are:
Five cities are formally designated by their countries as autonomous: the capital of Uzbekistan, Tashkent; the capital of Belgium, Brussels; the Spanish exclaves of Ceuta and Melilla; and the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires. Another Argentine city that has been pressing for autonomous status is Rosario, a city of around one million inhabitants that receives less subsidy than the smaller provincial capital Santa Fe.
Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, is described as an autonomous commune (commune autonome).
The territories into which Spain's provinces are grouped are known as autonomous communities (comunidades autónomas), as are the three atolls constituting the New Zealand territory of Tokelau.
Four countries formally designate areas of their territory as autonomous provinces:
In addition to the autonomous regions of China mentioned above, various other areas of the world are formally described as autonomous regions:
In addition to the Russian republics mentioned above, areas known as "autonomous republics" exist within some of the countries established following the end of the Soviet Union:
The Palestinian Authority exercises certain sovereign powers within its borders, but is not a fully independent government. The PA-administrated territories are internationally recognized as occupied by Israel, and not a proper part of that country.
The Bissau Region, in which Guinea-Bissau's capital Bissau is found, is described as an "autonomous sector" (sector autónomo).
In Ethiopia, "special woredas" are a subgroup of woredas or districts that are organized around the traditional homelands of an ethnic minority, and are outside the usual hierarchy of a Region or kilil. These woredas have many similarities to autonomous areas in other countries.
Other areas that are autonomous in nature but not in name are areas designated for indigenous peoples, such as those of the Americas:
If elected, the Action démocratique du Québec party promises to make Quebec an autonomous region within Canada.
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