Administrative divisions of South America
The table below indicates the types and, where known, numbers of administrative divisions used by countries having territories in South America and their major dependent territories. It is ordered alphabetically by country name in English.
France's territory in South America is French Guiana. The Netherlands' territories in South America are Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao. The United Kingdom's territories in South America are the Falklands Islands, and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.
Notes
- Numbers of divisions
- To simplify maintaining the table, numbers of divisions are only specified where a country has around thirty or fewer instances; for example, as of 2010, the twelve qarqe (counties) of Albania. For numbers greater than thirty, the number rounded down to the nearest ten (or, in the case of thousands, the nearest hundred) is given, suffixed by a plus sign "+"; for example, the "300+" komuna (communes) of Albania. More precise figures should be found in the articles linked by the table.
- Terms in italics
- Terms in italics are terms in languages other than English. They should be in plural form, followed by a footnote or footnotes indicating the generally accepted English equivalent or translation. Known alternative spellings are given in brackets following a term.
- Terms in brackets
- Entries in standard brackets either indicate that the term used is informal or that its use is yet to be confirmed. An English term in square brackets indicates that the local name for the term is not yet known or confirmed; when confirmed, it is replaced by the local name in italics.
- Footnote letters ( c d m p r )
- These indicate, respectively, five common types of administrative division in English: capitals; districts; municipalities; provinces; and regions. Other English terms appear among the numbered footnotes.
Administrative divisions with ISO 3166-1
Administrative divisions with ISO 3166-1 are cited for statistics matters even when they do not have a special status (for example, the overseas regions of France).
Antarctic claims
Administrative divisions that are entirely Antarctic claims suspended under the Antarctic Treaty are not listed.
Autonomous areas
Not all the autonomous areas are part of the formal hierarchy of the administrative division system of a country (for example, the autonomous region of Zanzibar comprises 5 regions of Tanzania, the first tier on administrative divisions on that country). For more details, see List of autonomous areas by country.
Dependent territories
Dependent territories are listed with their sovereign country. For more details, see List of dependent territories.
Table
| Country |
Administrative divisions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First-level | Second-level | Third-level | Fourth-level and smaller | |
 Argentina |
22 provincias p | 376 departamentos d (m)[3] | municipalidad [4]m | localidades |
| Buenos Aires Province p | 135 partidos d m | cities and towns | ||
| Buenos Airesc d m[1] | 15 comunas [2] | 48 barrios | ||
 Brazil |
27 unidades federativas :[5] | |||
| 26 estados | 5,564 municípios m | |||
| Distrito Federalc | 31 regiões administrativas [6] | |||
 Chile |
15 regiones r | 50+ provincias p | 320+ comunas m | |
 Colombia |
32 departamentos Bogotác |
1100+ municipiosm | Comunas o Localidades 2000+ corregimientos |
Barrios Veredas |
 Ecuador |
24 provincias p | 210+ cantones | 1000+ parròquias | |
 France |
27 régions, including:
- 5 régions d'outre-mer |
101 départements p |
342 arrondissements d |
36781 communes m |
| 1 [state private property under the direct authority of the French government]: Clipperton Island | ||||
| 5 collectivités d'outre-mer[8] | ||||
 French Polynesia[9] |
5 subdivisions administratives | 40+ communes | ||
| Saint-Barthélemy |
||||
| Saint-Martin |
||||
| Saint-Pierre and Miquelon |
2 communes | |||
| Wallis and Futuna |
3 royaumes coutumiers [10] | 3 [districts] d | ||
| 1 collectivité sui generis | ||||
 New Caledonia |
3 provinces | 30+ communes | ||
| 1 territoire d'outre-mer[11] | ||||
 French Southern and Antarctic Lands |
4 [districts] d | |||
| For French Southern and Antarctic Lands, see France above. | ||||
 Guyana |
10 regions | 27 neighborhood councils | ||
 Netherlands, the Kingdom of |
1 [country within the Kingdom that conducts its affairs]: Netherlands | |||
| 12 provincies p | 443 gemeenten m | (27 deelgemeenten) | ||
3 bijzondere gemeenten Bonaire Sint Eustatius Saba |
||||
| 3 [autonomous countries within the Kingdom]:[1] | ||||
 Aruba |
15 cities | |||
 Curaçao |
||||
 Sint Maarten |
||||
 Paraguay |
17 departamentos Asunciónc |
230+ distritos [12]d | compañías municipios |
|
 Peru |
25 regiones r | 190+ provincias p | 1800+ distritos [4]d | 84000+ centros poblados → 1800+ centros poblados menores (as government entity) 80000+ [centros poblados dispersos] (only as censal unity) |
 Suriname |
10 districten d | 60+ ressorten [13] | ||
 Trinidad and Tobago |
9 regions Tobago (governed by Tobago House of Assembly) 3 boroughs 2 cities |
|||
 United Kingdom |
(1 constituent country with no devolution): England | |||
| 9 regionsi | 81 counties (6 metropolitan and 75 non-metropolitan) | 36 metropolitan boroughs 280+ non-metropolitan districts (Non-metropolitan districts include 46 unitary authorities) |
parishes[14] | |
| Greater Londonc | 32 London boroughs City of London |
|||
| (3 constituent countries with devolution): | ||||
| Northern Ireland |
(6 counties) 26 districts |
|||
 Scotland |
32 council areas | communities | ||
 Wales |
10 county boroughs 9 counties 3 cities |
communities | ||
| 3 crown dependencies: | ||||
 Guernsey[15] |
10 parishes | |||
 Jersey[15] |
12 parishes | vingtaines, cueillettes | ||
 Isle of Man |
6 sheadings | 17 parishes | ||
| 12 overseas territories: | ||||
 Anguilla |
14 districts | |||
 Bermuda |
9 parishes 2 municipalities |
|||
 British Indian Ocean Territory |
||||
 British Virgin Islands |
5 districts | |||
 Cayman Islands |
7 districts | |||
 Falkland Islands |
||||
 Gibraltar |
||||
 Montserrat |
3 parishes | |||
 Pitcairn Islands |
||||
| Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha |
3 parts of the territory: | Saint Helena has 8 districts | ||
 South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands |
||||
 Turks and Caicos Islands |
6 districts | |||
| 2 sovereign base areas: Akrotiri and Dhekelia | ||||
 Uruguay |
19 departamentos m | 89 municipios[16] | ||
 Venezuela |
23 estados | municipios m | parròquias | |
| dependencias federales [17] Caracasc |
||||
See also
- Country subdivision
- ISO 3166-2, codes for country subdivisions
- Associated state
- Asymmetric federation
- Condominium, joint sovereignty over an area shared by two or more states.
- Dependent territory
- Federacy
- Federation
- Federated state
- List of terms for country subdivisions
- List of capitals serving as administrative divisions by country
- List of autonomous areas by country
- List of sovereign states
- List of the most populous country subdivisions
- Matrix of country subdivisions
- List of political and geographic subdivisions by total area, comparing continents, countries, and first-level administrative country subdivisions.
- List of political and geographic subdivisions by total area (all)
- List of FIPS region codes in FIPS 10-4, withdrawn from the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) in 2008
- Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS), which covers the subdivisions of the members of the European Union
Footnotes
- a pseudo-municipalities (administration is appointed)
- c capital; see also Capitals serving as administrative divisions.
- d districts.
- i informals.
- m municipalities.
- p provinces.
- r regions.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Autonomous area or areas; see List of autonomous areas by country.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 communes.
- ↑ In La Rioja, Mendoza and San Juan Provinces
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 or partidos.
- ↑ Federative units.
- ↑ Administrative regions.
- ↑ Including 5 overseas regions and Corsica as a collectivité territoriale (territorial collectivity).
- ↑ a collectivité d'outre-mer (overseas collectivity).
- ↑ also known as a pays d'outre-mer (overseas country).
- ↑ kingdoms.
- ↑ a territoire d'outre-mer (overseas territory).
- ↑ or ?partidos.
- ↑ ?"resorts".
- ↑ not all of England is parished - see unparished area.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 a bailiwick.
- ↑ municipalities
- ↑ federal dependencies.