Interior ministry

An interior ministry (sometimes ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government ministry typically responsible for policing, emergency management, national security, registration, supervision of local governments, conduct of elections, public administration and immigration matters. The ministry is often headed by a minister of the interior or a minister of home affairs. In some countries, matters relating to the maintenance of law and order and the administration of justice are the responsibility of a separate justice ministry.

In some countries, policing and national security belong to a separate ministry (often titled "ministry of public order", "ministry of security" etc.), with the interior ministry being limited to control over local governments, public administration, elections etc. Notable examples include Greece (ministry of citizen protection) and Israel (ministry of public security).

In countries with a federal constitution, an interior minister will often be found at both the federal and sub-national levels. Similarly, autonomous entities and dependent territories may also have interior ministers.

In certain jurisdictions, similarly named government departments may have other responsibilities. In the United States, the Department of the Interior has radically different functions—primarily the management and conservation of natural resources, and programs and policies dealing with indigenous peoples of the U.S. The functions that fall under what most other countries call an "interior ministry" are under other government departments—mostly the Department of Homeland Security (with functions such as public safety and disaster relief), with some others falling under the Department of Justice (with functions such as handling the national police and the management of prisons).

In Canada the Interior Minister's post existed from 1873 to 1936, replacing previous role of the Secretary of State for the Provinces. The current position is held by the newer Minister of Public Safety since 2003.

In Hong Kong, the Secretary for Home Affairs is responsible for matters relating to communities, culture, sports and local governance. Policing and related matters are the responsibilities of the Secretary for Security.

In India, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is responsible for internal security, demographics, promotes the official language.^[1] It tasks specialized functions by virtue of its departments, namely Department of Border Management, Department of Internal Security, Department of Jammu & Kashmir Affairs, Department of Home, Department of Official Language and Department of States. As such it heads such functions as the internal intelligence, and police and Civil Services of India as also protocol, freedom fighter pensions and manning of the courts.^[2]

In Japan, law enforcement is decentralised with the National Public Safety Commission coordinating between the National Police Agency and the government through its chairman, who is a cabinet member. National security and immigration matters fall under the Ministry of Justice, whilst the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications handles the administrative system, local government, elections, telecommunication and post matters.

In Vietnam, The Ministry of Public Security is responsible for policing, national security, and immigration matters.

List of interior ministries

Country	Ministry	Head
Afghanistan	Ministry of Interior	Minister of Interior
Albania	Ministry of Interior Affairs	Minister of Interior
Algeria	Ministry of Interior and Local Collectivities	Minister of Interior and Local Collectivities
Angola	Ministry of Interior	Minister of Interior
Argentina	Ministry of Interior, Public Works and Housing	Minister of Interior, Public Works and Housing
Australia	Attorney-General's Department	Attorney-General
Austria	Federal Ministry of the Interior	Federal Minister of the Interior
Azerbaijan	Ministry of Internal Affairs	Minister of Internal Affairs
Bahamas	Ministry of National Security	Minister of National Security
	Ministry of Immigration	Minister of Immigration
Bahrain	Ministry of the Interior	Minister of Interior
Bangladesh	Ministry of Home Affairs	Minister of Home Affairs
Belarus	Ministry of Internal Affairs	Interior Minister
Belgium	FPS Interior Belgium	Federal Minister of the Interior
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Ministry of Security	Minister of Security
Bosnia and Herzegovina Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina	Ministry of Internal Affairs	Minister of Internal Affairs
Bosnia and Herzegovina Republika Srpska	Ministry of Internal Affairs	Minister of Internal Affairs
Bulgaria	Ministry of Interior	Minister of Interior
Cambodia	Ministry of the Interior	Minister of the Interior
Canada	Department of Public Safety	Minister of Public Safety
People's Republic of China	Ministry of Public Security	Minister of Public Security
	Ministry of Supervision	Minister of Supervision
People's Republic of China Hong Kong, People's Republic of China	Home Affairs Bureau	Secretary for Home Affairs
	Security Bureau	Secretary for Security
People's Republic of China Macau, People's Republic of China	Secretariat for Security	Secretary for Security
Chile	Ministry of the Interior	Minister of the Interior
Colombia	Ministry of the Interior	Minister of the Interior
Croatia	Ministry of the Interior	Minister of the Interior
Cuba	Ministry of the Interior	Minister of the Interior
Cyprus	Ministry of Interior	Minister of Interior
Czech Republic	Ministry of the Interior	Minister of the Interior
Denmark	Ministry for the Interior and Health	Minister for the Interior and Health
Djibouti	Ministry of Interior and Decentralization	Minister of Interior and Decentralization
Dominican Republic	Ministry of Interior and Police	Minister of Interior and Police
Egypt	Ministry of Interior	Minister of Interior
Estonia	Ministry of the Interior	Minister of the Interior
European Union	Directorate-General for Home Affairs	Commissioner for Home Affairs
Finland	Ministry of the Interior	Minister of the Interior
France	Ministry of the Interior	Minister of the Interior and Overseas Territories
Georgia	Ministry of Internal Affairs	Minister of Internal Affairs
Germany	Federal Ministry of the Interior	Federal Minister of the Interior
Greece	Ministry of Interior and Public Order	Minister for the Interior and Public Order
Hungary	Ministry of Interior	Minister of the Interior
Iceland	Ministry of the Interior	Minister of the Interior
India	Ministry of Home Affairs	Union Minister of Home Affairs
Indonesia	Ministry of Home Affairs	Minister of Home Affairs
	National Police	Chief of National Police
Iran	Ministry of Interior	Minister of Interior
Israel	Ministry of Interior	Minister of Interior
	Ministry of Justice	Minister of Justice
	Ministry of Public Security	Minister of Public Security
Iraq	Ministry of Interior	Minister of Interior
Isle of Man	Department of Home Affairs	Minister of Home Affairs
Italy	Ministry of the Interior	Minister of the Interior
	Ministry of Justice	Minister of Justice
Japan	National Public Safety Commission	Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission
	Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications	Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications
	Ministry of Justice	Minister of Justice
Jamaica	Ministry of National Security	Minister of National Security
	Ministry of Justice	Minister of Justice
	Ministry of Local Government and Community Development	Minister of Local Government and Community Development
Jordan	Ministry of Interior	Minister of Interior
Kenya	Ministry for Internal Security and Provincial Administration	Minister for Internal Security and Provincial Administration
Kosovo	Ministry of Interior	Minister of Interior
Kazakhstan	Ministry of Internal Affairs	Minister of Internal Affairs
Kuwait	Ministry of Interior	Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior
Kyrgyzstan	Ministry of the Interior	Minister of the Interior
Lithuania	Ministry of the Interior	Minister of the Interior
Lebanon	Ministry of Interior and Municipalities	Minister of Interior and Municipalities
Luxembourg	Ministry of the Interior	Minister of the Interior
Macedonia	Ministry of Interior Affairs	Minister of Interior
Malaysia	Ministry of Home Affairs	Minister of Home Affairs
Malta	Ministry of Home Affairs	Minister of Home Affairs
Mauritania	Ministry of the Interior
Mauritius	Ministry of Home Affairs	Prime Minister's Office
Mexico	Secretariat of Governance	Secretary of Governance
Moldova	Ministry of Internal Affairs	Minister of Internal Affairs
Mongolia	Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs	Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs
Montenegro	Ministry of Interior Affairs and Public Administration	Minister of Internal Affairs and Public Administration
Morocco	Minister of Interior	Minister of Interior
Mozambique	Interior Ministry	Minister of Interior
Myanmar	Ministry of Home Affairs	Minister of Home Affairs
Netherlands	Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations	Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations
New Zealand	Department of Internal Affairs	Minister of Internal Affairs
Nigeria	Ministry of Interior	Minister of Interior
Pakistan	Ministry of Interior	Interior Minister
Peru	Ministry of the Interior	Minister of the Interior
Philippines	Department of the Interior and Local Government	Interior Secretary (DILG Secretary)
	Department of Justice	Justice Secretary
Poland	Ministry of Interior	Minister of Internal Affairs
Portugal	Ministry of Internal Administration	Minister of Internal Administration
Romania	Ministry of Administration and Interior	Minister of Administration and Interior
Russia	Ministry of Internal Affairs	Minister of Internal Affairs
Saudi Arabia	Ministry of Interior	Minister of Interior
Senegal	Ministry of the Interior	Minister of the Interior
Serbia	Ministry of Internal Affairs	Minister of Internal Affairs
Slovenia	Ministry of Internal Affairs
Singapore	Ministry of Home Affairs	Minister for Home Affairs
Slovakia	Ministry of Interior	Minister of Interior
Somalia	Ministry of Interior and Security	Minister of Interior and Security
South Africa	Department of Home Affairs	Minister of Home Affairs
South Korea	Ministry of the Interior and Safety	Minister of the Interior and Safety
South Sudan	Ministry of Internal Affairs	Minister of Internal Affairs
Spain	Ministry of the Interior	Minister of Interior
Sri Lanka	Ministry of Home Affairs and Public Administration	Minister of Home Affairs and Public Administration
Sudan	Ministry of Interior Affairs	Minister of the Interior
Switzerland	Federal Department of Home Affairs	Member of the Swiss Federal Council
Syria	Ministry of Interior	Minister of the Interior
Republic of China (Taiwan)	Ministry of the Interior	Minister of the Interior
Thailand	Ministry of Interior	Minister of the Interior
Tunisia	Ministry of the Interior
Turkey	Ministry of the Interior	Minister of the Interior
Turkmenistan	Ministry of Internal Affairs	Minister of Internal Affairs
Tajikistan	Ministry of Internal Affairs	Minister of Internal Affairs
Ukraine	Ministry of Internal Affairs	Minister of Internal Affairs
United Arab Emirates	UAE Ministry of Interior	The Interior Minister
United Kingdom	Home Office	Secretary of State for the Home Department (Home Secretary)
	Ministry of Justice	Lord Chancellor & Secretary of State for Justice
	Attorney General's Office	Attorney General for England and Wales
	Department for Communities and Local Government	Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
United States	Department of Homeland Security	Secretary of Homeland Security
	Department of Justice	Attorney General
Uruguay	Ministry of Interior	Minister of the Interior
Uzbekistan	Ministry of Internal Affairs	Minister of Internal Affairs
Venezuela	Ministry of Interior and Justice	Minister of Interior and Justice
Vietnam	Ministry of Public Security	Minister of Public Security
	Ministry of Home Affairs	Minister of Home Affairs
Zambia	Ministry of Home Affairs	Minister of Home Affairs
Zimbabwe	Ministry of Home Affairs	Minister of Home Affairs

See also

• Justice ministry

References