Canton (administrative division)

Type of administrative division of a country

A canton is a type of administrative division of a country.[1] In general, cantons are relatively small in terms of area and population when compared with other administrative divisions such as counties, departments, or provinces. Internationally, the most politically important cantons are the Swiss cantons. As the constituents of the Swiss Confederation, theoretically and historically, they are semi-sovereign states.[2]

The term is derived from the French word canton, meaning "corner" or "district" (from which "cantonment" is also derived).[3]

## In specific countries

[edit]

Cantons exist or previously existed in the following countries:

* Cantons of Belgium[4]
* Cantonal Government of Bohol[5]
* Cantons of Bolivia[6]
* Cantons of Bosnia and Herzegovina: federal units of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina[7]
* Canada: Canadian French equivalent for the English word "township", since the translation municipalité is already used for a different level of government (see township).
* Cantons of Quebec[8]
* Cantons of Costa Rica: national second order subdivision of the first order Provinces. Cantons are further subdivided into the third order Districts. Each canton has its own municipality, or local government.[9]
* Cantons of Ecuador: subdivisions below the provinces of Ecuador.[10]
* Cantons of El Salvador: divisions of a municipality outside the more urban caserios, which border the town or city. Cantones can be thought as the more rural parts of a city or town, generally far from the actual urban population.[11]
* Cantons of France: a subdivision of arrondissements and départements, grouping several communes.[12]
* Cantons of Lebanon: unofficial militias and factions during the Lebanese Civil War and afterwards. Most areas have been returned to Lebanese government control.[13]
* Cantons of Luxembourg: first order administrative subdivisions
* Cantonal Government of Negros: short-lived provisional government in the Visayas during the Filipino-American Wars in the 19th–20th centuries Republic of Negros.[5]
* Cantons of Rojava (Western Kurdistan, Syria)[14]
* Cantons of Switzerland: each a semi-sovereign state within Switzerland.[2]
* Cantons of Togo: Subdivisions of Togo's prefectures, and further divided into villages.[15]
* subdivisions of vingtaines in Jersey[16]
* subdivisions of the parishes of Guernsey[17]

### In former countries

[edit]

* Cantons of Prussia: military enrollment districts between 1733 and 1813[18]
* Cantons of Eastern Rumelia, the subdivisions below the departments.[clarification needed]
* Cantons of the Soviet Union, subdivisions of several autonomous regions of the country before 1941.[19]
* In the Republic of New Granada, cantons were subdivisions below the provinces.[20]
* In the First Spanish Republic in 1873, "Cantonalists" took over the city of Cartagena, Spain, a major Spanish Navy base, and declared the city independent (see Cantonal Rebellion).[21]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Canton" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 5 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 221.
2. ^ a b "Bundesverfassung". Federal Assembly. Retrieved 2021-06-13.
3. ^ Oxford English Dictionary cantonment and canton, v.
4. ^ "LOI – WET". www.ejustice.just.fgov.be. Retrieved 2021-06-13.
5. ^ a b "Evolution of the Revolution | Presidential Museum and Library". Archived from the original on 2021-10-15. Retrieved 2021-06-13.
6. ^ González, Sergio (2010). "El cantón Bolivia o Central durante el ciclo de expansión del nitrato". Estudios Atacameños (39): 85–100\. ISSN 0716-0925. JSTOR 41550503.
7. ^ "Sprema se ukidanje pet županija!". archive.ph. 2013-01-15. Archived from the original on 2013-01-15. Retrieved 2021-06-13.
8. ^ "Répertoires des cantons du Québec". Ministère de l'Énergie et des Ressources naturelles (in French). Retrieved 2021-06-13.
9. ^ "Declara oficial para efectos administrativos, la aprobación de la División Territorial Administrativa de la República Nº 42838-MGP" (in Spanish). Sistema Costarricense de Información Jurídica, Procuraduría General de la República de Costa Rica. 28 January 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
10. ^ "de 221 cantones de la patria en 198 vence la revolucion ciudadana". presidencia.gob.ec. Archived from the original on 15 August 2017. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
11. ^ "Gaceta Oficial" (PDF). San Salvador. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
12. ^ Brunet, Roger (2015). "Nouveaux cantons en France: jeux de noms". Espace géographique. 44 (1): 73. doi:10.3917/eg.441.0073. ISSN 0046-2497.
13. ^ Viorst, Milton (1983-10-02). "A Solution: The 4 Nations of Lebanon". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-06-13.
14. ^ Allsopp, Harriet; Wladimir van Wilgenburg (2019). The Kurds of Northern Syria : governance, diversity and conflicts. London. ISBN 978-1-78831-483-1. OCLC 1066193784.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
15. ^ "Annuaire Statistique du Togo (2010–2013)" (in French). October 2019. Archived from the original on 2021-05-26. Retrieved 2021-08-06.
16. ^ Balleine, G. R.; Marguerite Syvret; Joan Stevens (1998). Balleine's history of Jersey (Rev. and enlarged ed.). Chichester: Phillimore. ISBN 1-86077-065-7. OCLC 963688358.
17. ^ "Cantons | St. Peter Port Parish". www.stpeterport.gg. Retrieved 2021-06-13.
18. ^ Guddat, Martin (2011). Handbuch zur preußischen Militärgeschichte 1688–1786 (2nd revised ed.). Hamburg. ISBN 978-3-8132-0925-9. OCLC 742574946.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
19. ^ Tso-Liang, Hsiao (1967). "Chinese Communism and the Canton Soviet of 1927". The China Quarterly. 30 (30): 49–78\. doi:10.1017/S0305741000029192. ISSN 0305-7410. JSTOR 651862. S2CID 153378793.
20. ^ "Constitución de la República de Nueva Granada de 1843". Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-06-13.
21. ^ "Le Bon – Psychologie: Die Wählermassen". www.textlog.de. Retrieved 2021-06-13.

* v
* t
* e

Designations for types of administrative division

English terms

Common English terms

| Area|

* Insular area
* Local government area
* Special area
* Unincorporated area
* Unorganized area

|

Borough|

* County borough
* Metropolitan borough

Canton|

Half-canton

Capital|

* Federal capital
* Imperial capital

City|

* Autonomous city
* Charter city
* Independent city
* Incorporated city
* Imperial city
* Free imperial city
* Royal free city

Community|

* Autonomous community
* Residential community

County|

* Administrative county
* Autonomous county
* Consolidated city-county
* County seat
* County town
* Metropolitan county
* Non-metropolitan county
* Regional county municipality
* Viscounty

Country|

* Overseas country

Department|

* Overseas department

District|

* Capital district
* City district
* Congressional district
* Electoral district
* Federal district
* Indian government district
* Land district
* Local government district
* Metropolitan district
* Non-metropolitan district
* Military district
* Municipal district
* Police district
* Regional district
* Rural district
* Sanitary district
* Service district
* Educational service district
* Local service district
* School district
* Intermediate school district
* Special district
* in the US
* Urban district

Division|

* Census division
* Police division
* Subdivision of India

Indian reserve/reservation|

* Indian reservation (United States)
* Indian reserve (Canada)

Municipality|

* City municipality
* County municipality
* Direct-controlled municipality
* District municipality
* Neutral municipality
* Regional municipality
* Resort municipality
* Mountain resort municipality
* Rural municipality
* Specialized municipality

Prefecture|

* Autonomous prefecture
* Subprefecture
* Super-prefecture
* Praetorian prefecture

Province|

* Autonomous province
* Overseas province
* Roman province

Region|

* Administrative region
* Special administrative region
* Autonomous region
* Capital region
* National capital region
* Development region
* Mesoregion
* Microregion
* Overseas region
* Subregion

State|

* Proto-state
* City-state
* Federal state
* Free state
* Sovereign state

Territory|

* Capital territory
* Federal capital territory
* National capital territory
* Dependent territory
* Federal territory
* Incorporated territory
* Organized incorporated territory
* Overseas territory
* Union territory

Town|

* Census town
* Market town

Township|

* Charter township
* Civil township
* Paper township
* Survey township
* Urban township

Unit|

* Regional unit

Zone|

* Economic zone
* Exclusive economic zone
* Free economic zone
* Special economic zone
* Exclusion zone
* Military exclusion zone
* Free speech zone
* Neutral zone
* Self-administered zone
* Trade zone
* Free-trade zone

Other English terms

| Current|

* Alpine resort
* Bailiwick
* Banner
* Autonomous
* Block
* Cadastre
* Circle
* Circuit
* Colony
* Commune
* Condominium
* Constituency
* Duchy
* District
* Eldership
* Emirate
* Enclave and exclave
* Federal dependency
* Governorate
* Hamlet
* Manor
* Royal
* Muftiate
* Neighbourhood
* Parish
* Precinct
* Principality
* Protectorate
* Quarter
* Regency
* Autonomous republic
* Riding
* Sector
* Autonomous
* Shire
* Sultanate
* Suzerainty
* Townland
* Village
* Summer
* Ward

|

Historical|

* Agency
* Barony
* Burgh
* Exarchate
* Hide
* Hundred
* Imperial Circle
* March
* Monthon
* Presidency
* Residency
* Roman diocese
* Seat
* Tenth
* Tithing
* Viceroyalty

Non-English terms or loanwords

| Current|

* Amt
* Apskritis
* Bakhsh
* Barangay
* Bashki
* Bezirk
* Regierungsbezirk
* Comarca
* Comune
* Frazione
* Freguesia
* Fu
* Gemeinde
* Austria
* Germany
* South Tyrol
* Switzerland
* Gemeente
* Gmina
* Hromada
* Județ
* Kampong
* Kommun/Kunta
* Finland
* Sweden
* Län (Sweden)
* Landskap
* Finland
* Località
* Maakunta
* Megye
* Muban
* Mukim
* Njësi administrative
* Obec
* Oblast
* Autonomous
* Okrug
* Ostān
* Poblacion
* Purok
* Qark
* Raion
* Savivaldybė
* Selsoviet
* Sitio
* Seniūnija
* Shahrestān
* Sum
* China
* Sýsla
* Tehsil
* Townlet
* Vingtaine

|

Historical|

* Commote
* Gau
* Heerlijkheid
* Komunë
* Köping
* Korale
* Län/Lääni
* Landskap
* Sweden
* Landskommun
* Maalaiskunta
* Nome
* Egypt
* Greece
* Pagus
* Pargana
* Plasă
* Rreth
* Satrapy
* Socken
* Subah
* Syssel
* Zhou

Used by ten or more countries or having derived terms. Historical derivations in italics.

See also
Autonomous administration
Census division
Electoral district
List of administrative divisions by country
Greek administrative divisions
Slavic administrative divisions

Authority control databases: National |

* Czech Republic

|

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