Autonomous Entities

An autonomous administrative division (also referred to as an autonomous area, entity, unit, region, subdivision, or territory) is a subnational administrative division or internal territory of a sovereign state that has a degree of autonomy—self-governance—under the national government. Autonomous areas are distinct from the constituent units of a federation (e.g. a state, or province) in that they possess unique powers for their given circumstances. Typically, it is either geographically distinct from the rest of the state or populated by a national minority. Decentralization of self-governing powers and functions to such divisions is a way for a national government to try to increase democratic participation or administrative efficiency or to defuse internal conflicts. States that include autonomous areas may be federacies, federations, or confederations. Autonomous areas can be divided into territorial autonomies, subregional territorial autonomies, and local autonomies.

List of major autonomous areas

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, Kosovo / Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija
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, In 2008, Kosovo unilaterally declared itself as an independent state. Its international recognition is split between those who recognize it as an independent state and those who recognize it as an autonomous province of Serbia under United Nations administration.
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, Somaliland is a self-declared independent state, although it is internationally considered an autonomous region in northwestern Somalia.
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, Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria
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, Abkhazia / Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia
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, In 1999, the Republic of Abkhazia declared its independence from Georgia after the 1992–1993 war. Georgia and most of the U.N. member states have not recognized Abkhazia's independence and still has an administrative apparatus for the claimed Autonomous Republic; its independence is recognized by Russia and three other U.N. member states.
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, Republic of Crimea / Autonomous Republic of Crimea
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, The 2014 annexation of Crimea by Russia is not recognized by most countries, including Ukraine.
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, Transnistria / Left Bank of the Dniester
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, In 1990, the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR, commonly known as Transnistria) declared its independence from the Soviet Union. While Moldova has not formally recognized Transnistria's independence and still has an administrative apparatus for the claimed Autonomous Territorial Unit, its independence is recognized by 3 other non-UN member states.
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, In 2007, the Chamber of Deputies of Chile passed a law designating both as "special territories", granting them more autonomy. Additionally, the Juan Fernandez Islands archipelago is a commune, while Easter Island is both a commune and a province.
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, Although it does not fit the definition of autonomous area (not possessing partial internal sovereignty), Svalbard has the sovereignty of Norway limited by the Spitsbergen Treaty of 1920 and therefore is considered as having special status (as it is considered fully integrated with Norway, and not a dependency, it is a sui generis case).
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, Heligoland, Germany: Although it is part of a German state, Schleswig-Holstein, it has been excluded of some European Union normatives, such as customs union and the Value Added Tax Area.
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, rowspan=2, Despite being integral parts of their respective countries, these two enclaves of Switzerland predominantly use Swiss franc as currency and are in customs union with it.
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Other territories considered autonomous

Crown Dependencies

Guernsey, the Isle of Man, and Jersey are self-governing Crown Dependencies which are not part of the United Kingdom; however, the UK is responsible for their defence and international affairs.

British Overseas Territories

Gibraltar is a self-governing overseas territory of the UK. Most of the other 13 British Overseas Territories also have autonomy in internal affairs through local legislatures.

Dutch constituent countries

Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten are autonomous countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, each with their own parliament. In addition they enjoy autonomy in taxation matters as well as having their own currencies.

French overseas collectivities, New Caledonia, and Corsica

The French Constitution recognises three autonomous jurisdictions. Corsica, a region of France, enjoys a greater degree of autonomy on matters such as tax and education compared to mainland regions. New Caledonia, a ''sui generis'' collectivity, and French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity, are highly autonomous territories with their own government, legislature, currency and constitution. They do not, however, have legislative powers for policy areas relating to law and order, defense, border control or university education. Other smaller overseas collectivities have a lesser degree of autonomy through local legislatures. The five overseas regions, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, and Réunion, are generally governed the same as mainland regions; however, they enjoy some additional powers, including certain legislative powers for devolved areas.

New Zealand overseas territories

New Zealand maintains nominal sovereignty over three Pacific Island nations. The Cook Islands and Niue are self-governing countries in free association with New Zealand that maintain some international relationships in their own name. Tokelau remains an autonomous dependency of New Zealand. The Chatham Islands—despite having the designation of ''Territory''—is an integral part of the country, situated within the New Zealand archipelago. The territory's council is not autonomous and has broadly the same powers as other local councils, although notably it can also charge levies on goods entering or leaving the islands.

Ethnic autonomous territories

Ethiopian special woredas

In Ethiopia, "special woredas" are a subgroup of '' woredas'' (districts) that are organized around the traditional homelands of an ethnic minority, and are outside the usual hierarchy of a '' kilil'', or region. These ''woredas'' have many similarities to autonomous areas in other countries.

Areas designated for indigenous peoples

Other areas that are autonomous in nature but not in name are areas designated for indigenous peoples, such as those of the Americas:

* Aboriginal ( First Nation or Native American or Indian) Indian reserve and Indian reservation, in, respectively, Canada and the United States.
* the five '' comarcas indígenas'' ("indigenous regions") of Panama.

List of historical autonomous administrative divisions

* Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship
* Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in the Philippines (1989–2019)
* Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus in Albania (1914).
* Autonomous republics of the Soviet Union (1922–1990)
* Bantustans in South West Africa (1968-1990) and South Africa (1956-1994)
* Carpathian Ruthenia and Slovakia within Czechoslovakia (1938–1939).
* Grand Duchy of Finland of the Russian Empire.
* Magyar Autonomous Region of Socialist Republic of Romania (1952–1968)
* Southern Ireland (1921–22) within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

See also

* Devolution
* List of autonomous areas by country
** Autonomous administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China
** Autonomous administrative divisions of India
** Autonomous administrative divisions of Russia
** Autonomous administrative divisions of Spain
* List of autonomous regions leaders
* Personal union
* Region (administrative)
* Imperial immediacy

References

Works cited

* M. Weller and S. Wolff (eds), Autonomy, Self-governance and Conflict Resolution: Innovative Approaches to Institutional Design in Divided Societies. Abingdon, Routledge, 2005

From Conflict to Autonomy in Nicaragua: Lessons Learnt
report by Minority Rights Group International
* P.M. Olausson, Autonomy and Islands, A Global Study of the Factors that determine Island Autonomy. Åbo: Åbo Akademi University Press, 2007.
* Thomas Benedikter (ed.)
Solving Ethnic Conflict through Self-Government - A Short Guide to Autonomy in Europe and South Asia
EURAC Bozen 2009,
* Thomas Benedikter, 100 Years of Modern Territorial Autonomy - Autonomy around the World, Berlin/Zürich, LIT 2021, (pb)
* Thomas Benedikter, The World's Modern Autonomy Systems, EURAC Bozen 2010; https://www.academia.edu/44170136/The_Worlds_Modern_Autonomy_Systems

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Autonomy
Decentralization