A federal district is a type of
administrative division
Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...
of a
federation, usually under the direct control of a federal government and organized sometimes with a single municipal body. Federal districts often include
capital districts, and they exist in various federations worldwide.
Countries
Current
Brazil
The term , meaning ''Federal District'' in
Portuguese, is used to refer to:
Federal District (Brazil)
The Federal District ( pt, Distrito Federal ) is one of 27 federative units of Brazil. Located in the Center-West Region, it is the smallest Brazilian federal unit and the only one that has no municipalities, being divided into 31 administr ...
, where the Brazilian capital
Brasília
Brasília (; ) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitsche ...
is located.
India
In
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
, the term
Union Territory is used for the eight territories governed directly by the
central government
A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or del ...
with its own
Chief minister and
Lieutenant Governor
A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...
:
Andaman and Nicobar Islands,
Chandigarh,
Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu,
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders wi ...
,
Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to:
* Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent
* Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory
* Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...
,
Ladakh,
Lakshadweep and
Puducherry. Of these, Delhi and Puducherry possess partial statehood with their own elected chief ministers.
Malaysia
In
Malaysia, the term
Federal Territory
A federal territory is an administrative division under the direct and usually exclusive jurisdiction of a federation's national government. A federal territory is a part of a federation, but not a part of any federated state. The states constit ...
(''Wilayah Persekutuan'') is used for the three territories governed directly by the federal government:
Kuala Lumpur (national capital),
Putrajaya
Putrajaya (), officially the Federal Territory of Putrajaya ( ms, Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya), is a planned capital city which functions as the administrative capital and the judicial capital of Malaysia. The seat of the federal government ...
(federal government administrative centre) and
Labuan (international
offshore financial centre).
Nigeria
The
Federal Capital Territory
A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal.
In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...
is a federal territory in central Nigeria.
Abuja
Abuja () is the capital and eighth most populous city of Nigeria. Situated at the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it is a planned city built mainly in the 1980s based on a master plan by International Plan ...
, the capital city of
Nigeria, is located in this territory. The Federal Capital Territory was formed in 1976 from parts of the states of
Nasarawa,
Niger and
Kogi. It is within in the Middle Belt region of the country. It is administered by the
Federal Capital Territory Administration The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) is a Nigerian ministry that administers the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria.
It is headed by a Minister appointed by the President, assisted by a Permanent Secretary, who is a career civil ser ...
, headed by a minister appointed by the President.
Pakistan
In
Pakistan, the term Federal
Territory is used for the five zones and 12
union councils of Islamabad
The union councils of Pakistan ( ur, ), referred to as village councils in villages, are an elected local government body consisting of 21 councillors, and headed by a Nazim which is equivalent to a mayor or chairperson and a Naib Nazib (vice ...
governed directly by the state government as
Islamabad Capital Territory.
Russia
Russia has
three cities of federal importance, established by the Constitution —
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
,
Saint Petersburg and
Sevastopol (internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, administered by Russia). Each city is treated as a separate federal subject and has its own legislative body. Russia has
federal districts, but these form an additional administrative layer between the federation government and the federal subjects rather than being a distinct type of jurisdiction.
United States
The
seat
A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense.
Types of seat
The following are examples of different kinds of seat:
* Armchair (furniture), ...
of the
U.S. federal government in
Washington is located in a federal district called the
District of Columbia
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...
. Other federally administered areas that are within one of the 50
states, but not under its jurisdiction, are called
federal enclaves.
Additionally, the
U.S. federal court system divides each state, the District of Columbia, and
Puerto Rico into one or more
federal judicial districts. A
United States district court and a
bankruptcy court are located in each. There are also regional
federal judicial circuits, each consisting of a group of states (except for the
District of Columbia Circuit, which consists of the federal district, and the
Federal Circuit, whose jurisdiction is based on specific subject matter instead of geography); Puerto Rico and the
United States territorial courts are also assigned to circuits. Each circuit has a
United States court of appeals.
Venezuela
Capital District (Venezuela)
The Capital District ( es, Distrito Capital) is a federal district of Venezuela. It has an area of 433 km2 and there is only one administrative division (''municipio''), Libertador, which contains about half of Caracas, the Venezuelan capit ...
, where the Venezuelan capital
Caracas
Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...
is located.
Former
Argentina
Federal District (Argentina) was converted into the ''
Autonomous City of Buenos Aires'' in 1994.
Australia
The
Jervis Bay Territory is an
internal territory of the
Commonwealth of Australia, surrendered by the state of
New South Wales in 1915 to the
Commonwealth Government so that the landlocked
Australian Capital Territory
The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...
would have maritime access. Due to the terms of the
Jervis Bay Territory Acceptance Act, the laws of the ACT apply to the Jervis Bay Territory,
and it was administered by the
Department of the Interior
The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...
(and later by the
Department of the Capital Territory) as if it were part of the Australian Capital Territory, although it has always been a separate Commonwealth territory. In 1989, when the ACT achieved
self-government, the
Department of the Arts, Sport, the Environment, Tourism and Territories took over responsibility for the JBT's administration, and it has since been administered by various Commonwealth departments responsible to the Minister for Territories.
Mexico
former
Federal District (Mexico)
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley of ...
, was converted into ''
Mexico City'' in January 2016.
See also
*
Direct-controlled municipality
*
Federal territory
A federal territory is an administrative division under the direct and usually exclusive jurisdiction of a federation's national government. A federal territory is a part of a federation, but not a part of any federated state. The states constit ...
*
Federated state
A federated state (which may also be referred to as a state, a province, a region, a canton, a land, a governorate, an oblast, an emirate or a country) is a territorial and constitutional community forming part of a federation. Such state ...
References
{{Terms for types of administrative territorial entities
Districts
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
Types of administrative division