Department (administrative division)

A department (French: département, Spanish: departamento) is an administrative or political division in several countries.An additional 10 countries use departments as second-level divisions, eight in Africa, and one each in the Americas and Europe.(The term "department", in other contexts, means an administrative sub-division of a larger organization.)The division of France into departments was a project particularly identified with the French revolutionary leader the Abbé Sieyès, although it had already been frequently discussed and written about by many politicians and thinkers.Today, departments may exist either with or without a representative assembly and executive head depending upon the countries' constitutional and administrative structure.

Map showing countries in the world that have departments as administrative divisions.
As first level

As second level

Department (disambiguation)FrenchSpanishdepartamentoadministrativethe AmericasAfricaEuropeFrench RevolutionaryAbbé Sieyèsd'Argensonrepresentative assemblyexecutivecountriesconstitutionalArgentinaBoliviaBurkina FasoCameroonColombiaRepublic of the CongoCôte d'IvoireEl SalvadorFranceGuatemalaHondurasMauritaniaNicaraguaParaguaySenegalUruguayBuenos Aires provinceBatavian RepublicCisalpine RepublicFrench EmpireGran ColombiaCentralist Republic of MexicoSecond Mexican EmpireKingdom of HollandKingdom of Italy (Napoleonic)Italian Republic (Napoleonic)Duchy of WarsawUnited StatesKingdom of WestphaliaregionsAlaskaU.S. stateDepartment of AlaskaDepartments of FranceOverseas departments and territories of Franceadministrative divisionsArrondissementCantonCommuneDepartmentProvincePrefectureRegionSubprefectureadministrative divisionEnglish termsInsular areaLocal government areaSpecial areaUnincorporated areaUnorganized areaBoroughCounty boroughMetropolitan boroughHalf-cantonCapitalFederal capitalAutonomous cityCharter cityIndependent cityIncorporated cityImperial cityFree imperial cityRoyal free cityCommunityAutonomous communityResidential communityCountyAdministrative countyAutonomous countyConsolidated city-countyCounty seatCounty townMetropolitan countyNon-metropolitan countyRegional county municipalityViscountyCountryOverseas countryOverseas departmentDistrictCapital districtCity districtCongressional districtElectoral districtFederal districtIndian government districtLand districtMetropolitan districtNon-metropolitan districtMilitary districtMunicipal districtPolice districtRegional districtRural districtSanitary districtEducational service districtLocal service districtSchool districtIntermediate school districtSpecial districtin the USUrban districtDivisionCensus divisionPolice divisionSubdivision of IndiaIndian reservationIndian reserveMunicipalityCity municipalityCounty municipalityDirect-controlled municipalityDistrict municipalityNeutral municipalityRegional municipalityResort municipalityMountain resort municipalityRural municipalitySpecialized municipalityAutonomous prefectureSuper-prefecturePraetorian prefectureAutonomous provinceOverseas provinceRoman provinceSpecial administrative regionAutonomous regionCapital regionNational capital regionDevelopment regionMesoregionMicroregionOverseas regionSubregionProto-stateCity-stateFederal stateFree stateSovereign stateTerritoryCapital territoryFederal capital territoryNational capital territoryDependent territoryFederal territoryIncorporated territoryOrganized incorporated territoryOverseas territoryUnion territoryCensus townMarket townTownshipCharter townshipCivil townshipPaper townshipSurvey townshipUrban townshipRegional unitAutonomous territorial unitExclusive economic zoneFree economic zoneSpecial economic zoneExclusion zoneMilitary exclusion zoneFree speech zoneNeutral zoneSelf-administered zoneFree-trade zoneBailiwickBannerAutonomousCadastreCircleCircuitColonyCondominiumConstituencyEldershipEmirateEnclave and exclaveFederal dependencyGovernorateHamlet