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Country subdivision refers to the division of a country's territory for the sake of its administration, description or other such purpose. The resulting units of division are known generically as "country subdivisions". Unlike geographical or geomorphological areas such as basins, deserts, valleys and the like, country subdivisions are abstract creations.

The most common types of country subdivision are administrative divisions, viz. divisions such as provinces, districts and municipalities. A few countries have administrative divisions that are themselves called "divisions" or "subdivisions"; these are listed in the articles linked.

The second most common types of country subdivision are electoral and census divisions, viz. divisions such as constituencies, wards and census regions. Some countries, however, use these terms (or their native equivalents) to identify types of administrative division, viz. Namibia's constituencies or those countries listed in Ward (administrative division). In North America, "Census division" and "census subdivision" are themselves types of census divisions.

Other types of country subdivision include statistical divisions, judicial divisions, planning or developmental regions, time zones and transport regions.

[edit] ISO 3166-2

According to the ISO's website, ISO 3166-2 (Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions - Part 2: Country subdivision code) uses the term "country subdivision" to indicate a "principal subdivisions (e.g. provinces or states)" [1].

[edit] See also

• Continent, Ocean
• Supranationalism
• Trade bloc
• Administrative division