A 'province' is a territorial unit, almost always a
country subdivision.
Roman provinces
The word is attested in English since c.1330, deriving from Old French ''province'' (13th c.), which comes from the Roman word ''provincia'', which referred to the sphere of activity which a magistrate was assigned to exercise his authority; hence, in particular, a foreign territory.
A possible origin in
Latin is from ''pro-'' ("on behalf of") and ''vincere'' ("to triumph/take control over"). Thus a province is a territory or function that a Roman magistrate took control of on behalf of his government. However this does not tally with the even earlier Latin usage as a generic term for a jurisdiction under Roman law.
The Roman Empire was divided into provinces (''
provinciae'').
Provinces in modern countries
In many countries, a province is a relatively small non-constituent level of sub-national government (similar to a county in many English-speaking countries). In others it is an autonomous level of government and constituent part of a federation or confederation, often with a large area (similar to a US state). In France and China, province is a sub-national region within a unitary state. This mean the province can be abolished or created by the central government.
For instance, a province is a local unit of government in
Belgium,
Spain and
Italy, and a large constituent autonomous area in
Canada,
Congo and
Argentina.
In Italy and
Chile a ''province'' is an administrative sub-division of a
region, which is the first order administrative sub-division of the state. Italian provinces consist of several administrative sub-divisions called ''
comune'' (
communes). In Chile they are referred to as ''comunas''
The "Province of
Northern Ireland" is the only British territory called "province" today. In this case, the title province suggests separateness along the lines of Canadian usage. The title "province" above all reflects Northern Ireland's unique autonomy within the UK immediately after its foundation in 1921, but today Northern Ireland varies between a devolved government and direct rule. Northern Ireland is effectively a constituent nation of the United Kingdom.
Various overseas parts of the
British Empire had the colonial title of ''Province'' (in a more Roman sense), such as the
Province of Canada and the
Province of South Australia (the latter to distinguish it from the penal 'colonies' elsewhere in Australia). Equally, for instance, Mozambique was a "province" as a Portuguese colony.
Historical and cultural aspects
In
France, the expression ''en province'' still tends to mean "outside of the region of
Paris". (The same expression is used in
Peru, where ''en provincias'' means "outside of the city of
Lima" and in
Romania, where ''în provincie'' means "outside the region of
Bucharest".) Prior to the
French Revolution, France consisted of various governments (such as Ile-de-France, built around the early
Capetian royal demesne) some of which were considered as provinces, although the term would be used colloquially to describes lands as small as a manor (''châtellenie''). Mostly, the ''Grands Gouvernements'', generally former medieval feudal principalities (or agglomerates of such), were the most commonly referred to as provinces. Today, the expression is sometimes replaced with ''en région'', as that term is now officially used for the secondary level of government.
In historical terms,
Fernand Braudel has depicted the European provinces—built up of numerous small regions called by the French ''pays'' or by the
Swiss cantons, each with a local cultural identity and focused upon a market town—as the political unit of optimum size in pre-industrial Early Modern Europe and asks, "was the province not its inhabitants' true '
fatherland'?" (''The Perspective of the World'' 1984, p. 284) Even centrally organized France, an early
nation-state, could collapse into autonomous provincial worlds under pressure, such as the sustained crisis of the
Wars of Religion, 1562—1598.
For 19th and 20th-century historians, "centralized government" had been taken as a symptom of modernity and political maturity in the rise of Europe. Then, in the late 20th century, as a
European Union drew the
nation-states closer together, centripetal forces seemed to be moving towards a more flexible system composed of more localized, provincial governing entities under the European umbrella.
Spain after Franco is a ''State of Autonomies'', formally unitary, but in fact functioning as a federation of
Autonomous Communities, each one with different powers. (see
Politics of Spain). While
Serbia, the rump of the former Yugoslavia, fought the separatists in the province of
Kosovo, at the same time the
UK, under the political principle of "
devolution" established local parliaments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (1998). Strong local nationalisms surfaced or developed in
Cornwall,
Languedoc,
Catalonia,
Lombardy,
Corsica and
Flanders, and east of Europe in
Abkhasia,
Chechnya and
Kurdistan.
Geology
In geology the term province refers to a specific physiogeographic area composed of a grouping of like
bathymetric or former
bathymetric elements (now
sedimentary strata above water) whose features are in obvious contrast to the surrounding regions, or other provinces. The term usually refers to sections or regions of a craton recognized within a given time-
stratigraphy, i.e., recognized within a major division of time within a period.
Legal aspects
In many
federations and
confederations, the province or state is not clearly subordinate to the national or "central" government. Rather, it is considered to be
sovereign in regard to its particular set of constitutional functions. The central and provincial governmental functions, or areas of jurisdiction, are identified in a constitution. Those that are not specifically identified in the constitution are called "residual powers". These residual powers lie at the provincial (or state) level in a decentralised federal system (such as the United States and Australia) whereas in a centralised federal system they are retained at the federal level (as in Canada). Nevertheless, some of the enumerated powers can also be very significant. For example,
Canadian provinces are sovereign in regard to such important matters as
property,
civil rights,
education,
social welfare and medical services.
The evolution of federations has created an inevitable tug-of-war between concepts of federal supremacy versus "states' rights". The historic division of responsibility in federal constitutions is inevitably subject to multiple overlaps. For example, when central governments, responsible for "foreign affairs", enter into international agreements in areas where the state or province is sovereign, such as the environment or health standards, agreements made at the national level can create jurisdictional overlap and conflicting laws. This overlap creates the potential for internal disputes that lead to constitutional amendments and judicial decisions that significantly change the balance of powers.
In
unitary states such as
France and
China, provinces are subordinate to the national or central government. In theory, the central government can abolish or create provinces within its jurisdiction.
Current provinces
Not all "second-level" political entities are termed provinces. In
Arab countries the secondary level of government, called a ''muhfazah'', is usually translated as a
governorate. This term is also used for the historic
Russian ''guberniyas'', (compare to modern-day ''
oblast''). In
Poland, the equivalent of province is ''województwo'', often translated as
voivodeship.
In
Peru, provinces are a tertiary unit of government, as the country is divided into
twenty-five regions, which are then subdivided into 194 provinces. Chile follows a similar division being divded into
15 regions, which a then divided into a total of 53 provinces each being run by a governor appointed by the president.
There are also
provinces in New Zealand, but the country is not seen as a "federal" country. However, the provinces do have a few duties like collecting rates and each province has its own Health Board and District Prisons Board.
Some provinces are as large and populous as nations. The most populous province is
Henan,
China, pop. 93,000,000. Also very populous are several other Chinese provinces, as well as
Punjab, Pakistan, pop. 85,000,000.
The largest provinces by area are
Xinjiang, China (1,600,000 km²) and
Quebec,
Canada (1,500,000 km²).
Current provinces and polities translated "province"
Historical provinces
Ancient, medieval and feudal provinces
★ Pharaonic Egypt : see
nome (Egypt)
★ Achaemenid Persia (and probably before in Media, again after conquest and further extension by Alexander the Great, and in the larger Hellenistic
successor states : see
satrapy
★
Provinces of the Roman Empire
★ Byzantine Empire : see
exarchate,
thema
★ Frankish (Carolingian) 're-founded' Holy Roman Empire : see
gau and
county
★
Caliphate and subsequent
sultanates : see
Emirate
★
Khanate can also mean a province as well as an independent state, as either can be headed by a Khan
★ In the Tartar
Khanate of Kazan : the five daruğa ('direction')
★
Mughal Empire :
subah
★ In the
Habsburg territories, the traditional provinces are partly expressed in the ''Länder'' of 19th-century
Austria-Hungary.
★ The
provinces of the Ottoman Empire had various types of governors (generally a
pasha), but mostly styled
vali, hence the predominant term ''
vilayet'', generally subdivided (often in
beyliks or
sanjaks), sometimes grouped under a governor-general (styled
beylerbey).
===Modern post-
feudal and
colonial provinces===
★ in the
Spanish empire, at several echelons:
★
★
viceroyalty above
★
★
intendencia
★ former
British colonies
★
★
Province of Canada (1840-1867)
★
★
Province of South Australia (now an
Australian state)
★
★
Provinces of India
★
★
Provinces of Nigeria
★ The former
provinces of France
★ The former
provinces of Ireland
★ The former
provinces of Japan
★ The former
provinces of Sweden
★ The former
Republic of the Seven United Provinces (
The Netherlands)
★ The former
United Provinces of Central America
★ The
provinces of Prussia, a former
German kingdom/
republic
See also
★
Governor
★
Lists of unofficial regions by country
★
Provincialism
★
External links
★
Interactive China province map with city guides and more.
Sources and references
★
Etymology OnLine
★
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