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Afederal district is a specificadministrative division in one of variousfederations. These districts may be under the direct jurisdiction of a federation's national government, as in the case offederal territory (e.g., India, Malaysia), or they may function as ordinaryfederated units (e.g., Brazil, Russia). Federal districts often includecapital districts.
TheFederal District (Portuguese:Distrito Federal) contains the Brazilian capitalBrasília.
InIndia, the term "Union Territory" is used for the eight territories governed directly by theUnion government (also called central government), administered by aLieutenant Governor or anAdministrator:Andaman and Nicobar Islands,Chandigarh,Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu,Delhi,Jammu and Kashmir,Ladakh,Lakshadweep andPuducherry. Of these, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, and Puducherry possess self-government with their own elected legislatures andChief Ministers.
InMalaysia, the termFederal Territory (Wilayah Persekutuan) is used for the three territories governed directly by the federal government:Kuala Lumpur (national capital),Putrajaya (federal government administrative centre) andLabuan (internationaloffshore financial centre).
TheFederal Capital Territory is a federal territory in central Nigeria.Abuja, the capital city ofNigeria, is located in this territory. The Federal Capital Territory was formed in 1976 from parts of the states ofNasarawa,Niger andKogi. It is within the Middle Belt region of the country. It is administered by theFederal Capital Territory Administration, headed by a minister appointed by the President.
InPakistan, the term FederalTerritory is used for the five zones and 12union councils of Islamabad governed directly by the state government asIslamabad Capital Territory.
Russia hasthree cities of federal importance, established by the Constitution —Moscow andSaint Petersburg; it also claimsSevastopol as such (which is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, occupied by Russia). Each city is treated as a separate federal subject and has its own legislative body. Russia hasfederal districts, but these form an additional administrative layer between the federation government and the federal subjects rather than being a distinct type of jurisdiction.
Theseat of theU.S. federal government inWashington is located in a federal district called theDistrict of Columbia. Other federally administered areas that are within one of the 50states, but not under its jurisdiction, are calledfederal enclaves.
Additionally, theU.S. federal court system divides each state, the District of Columbia, andPuerto Rico into one or morefederal judicial districts. AUnited States district court and abankruptcy court are located in each. There are also regionalfederal judicial circuits, each consisting of a group of states (except for theDistrict of Columbia Circuit, which consists of the federal district, and theFederal Circuit, whose jurisdiction is based on specific subject matter instead of geography); Puerto Rico and theUnited States territorial courts are also assigned to circuits. Each circuit has aUnited States court of appeals.
Capital District (Venezuela), where the Venezuelan capitalCaracas is located.
The capital,Buenos Aires, used to be aFederal District.[1] It was converted into theAutonomous City of Buenos Aires in 1994.[2]
TheJervis Bay Territory is aninternal territory of theCommonwealth of Australia, surrendered by the state ofNew South Wales in 1915 to theCommonwealth Government[3][4] so that the landlockedAustralian Capital Territory would have maritime access.[5] Due to the terms of theJervis Bay Territory Acceptance Act, the laws of the ACT apply to the Jervis Bay Territory,[6] and it was administered by theDepartment of the Interior (and later by theDepartment of the Capital Territory) as if it were part of the Australian Capital Territory, although it has always been a separate Commonwealth territory.[citation needed] In 1988, when the ACT achievedself-government by theAustralian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act,[7] theDepartment 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.[citation needed]
The formerFederal District was converted intoMexico City in January 2016.[8]
