Aprovince is anadministrative division within acountry orstate. The term derives from theancient Romanprovincia, which was the major territorial and administrative unit of theRoman Empire's territorial possessions outsideItaly. The termprovince has since been adopted by many countries. In some countries with no actual provinces, "the provinces" is a metaphorical term meaning "outside thecapital city".
While some provinces were produced artificially bycolonial powers, others were formed around local groups with their own ethnic identities. Many have their own powers independent of central orfederal authority, especiallyin Canada andTurkey. In other countries, likeChina orFrance, provinces are the creation of central government, with very little autonomy.
TheEnglish wordprovince is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-centuryOld Frenchprovince, which itself comes from theLatin wordprovincia, which referred to the sphere of authority of amagistrate, in particular, to a foreign territory.
Apopular etymology is fromLatinpro- ("on behalf of") andvincere ("to triumph" or "to take control of"). Thus a "province" would be a territory or function that aRoman magistrate held control of on behalf of his government. In fact, the wordprovince is an ancient term from public law, which means: "office belonging to a magistrate". This agrees with the Latin term's earlier usage as a generic term for a jurisdiction underRoman law.[citation needed]
InFrance, the expressionen province still means "outside theParis region". Equivalent expressions are used inPeru (en provincias, "outside the city ofLima"),Mexico (la provincia, "lands outsideMexico City"),Romania (în provincie, "outside theBucharest region"),Poland (prowincjonalny, "provincial"),Bulgaria (в провинцията,v provincijata, "in the provinces" andпровинциален,provincialen, "provincial"), theNetherlands (uit de provincie, "from outsideAmsterdam", or "from outside theRandstad"), and thePhilippines (tagá-probinsiya, "from outsideMetro Manila",sa probinsiya, "in the provinces", or "in the countryside").
Before theFrench Revolution,France comprised a variety of jurisdictions (built around the earlyCapetian royaldemesne), some being considered "provinces", though the term was also used colloquially for territories as small as amanor (châtellenie). Most commonly referred to as "provinces", however, were theGrands Gouvernements, generally former medieval feudal principalities, or agglomerations of such. Today, the expressionen province is regularly replaced in the media by the more politically correcten région,région now being the term officially used for the secondary level of government.
InItaly,in provincia generally means "outside the biggest regional capitals" (likeRome,Milan,Naples, etc.).
For theUnited Kingdom, use of the word is often pejorative, assuming astereotype of the denizens of the provinces to be less culturally aware than those in the capital.[1]
InMexico, while the term la provincia is commonly used to refer to areas outside Mexico City, it is increasingly viewed as pejorative by residents of other states. Mexico does not have provinces as administrative divisions, and the use of the term can imply a hierarchical or dismissive view of the rest of the country, reinforcing centralist attitudes and marginalizing regional identities.[2]
The historic European provinces—built up of many small regions, calledpays by the French and "cantons" by the Swiss, each with a local cultural identity and focused upon amarket town—have been depicted byFernand Braudel as the optimum-size political unit in pre-industrialEarly Modern Europe. He asks, "Was the province not its inhabitants' true 'fatherland'?"[3] Even centrally-organized France, an earlynation-state, could collapse into autonomous provincial worlds under pressure, as during the sustained crisis of theFrench Wars of Religion (1562–98).
The British colonies inNorth America were often named provinces. Most (but not all) of theThirteen Colonies that eventually formed the United States were called provinces.[4] All declared themselves "states" when they became independent. TheConnecticut Colony, theDelaware Colony,Rhode Island and theColony of Virginia never used the title "province". The British colonies further north, which remained loyal to Britain and laterconfederated to form the originalCanada, retained the title of "province" and are still known as such to the present day.
To 19th and 20th-century historians, inEurope,centralized government was a sign of modernity and political maturity. In the late 20th century, as theEuropean Union drewnation-states closer together, centripetal forces seemed simultaneously to move countries toward more flexible systems of more localized, provincial governing entities under the overall European Union umbrella.Spain afterFrancisco Franco has been a "State of Autonomies", formally unitary but in fact functioning as a federation ofAutonomous Communities, each exercising different powers.
"Provincial law" redirects here. For the concept in Roman legal studies, seeVolksrecht.
In manyfederations andconfederations, the province or state is not clearly subordinate to the national or central government. Rather, it is considered to besovereign in regard to its particular set of constitutional functions. The central- and provincial-government functions, or areas of jurisdiction, are identified in aconstitution. Those that are not specifically identified are called "residual powers". In a decentralized federal system (such as theUnited States andAustralia) these residual powers lie at the provincial or state level, whereas in a centralized federal system (such asCanada) they are retained at the federal level.
Canada's status as a federation of provinces under theDominion of the British Empire rather than an independent country also had certain legal implications.Provinces could appeal court rulings over the heads of theSupreme Court of Canada to theJudicial Committee of the Privy Council inLondon. As well, provinces could bypass the Supreme Court and go directly to London from anyProvincial Court. The Canadian Supreme Court tended to support the view that theCanadian Constitution was intended to create a powerful central government, but the Privy Council in London held the distinctly opposite view that the Constitution provided for stronger provincial powers. This provided an opportunity forforum shopping for provinces who opposed federal laws. Until appeals from Canada to the Privy Council were abolished in 1949, in legal disputes the provincial governments tended to win powers at the expense of the federal government.
In addition, while the Canadian federal government has unlimited taxing power while province governments are restricted to imposingdirect taxes, the Canadian government introduced anincome tax duringWorld War I, and since it is a direct tax it also became a major revenue generator for provinces. In most provinces, the federal government now collects income tax for both levels of government and transfers to the provincial governments whatever surcharge they ask for. Thesales tax also become a major revenue generator for provinces, so in 1991 the Canadian government introduced aGoods and Services Tax (GST) to share the revenues, which proved unpopular both with provincial governments and taxpayers. The Canadian government has tried to harmonize the two levels of sales taxes, but three provinces continue to impose a separate sales tax (British Columbia after harmonizing it, and shortly thereafter de-harmonizing it after it was struck down by a referendum), while the province of Alberta still does not impose a provincial sales tax.
The evolution of federations has created an inevitable tug-of-war between concepts of federal supremacy versus states' and provinces' rights. The historic division of responsibility in federal constitutions is inevitably subject to multiple overlaps. For example, when central governments, responsible forforeign policy, 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 forinternal disputes that lead toconstitutional amendments and judicial decisions that alter the balance of powers.
Though foreign affairs do not usually fall under a province's or a federal state's competency, some states allow them to legally conduct international relations on their own in matters of their constitutional prerogative and essential interest. Sub-national authorities have a growing interest inparadiplomacy, be it performed under a legal framework or as a trend informally admitted as legitimate by the central authorities.
Inunitary states such asFrance andChina, provinces are subordinate to the national, central government. In theory, the central government can create or abolish provinces within its jurisdiction. On the other hand, although Canada is now considered afederal state[5] and not aconfederation, in practice it is among the world's moredecentralized federations.[6]Canadian Confederation and theConstitution Act, 1867 conferred considerable power on the provincial governments which they often use to pursue their own goals independently of the federal government.
InCanada, local governments have been called "creatures of the province" because the authority of a local government derives solely from the provincial government. Provinces can create, merge, and dissolve local governments without the consent of the federal government or the people in the affected locality.[7] Alberta in particular dissolved and mergedhundreds of local governments during the 1940s and 1950s as a consequence of theGreat Depression. Other provinces have arbitrarily merged and annexed independent suburbs to major Canadian cities such asToronto orMontreal without the approval of local voters.
Not all first-level political entities are termed "provinces." InArab countries, the first administrative level of government—called amuhafazah—is usually translated as a "governorate." InPoland, the equivalent of "province" is "województwo," sometimes rendered in English as "voivodeship."[8]
Historically,New Zealand was divided intoprovinces, each with its own Superintendent and Provincial Council, and with considerable responsibilities conferred on them. However, the colony (as it then was) never developed into a federation; instead, the provinces were abolished in 1876. The old provincial boundaries continue to be used to determine the application of certainpublic holidays. Over the years, when the central Government has created special-purpose agencies at a sub-national level, these have often tended to follow or approximate the old provincial boundaries. Current examples include the 16Regions into which New Zealand is divided, and also the 21 District Health Boards. Sometimes the termthe provinces is used to refer collectively to rural and regional parts of New Zealand, that is, those parts of the country lying outside some or all of the "main centres"—Auckland,Wellington,Christchurch,Hamilton andDunedin.
In many countries, a province is a relatively small non-constituent level of sub-national government, such as acounty in the United Kingdom. In China, a province is a sub-national region within a unitary state; this means that a province can be created or abolished by the national people's congress.
In other nations—such asBelgium,Chile,Italy,Peru, thePhilippines, andSpain—a province is a second-level administrative sub-division of aregion (which is the first-order administrative sub-division of the nation).Italian provinces are mainly named after their principal town and comprise several administrative sub-divisions calledcomuni (communes). In Chile, they are referred to ascomunas. Chile has15 regions, subdivided into 53 provinces, of which each is run by a governor appointed by the president. Italy has20 regions, subdivided into14 metropolitan cities and96 provinces. Peru has25 regions, subdivided into 194 provinces. Spain has17 autonomous communities and 2 autonomous cities, subdivided into50 provinces.
The island ofIreland is divided into four historic provinces (seeProvinces of Ireland), each of which is sub-divided intocounties. These provinces areConnacht (in the west),Leinster (in the east),Munster (in the south) and,Ulster (in the north). Nowadays these provinces have little or no administrative function, though they do havesporting significance.Northern Ireland is frequently called "the Province" or "Ulster" in British media, although it includes just six of the nine counties of the original province.
The constituent entities ofCanada are known asprovinces. Prior to confederation, the termprovince was used in reference to several British colonies situated in what is now Canada; such as the colonialProvince of Quebec. In 1791, Quebec split into two separate provinces,Lower Canada, andUpper Canada. The two colonies were later merged in 1841 to form theProvince of Canada. From its separation from Nova Scotia in the 18th century,New Brunswick was known as His/Her Majesty's Province of New Brunswick. AfterCanadian Confederation in 1867, the termprovinces continued to be used, in reference to thesub-national governments of Canada.
Because Canada is thesecond-largest country in the world by area, but has only 10 provinces, most Canadian provinces are very large—six of its ten provinces arelarger than any country in Europe exceptRussia, and its largest province—Quebec, 1,542,056 km2 (595,391 sq mi)—is almost two and a half times as large asFrance—640,679 km2 (247,368 sq mi). Six provinces, including five of the oldest Canadian provinces—Alberta,Ontario,Quebec,New Brunswick,Nova Scotia andPrince Edward Island—have "counties" as administrative sub-divisions. The actual local government form can vary widely. In New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and in 9 of the 18 counties of Nova Scotia, county government has been abolished and has been superseded by another form of local government. New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island also have parishes within counties. Since theCanadian Constitution assigns local government to provincial jurisdiction, the various provinces can create, dissolve, and reorganize local governments freely and they have been described as "creatures of the province".
Alberta is also divided into counties, albeit they are officially classified as "municipal districts" by the province, though in regular everyday parlance these entities are referred to as a "county". Alberta has some unique local governance schemes formed in response to local conditions. For instance,Sherwood Park is an unincorporated "urban service area" of 72,017 withinStrathcona County, which has most of the oil refining capacity in Western Canada;Fort McMurray was once a city but dissolved itself and became an "urban service area" of 70,964 people within theRegional Municipality (R.M.) of Wood Buffalo, which has several multibillion-dollaroil sands plants; andLloydminster, a city of 31,483 which sits directly astride the border between Alberta and Saskatchewan. Unlike most such cases, Lloydminster is not a pair of twin cities on opposite sides of a border, but is actually incorporated by both provinces as a single city with a single municipal administration. The residents objected to the federal government splitting the city in two when it created the two provinces, so the two provinces reunified it by declaring it to be a single city in two provinces, thereby bypassing the limitations of a twin-city arrangement.
The term "province" is sometimes used to refer to the historic governorates (guberniyas) ofRussia. This terms also refers to theprovinces (провинции), which were introduced as the subdivisions of the governorates in 1719 and existed until 1775. In modern parlance, the term is commonly used to refer to theoblasts andkrais of Russia.
AchaemenidPersia (and probably before in Media, again after conquest and further extension by Alexander the Great, and in the larger Hellenisticsuccessor states: seesatrapy
^76 provinces + 1 special governed district (Phnom Penh). However, Cambodian usually presume Phnom Penh as another province for convenience.
^ThePeople's Republic of China (PRC) claims it has 23 provinces, one of them beingTaiwan, which the PRC does not have control. TheRepublic of China (frequently referred to as "Taiwan" or ROC) claims all 35 provinces but it only controls all ofTaiwan Province and several small islands ofFujian andHainan Province.
^76 provinces + 1 special governed district (Bangkok). However, Thai people usually presume Bangkok as another province for convenience.
^24 oblasts, one autonomous republic, and two "cities with special status".
