Administrative divisions of Cartadania: Difference between revisions

'''Administrative divisions of Cartadania''' or '''political divisions of Cartadania''' are the various governing entities that together form [[Cartadania]]. The first subdivisions are the states and territories. The admission of states into the union is authorized by the [[Constitution of Cartadania]]. Most of the states admitted to the union outside of those in the Lusitania Velha region have been formed from territories of Cartadania (that is, land under the sovereignty of the federal government but not part of any state) that were organized by an act or resolution of Congress, subject to the Congress' plenary powers under the territorial clause of Constitution, or from land in an already formed state or annexed nation that was partitioned to form smaller states. The Cartadanian [[Federal government of Cartadania|federal]] and state governments operate within a system of parallel sovereignty, so political states are not technically "divisions" created from Cartadania, but rather units that, together with the [[Alahuela|capital]] and territories administered by the federal government, compose Cartadania. Territories of Cartadania are typically lands that have been purchased or annexed and fall under the sovereignty of the federal government. They have essentially all of the same powers of states except that they do not possess the same degree of autonomy as a state and do not maintain their infrastructure networks (Ilhas Bicarianas does maintain all of it's networks due to it's extreme distance).

== States and territories ==

The states are divided into smaller administrative regions, called counties (comarcas) in all but two states and one territory. In Milan, Montecarlo, Porta Bianca, and Santa Elena, the county equivalents are called parishes while Providência refers to them as municipios (municipalities). These are, nonetheless, treated as counties by the federal government. Counties have varying degrees of political and legal significance. In some states, mainly in Cambria, they are primarily used as judicial districts. In other states, counties have broad powers in housing, education, transportation and recreation.

=== Cities, towns, and villages ===

'''Cities''' are defined differently by the governments of each state and territory but typically are incorporated municipalities with some urban character of a certain population (e.g., 10k people). Some cities are independent cities, which mean that they are separate from, and independent of, any county they may be near or within. Thus, these cities are the equivalent of counties as they have no higher local government intervening between them and the state government. Independent cities also should not be confused with consolidated city-county governments. An independent city is not part of any county, whereas a consolidated city and county is both a municipal corporation (''cidade'' or city) and an administrative division of the state (''comarca'' or county). There are also incorporated cities, which are a part of and operate under a county system. These are the most common form of city government found in Cartadania. Some incorporated cities overlap county borders. Cities are typically responsible many services in their jurisdiction. Some states are composed solely of cities (i.e., Milan, Venice, and Verona) and contain no towns or villages. Areas outside of cities are unincorporated areas of the county.

'''Villages''' are areas of counties that are basically towns but have no general-purpose local government. They may exist in states that don't have subdivisions below the county with an official government or in states that do have cities and towns to fill space that would normally be unincorporated. Santiago is known to have cities, towns, villages, and unincorporated areas, each with different purposes. For this specific case, villages are essentially neighborhoods.

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