Unitary state

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Unitary states
Federations

The pathway of regional integration or separation

Part of the Politics series
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A unitary state is a state governed as a single power in which the central
government is ultimately supreme and any administrative divisions (sub-national
units) exercise only the powers that the central government chooses to delegate.
The majority of states in the world have a unitary system of government. Of the 193
UN member states, 165 are governed as unitary states.
In a unitary state, sub-national units are created and abolished (an example being
the 22 mainland regions of France being merged into 13), and their powers may be
broadened and narrowed, by the central government. Although political power may be
delegated through devolution to local governments by statute, the central
government remains supreme; it may abrogate the acts of devolved governments or
curtail their powers.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is an example of a unitary
state. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have a degree of autonomous devolved
power, but such power is delegated by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which
may enact laws unilaterally altering or abolishing devolution (England does not
have any devolved power).[1] Many unitary states have no areas possessing a degree
of autonomy.[2] In such countries, sub-national regions cannot decide their own
laws. Examples are the Republic of Ireland and the Kingdom of Norway.[3] In federal
states, the sub-national governments share powers with the central government as
equal actors through a written constitution, to which the consent of both is
required to make amendments. This means that the sub-national units have a right of
existence and powers that cannot be unilaterally changed by the central government.

Unitary states are contrasted with federations. An example of a federation is the

United States of America. Under the U.S. Constitution, powers are shared between
the federal government and the states. The Tenth Amendment to the United States
Constitution reserves powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution
to the States[4]; however, in practice, the federal government's ability to deny
funding of federal programs to non-compliant states is a powerful method of
persuasion.[5]

Contents [hide]
1 List of unitary states
1.1 Unitary republics
1.2 Unitary monarchies
1.3 5 largest unitary states by nominal GDP
1.4 5 largest unitary states by population
1.5 5 largest unitary states by area
2 See also
3 References
4 External links
List of unitary states[edit]
Italics: States with limited recognition

Unitary republics[edit]
Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Angola
Armenia
Artsakh, Republic of
Azerbaijan
Bangladesh
Belarus
Benin
Bolivia
Botswana
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
China, People's Republic of[6]
China, Republic of (Taiwan) (federation before 1949)
Colombia
Congo
Costa Rica
Croatia
Cuba
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Donetsk People's Republic
East Timor
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Estonia
Fiji
Finland
France
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Ghana
Greece
Guatemala
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Hungary
Iceland
Indonesia (federation before 1950)
Iran
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Ivory Coast
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kiribati
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Latvia
Lebanon
Liberia
Libya
Lithuania
Luhansk People's Republic
Macedonia
Madagascar
Malawi
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Marshall Islands
Mauritania
Mauritius
Moldova
Mongolia
Montenegro
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nauru
Nicaragua
Niger
North Korea
Palau
Palestine
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Rwanda
Samoa
San Marino
Sao Tom� and Pr�ncipe
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
Somaliland
South Africa
South Korea (federation before 1960)
South Ossetia
Sri Lanka
Suriname
Syria
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Togo
Transnistria
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Uganda
Ukraine
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Vietnam
Yemen
 Zambia
Zimbabwe
Peru
Unitary monarchies[edit]
Andorra
Antigua and Barbuda
Bahrain
Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
Bhutan
Brunei
Cambodia
Denmark
Grenada
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kuwait
Lesotho
Liechtenstein
Luxembourg
Monaco
Morocco
Netherlands
New Zealand[7]
Norway
Oman
Papua New Guinea
Qatar
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Saudi Arabia
Solomon Islands
Spain
Sweden
Thailand
Tonga
Tuvalu
United Kingdom[8]
Vatican City
5 largest unitary states by nominal GDP[edit]
China, People's Republic of
Japan
United Kingdom
France
Italy
5 largest unitary states by population[edit]
China, People's Republic of
Indonesia
Bangladesh
Japan
Philippines
5 largest unitary states by area[edit]
China, People's Republic of
Kazakhstan
Algeria
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Iran
See also[edit]
Centralized government
Constitutional economics
Political economy
Regional state
Rule according to higher law
Unitary authority
References[edit]
Jump up ^ Devolution within a unitary state, like federalism may be symmetrical,
with all sub-national units having the same powers and status, or asymmetric, with
sub-national units varying in their powers and status.
Jump up ^ "unitary system | government". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2017-
08-11.
Jump up ^ Svalbard has even less autonomy than the mainland. It is directly
controlled by the government and has no local rule.
Jump up ^ Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
Jump up ^ Many federal states also have unitary lower levels of government; while
the United States is federal, the states themselves are unitary under Dillon's Rule
� counties and municipalities have only the authority granted to them by the state
governments under their state constitution or by legislative acts. For example, in
the state of Connecticut, county government was abolished in 1960.
Jump up ^ Roy Bin Wong. China Transformed: Historical Change and the Limits of
European Experience. Cornell University Press.
Jump up ^ "Story: Nation and government � From colony to nation". The Encyclopedia
of New Zealand. Manatu Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 29 August 2013.
Retrieved 19 April 2014.
Jump up ^ "Social policy in the UK". An introduction to Social Policy. Robert
Gordon University - Aberdeen Business School. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
External links[edit]
Open University � The UK model of devolution
Open University � Devolution in Scotland
Categories: Forms of governmentPolitical geographyConstitutional state types
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