---
title: "Country Maps"
url: https://33travels.com/country-maps/
author: "Lena Marchetti"
published: 2026-11-11
updated: 2026-11-11
---

# Country Maps

Almost every country splits its territory into a first tier of divisions that run local government. The United States has 50 states, Canada has 10 provinces and 3 territories, Switzerland has 26 cantons and Japan has 47 prefectures. Geographers call this tier the first-level administrative divisions.

Our interactive maps show that tier for each country: every state, province or canton with its capital, population and area, the larger regions they belong to, and printable versions.

## What a first-level division is

A first-level division is the largest unit below the national government. Most have a capital, a governor or president and an elected assembly, and national statistics offices report census results by them. Below them sit second-level units such as counties, districts and municipalities.

Their size varies enormously. Russia’s Sakha Republic covers about 3.1 million km², more than Argentina. The Swiss canton of Basel-Stadt covers 37 km².

## Federal and unitary countries

In a federal country the constitution splits power between the national government and the divisions, and neither can abolish the other. US states, Brazilian and Indian states, Swiss cantons, Austrian and Australian states, Canadian provinces and Russian federal subjects each make laws of their own on matters such as schools, policing and local taxes. There are about 25 federal countries, home to around 40% of the world’s population.

In a unitary country the national government holds sovereign power and can create, merge or abolish divisions by ordinary law. Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal and South Korea work this way. The Netherlands added its twelfth province, Flevoland, in 1986, on land reclaimed from the sea.

## States, provinces and cantons

The names come from history, not function. A US state, a Canadian province and a Swiss canton do much the same job. Russia uses six kinds of federal subject: republics, krais, oblasts, federal cities, one autonomous oblast and autonomous okrugs.

Many countries also have territories, which usually hold fewer powers than the main divisions and are often thinly populated. Canada’s Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut, Australia’s Northern Territory and India’s union territories are examples. Some divisions carry special status instead: five of Italy’s 20 regions, including Sicily and Sardinia, have extra autonomy written into their statutes.

## Regions above the divisions

Many countries group their divisions into larger regions for statistics, planning or everyday speech. Brazil’s statistics office sorts its 27 federative units into five macro-regions. Russia groups its federal subjects into eight federal districts, and Japan’s 47 prefectures fall into eight traditional regions, from Hokkaido to Kyushu. Most of these regions have no elected government of their own.

## Codes and data

The ISO 3166-2 standard gives every first-level division a short code made of the country code and a local part: US-TX for Texas, CA-QC for Quebec, JP-13 for Tokyo. Population and area figures come from each country’s statistics office, such as ISTAT in Italy, IBGE in Brazil and Statistics Canada.

## Sources

- [ISO 3166 Country Codes](https://www.iso.org/iso-3166-country-codes.html)
- [Forum of Federations: Federal Countries](https://forumfed.org/countries/)
- [CIA World Factbook: Administrative divisions](https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/administrative-divisions/)
- [IBGE: Regional division of Brazil](https://www.ibge.gov.br/en/geosciences/territorial-organization/regional-division.html)