united-states canada constitutional-law
Are Canadian provinces and territories administrative divisions, and what is an &quot;adminstrative division&quot;?
<p>In its current version, Wikipedia's article titled "Quebec" tells us that</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Quebec is Canada's largest province by area and its second-largest administrative division; only the territory of Nunavut is larger.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Thus the ten provinces and three territories are here being considered "adminstrative divisions".</p>

<p>Maybe a year or so ago I was appalled to see <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._state" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this Wikipedia article</a> telling us that states in the United States are administrative divisions of the country, and I changed it.</p>

<p>In the U.S. there were formerly "organized incorporated territories" (and maybe the District of Columbia could still be considered one of those?). These I take to have been administrative divisions of the country. Congress passed an "organic act" for each such territory that said the government in this territory shall be organized in thus-and-such manner. During the existence of such a territory, if it was decided to change the term served by the governor from two years to fours year, or make some other change, the change was enacted by Congress, not by the voters in the territory. The constitution of a state, by contrast, is drafted by politicians in that state and submitted for the approval of the voters, and any changes are made by popular vote; there is no involvement of Congress or anything at the federal level. Thus states are not administrative divisions of the federal government. Counties, in those states where they exist (or parishes in Louisiana or boroughs in Alaska), are administrative divisions of the state.</p>

<p>Thus it seems appropriate that in the U.S., states get "admitted" by Congress whereas territories get "organized" by Congress. However, in Canada, if I'm not mistaken, both provinces and territories get "admitted".</p>

<p>So</p>

<ul>
<li>Is this understanding of the concept of "administrative division" right?</li>
<li>Is the article about Quebec right?</li>
</ul>

<p>&quot;Administrative division&quot; is a sub-national area that exists for the purpose of administration - it is context dependent and is independent of the area having self-governance  or legal certainty or continuity. That is, they may be large or small, geographically contiguous or not, permanent or temporary, democratic or non-democratic, self-governing or externally administered etc.</p>
<p>The states and territories of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_divisions_of_the_United_States" rel="nofollow noreferrer">US</a> can be considered administrative divisions. Counties and their equivalents are administrative divisions. Cites, towns, villages and other types of municipalities are also administrative divisions.</p>
<p>Australia has states and territories. Some states have counties. Some states have counties divided into parishes. All states have local governments (cities, municipalities and shires) whose boundaries do not relate to counties or parishes. Some governments form larger administrative divisions for certain purposes (e.g. <a href="https://www.wsroc.com.au/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">WSROC</a> - Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murray-Darling_Basin_Authority" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Murray-Darling Basin Authority</a>). All of these are administrative divisions.</p>
