First-order subdivisions

Aksaray

Aksaray, a province and city in Central Anatolia, Turkey, on the Silk Road at Cappadocia's western gate; regained provincial status 15 June 1989 (Law 3578), 441,136 people, 8 districts, Aşıklı Höyük and Ihlara Valley.

Aksu Diqu

Aksu Diqu (阿克苏地区, Aksu Prefecture) is a prefecture of Xinjiang, China, at the southern foot of the Tianshan Mountains on the northern Tarim Basin; seat Aksu City, one city plus eight counties, 2024 GDP 195.4 billion yuan, cotton and oasis agriculture.

Akwa Ibom State

Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria: South-South state created 23 September 1987 from Cross River State, capital Uyo, 31 LGAs, 129 km coastline, major oil producer, home of Ibom Air.

Al Batinah North Governorate

Al Batinah North Governorate (محافظة شمال الباطنة) is one of Oman's 11 governorates, created in 2011 by dividing the old Al Batinah province, with its regional center at Sohar.

Al Bayda Governorate

Al Bayda Governorate (محافظة البيضاء) is a central Yemeni governorate, capital Al Bayda City, 20 districts, borders eight governorates, 577,369 people in 2004, under Houthi control since 2021.

Al Hudaydah Governorate

Al Hudaydah Governorate (Arabic: محافظة الحديدة) is a governorate of western Yemen on the Red Sea coast, Yemen's second most populous, with its capital at the port city of Al-Hudaydah.

Al Jafārah

Al Jafārah (الجفارة), also spelled Al Jifarah, is a district of northwestern Libya on the Jefara Plain south and west of Tripoli, with its administrative center at Al 'Azīzīyah.

Al Khalil

Al Khalil (الخليل), or Hebron Governorate, is Palestine's southernmost West Bank governorate, about 937 km² with roughly 853,000 residents, the largest by population; its capital is Hebron city, whose old town is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Al Maḩwīt

Al Maḩwīt (المحويت, Al-Mahweet) is a mountainous governorate in western Yemen, 113 km northwest of Sana'a, with nine districts, capital Mahwit City, terraced agriculture, and 841,568 people per OCHA's 2025 figures.

Al Marqab

Al Marqab (المرقب), formerly known as Al Khums, is a first-level administrative division (shabiyat) of Libya on the northwestern coast in Tripolitania, with its capital at Al Khums.

Al-Anbar Governorate

Al-Anbar (الأنبار), Iraq's largest governorate in the western desert, borders Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia; capital Ramadi, Euphrates crosses 370 km, Sunni Arab and tribal, major gas and phosphate resources.

Al-Hasakah Governorate

Al-Hasakah Governorate (محافظة الحسكة, Parêzgeha Hesekê), Syria's far-northeastern province of 23,334 km², is the country's breadbasket and a major oil region, ethnically mixed, and since 2026 divided between government and SDF administration.

Al-Qadisiyah Governorate

Al-Qadisiyah (القادسية), or Al-Diwaniyah, Governorate is a south-central Iraqi governorate with capital Al Diwaniyah, 8,153 km², four districts, Euphrates-fed rice agriculture, and over 300 archaeological sites including Nippur and Uruk.

Alagoas

Alagoas is a state in northeastern Brazil, capital Maceió; 27,830.662 km², 102 municipalities, 3,127,683 people (2022 census), sugarcane-based economy, 248 km coastline, and rising but below-average education and social indicators.

Alaotra Mangoro Region

Alaotra Mangoro Region (Alaotra-Mangoro), a first-order administrative region of central-east Madagascar named for Lake Alaotra and the Mangoro river; capital Ambatondrazaka; 33,054 km²; about 1.26 million people; Madagascar's main rice-producing region.

Albay

Albay is a province in the Bicol Region of southeastern Luzon, Philippines, home to Mayon Volcano. Capital-area center Legazpi City; population 1,379,398 (2024); 15 municipalities, 3 cities, 720 barangays; agriculture, tourism, cement.

Alborz Province

Alborz Province (استان البرز, Ostān-e Alborz), Iranian province created June 2010 from Karaj, Savojbolagh, and Nazarabad counties of Tehran Province; capital Karaj, ISO code IR-30, Iran's second most densely populated province.

Alibori Department

Alibori is a department of northeastern Benin, capital Kandi, created 15 January 1999 from Borgou. Area 26,242 km², 867,463 people (2013), six communes, borders Burkina Faso, Niger, and Nigeria; Benin's main cotton area.

Alpes Poeninae

Alpes Poeninae (Pennine Alps), Roman province around the Great St Bernard pass between Aosta and Martigny, with Vallis Poenina the upper Rhone valley; governed by procuratores, chief town Octodurum (Martigny), sanctuary of Jupiter Poeninus at the pass summit.

Altai Krai (Алтайский край)

Altai Krai (Алтайский край), also called Altai Territory, is a Russian federal subject in southeast Western Siberia with center Barnaul, created 1937; a leading agricultural region with 168,000 km², about 2.1 million people, and an 843.6 km border with Kazakhstan.

Altai Republic (Республика Алтай)

Altai Republic (Республика Алтай), a Russian federal republic in southern Siberia with capital Gorno-Altaysk; borders Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia; Belukha 4,506 m; Russians 53.7%, Altaians 37.0%, Kazakhs 6.4% (2021 census).

Ambazonia

Ambazonia is the name separatists give to a proposed state covering Cameroon's English-speaking North West and South West regions, the former British Southern Cameroons. Unrecognized, it became the banner of an armed conflict declared in 2017 that has killed over 6,000 people.

Amman Governorate

Amman Governorate (محافظة العاصمة, Capital Governorate) is Jordan's most populous governorate, containing the capital Amman; 5,004,600 residents (41.9% of Jordan) at end-2025, area 7,579 km2, 90% of national investment.

Amur Oblast (Амурская область)

Amur Oblast (Амурская область), a Russian Far East federal subject with center Blagoveshchensk: 361.9 thousand km², 753,046 people (2025), founded 1858, GRP 1.03 trillion rubles (2024), major gas, hydropower, and cosmodrome projects.

An Giang province

An Giang province (tỉnh An Giang), Vietnam: Mekong Delta province formed 1 July 2025 by merging old An Giang and Kien Giang; 9,888.91 km2, about 4.95 million people, center Rạch Giá, largest in the delta.

An Najaf

An Najaf (النجف) is a governorate in southwestern Iraq, capital Najaf city, site of the shrine of Ali and Wadi Al-Salam. Area 28,532 km²; population grew from 775,042 (1997) to 1,950,833 (2024); tourism is about 30% of GDP.

Anambra State

Anambra State, southeastern Nigerian state created August 27, 1991 by Babangida, capital Awka, slogan "Light of the Nation"; 21 LGAs, governor Chukwuma Soludo since 2022, Onitsha market and Nnewi auto-parts trade anchor its economy.

Andhra Pradesh (ఆంధ్ర ప్రదేశ్)

Andhra Pradesh (ఆంధ్ర ప్రదేశ్), a Telugu-speaking state on India's Bay of Bengal coast, formed 1953, merged 1956, bifurcated 2014; capital Amaravati, 26 districts, 162,922.57 km², 1,053 km coastline.

Andhra State (ఆంధ్ర రాష్ట్రం)

Andhra State (ఆంధ్ర రాష్ట్రం), 1953-1956, was India's first linguistic state, carved from Telugu-speaking Madras districts after Potti Sriramulu's fatal fast, with Kurnool as capital and Prakasam as first Chief Minister, merged into Andhra Pradesh in 1956.