First-order subdivisions

Settsu Province

Settsu Province (摂津国, Settsu no kuni) was a pre-modern Japanese province in the Kinai region, corresponding to northern Osaka Prefecture and southeastern Hyogo Prefecture, whose Osaka Bay ports made it the maritime gateway to western Japan.

Setúbal District

Setúbal District (Distrito de Setúbal), Portuguese first-order administrative division created 23 December 1926 from Lisbon district; capital Setúbal; 13 municipalities, 60 parishes, 5,214 km², 874,806 residents (2021 census), spanning Península de Setúbal and Alentejo Litoral.

Sha‘bīyat Banghāzī

Sha'biyat Banghazi (شعبية بنغازي), Benghazi District, is a shabiyat of Libya, ISO code BA, capital Benghazi, population 1,110,000; highest conflict mortality 2012-2017, LNA-controlled since 2014, elected municipal council formed 2026.

Sha‘bīyat Mişrātah

Sha'biyat Misratah (شعبية مصراتة), also Baladiyat Misratah or Misrata District, is a first-order administrative division (shabiyat) of Libya, code LY-MI, seat Misratah city, population 550,938.

Shaanxi (陕西)

Shaanxi (陕西), also romanized Shensi, is a province of northwest China with its capital at Xi'an, seat of the Zhou, Qin, Han, and Tang dynasties.

Oct 20, 2026

Shabwah

Shabwah, also spelled Shabwa, is a governorate of south-central Yemen with its capital at Ataq, named for the ancient capital of the Hadramawt trading kingdom.

Shandong (山东)

Shandong (山东) is a coastal province in eastern China on the lower Yellow River, with a 3,345 km mainland shoreline, over 100 million people, and a 2025 GDP above 10 trillion yuan, third in China.

Shanxi (山西)

Shanxi (山西) is a north China province, abbreviated Jin, west of the Taihang Mountains. China's top coal province (1.305 billion tonnes in 2025, ~30% of national output), GDP 2.55 trillion yuan, 34.2 million people, and home to Yungang Grottoes, Mount Wutai, and Pingyao.

Sheikdom of Upper Asir

Sheikdom of Upper Asir (Al Imarat al-Asir al-Ulya), a short-lived highland Arab state based at Abha, founded August 1916 from the Idrisid Emirate of Asir, a Hejazi protectorate from 1920, annexed by Nejd in 1923.

Shewa (ሸዋ)

Shewa (ሸዋ, also Shoa) is a historical region and former kingdom of central Ethiopia whose kings, notably Menelik II, built the modern Ethiopian state and founded Addis Ababa; the province was dissolved into Amhara and Oromia zones in 1991.

Shimane

Shimane (島根県, Shimane-ken), a Sea of Japan prefecture in western Honshu with capital Matsue, formed from Izumo, Iwami, and Oki provinces in 1871/1881; known for Izumo mythology, Iwami Ginzan silver mine, and Takeshima.

Shizuoka Prefecture

Shizuoka Prefecture (静岡県), a Pacific-coast prefecture of central Honshu formed in 1876, covering former Suruga, Tōtōmi, and Izu provinces; 10th in population and GDP, 3rd in manufacturing shipments, home to Mount Fuji and Japan's deepest bay.

Oct 20, 2026

Šiauliai County

Šiauliai County (Šiaulių apskritis), northern Lithuania, borders Latvia; center Šiauliai. 8,537 km², 7 municipalities, about 267,000 residents, declining population, EU investment leader.

Siberian Federal District (Сибирский федеральный округ)

Siberian Federal District (Сибирский федеральный округ), a Russian federal district created by decree of 13 May 2000, centered on Novosibirsk, comprising ten subjects including Krasnoyarsk Krai and the republics of Altai, Tyva, and Khakassia.

Sichuan (四川)

Sichuan, also spelled Szechuan, is a province in southwestern China known as the "Land of Abundance," with its capital at Chengdu and a population of 83.74 million in 2022.

Sidi Bel Abbès Province

Sidi Bel Abbès Province (Wilaya de Sidi Bel Abbès), northwestern Algeria: capital Sidi Bel Abbès on the oued Mekerra; 15 daïras, 52 communes, about 9,150 km², roughly 772,000–785,000 people, semi-arid cereal-farming and electronics (ENIE) economy.

Oct 20, 2026

Sidi-Kacem

Sidi-Kacem (سيدي قاسم) is a city in northwestern Morocco and the administrative center of Sidi Kacem province, founded around 1699 as a shrine settlement and chief town since 1981.

Sikkim (सिक्किम)

Sikkim (सिक्किम) is a small Himalayan state in northeastern India bordering Nepal, Bhutan, and Tibet, formerly a Namgyal kingdom that became India's 22nd state in 1975.

Silesian Voivodeship

Silesian Voivodeship (województwo śląskie), Poland's southern province around Katowice: most populous and urbanised region (about 4.2 million people), second-largest regional GDP, and the EU's biggest coal-mining region now undergoing a funded just transition.

Sinaloa

Sinaloa, a northwestern Mexican state with capital Culiacán and 20 municipalities, had 3,026,943 people in 2020. A leading farm exporter, it has been gripped since September 2024 by war between Sinaloa Cartel factions Los Chapitos and Los Mayos, and its US-indicted governor was replaced by an interim one in 2026.

Sindh (سنڌ)

Sindh (سنڌ) is a province of southeastern Pakistan on the lower Indus, home to the Indus Valley Civilization; 55.69 million people (2023), annexed by Britain in 1843, hit hardest by the 2022 floods.

Sistan and Baluchestan

Sistan and Baluchestan (سیستان وبلوشستان), Iran's southeastern province with capital Zahedan, borders Afghanistan and Pakistan. Predominantly Sunni and Baloch, it ranks last among Iranian provinces in development and faces drought, dust storms, and the Jaish al-Adl insurgency.

Şırnak

Şırnak is a province of Turkey in the Southeastern Anatolia Region, bordering Iraq and Syria. Created in 1990 from parts of three older provinces, it was named after its central town.

Skåne County

Skåne County (Skåne län), Sweden's southernmost county, formed 1 January 1997 from Kristianstad and Malmöhus counties; 33 municipalities, 1,433,083 inhabitants (2025/26), 11,007 km², governed by Region Skåne.

Skikda Province

Skikda Province (سكيكدة) is a coastal wilaya of northeastern Algeria, capital Skikda (ancient Rusicade), about 4,138 km² with 13 daïras, 38 communes, five ports, and a major refinery and petrochemical complex.

Smolensk Oblast

Smolensk Oblast (Смоленская область), a Russian federal subject on the Belarus border, formed 27 September 1937; area 49,786 sq km, center Smolensk, population about 857,000-935,000, GRP 348 billion rubles (2019).

Smolensk Voivodeship

Smolensk Voivodeship (województwo smoleńskie) was a voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, created in 1508 around Smolensk and ceded to Russia in 1667.

Soccsksargen

Soccsksargen (Region XII) is a Philippine administrative region in south-central Mindanao comprising South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, and General Santos City, with 4.46 million people (2024), an agro-based economy of PhP 550.08 billion, and Koronadal City as regional center.

Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo

The Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo was an autonomous province within Socialist Serbia and the Yugoslav federation that held near-republic status under the 1974 constitution until 1989.