What exactly is a prefecture?

What exactly is a prefecture?

A prefecture (from the Latin Praefectura) is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international church structures, as well as in antiquity a Roman district.

What is the meaning of prefecture in Japan?

Prefectures of Japan (都道府県, todōfuken) are one of the basic local entities of Japan. They are the 47 subdivisions of the country. Prefectures are the governmental bodies of Japan which are larger than cities, towns, and villages.

What is the difference between province and prefecture?

[b]Province:[/b] A province is a division similar to a state but is not assigned their own governments, but are governed by a single government. [b]Prefecture:[/b] A prefecture has something to do with religion.

What is prefecture synonym?

In this page you can discover 17 synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, and related words for prefecture, like: officials, directorship, directors, area, consulate, embassy, administration, office, iwate, aomori and fukushima.

What countries use prefectures?

For the US, provinces for Canada, counties for Ireland for English speaking countries, and departments (or départements) for France, states (or Länder) for Germany as direct translations from the native languages. But for Japan, the areas are called ‘prefectures’.

Does France have prefectures?

There are 101 prefectures in France, one for each department. The official in charge is the prefect (French: préfet). Prefectures are usually located near the geographic centre of their departments; they were originally chosen for being within a day’s travel on horseback from anywhere in the department.

Are prefectures cities?

A prefectural level city is a “city” (Chinese: 市; pinyin: shì) and “prefecture” (Chinese: 地区; pinyin: dìqū) that have been merged into one consolidated and unified jurisdiction. As such it is simultaneously a city, which is a municipal entry with subordinate districts, and a prefecture with subordinate county-level …

How big is a prefecture?

Prefectures of Japan

Prefecture 都道府県 Todōfuken
Number 47 Prefectures
Populations 564,000 (Tottori) – 14,625,000 (Tōkyō)
Areas 1,861.7 km2 (718.8 sq mi) (Kagawa) – 83,453.6 km2 (32,221.6 sq mi) (Hokkaido)
Government Prefecture Government, Central Government

Why do Japanese call prefectures?

The West’s use of “prefecture” to label these Japanese regions stems from 16th-century Portuguese explorers’ and traders’ use of “prefeitura” to describe the fiefdoms they encountered there. Its original sense in Portuguese, however, was closer to “municipality” than “province”.

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