A ' () is a
country subdivision
Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...
in several
Latin American
Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-eth ...
countries, mostly as top-level subnational divisions (except in Argentina).
It is usually simply translated as "
department".
Current use
Ten countries currently have '.
Past use
Mexico in the 1830s was divided into 24 ', which were first-level divisions. It was during an attempt to
centralize the government.
Types of administrative division
{{Geo-term-stub
pt:Departamento
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