A canton is a type of

administrative division Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...

of a country. In general, cantons are relatively small in terms of area and population when compared with other administrative divisions such as

counties A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

departments Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military * Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

, or

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

s. Internationally, the most politically important cantons are the Swiss cantons. As the constituents of the

Swiss Confederation Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerlan ...

, theoretically and historically, they are semi-sovereign states. The term is derived from the French word '' canton'', meaning "corner" or "district" (from which "

cantonment A cantonment (, , or ) is a type of military base. In South Asia, a ''cantonment'' refers to a permanent military station (a term from the British Raj). In United States military parlance, a cantonment is, essentially, "a permanent residential ...

" is also derived).

In specific countries

Cantons exist or previously existed in the following countries: *

Cantons of Belgium In Belgium, there are judicial and electoral cantons. Judicial cantons A judicial canton (, , ) is a group of municipalities over which a single justice of the peace has jurisdiction. A judicial arrondissement consists of all judicial cantons o ...

* Cantonal Government of Bohol *

Cantons of Bolivia A canton is a type of administrative division of a country. In general, cantons are relatively small in terms of area and population when compared with other administrative divisions such as counties, departments, or provinces. Internationally, th ...

Cantons of Bosnia and Herzegovina The ten cantons of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of the two political entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, are its federal units with a high level of autonomy. The cantons were established by the Law on Federal Units (Cantons) on ...

: federal units of the

Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Serbo-Croatian: ''Federacija Bosne i Hercegovine'' / ''Федерација Босне и Херцеговине'') is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities composing Bo ...

*Canada:

Canadian French Canadian French (, ) is the French language as it is spoken in Canada. It includes multiple varieties, the most prominent of which is Québécois (Quebec French). Formerly ''Canadian French'' referred solely to Quebec French and the closely re ...

equivalent for the English word "

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

", since the translation ''municipalité'' is already used for a different level of government (see

). ** Cantons of Quebec *

Cantons of Costa Rica Costa Rica is administratively divided into provinces of Costa Rica, seven provinces which are subdivided into 84 canton (administrative division), cantons, and these are further subdivided into districts of Costa Rica, districts. Cantons are t ...

: national second order subdivision of the first order

Provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

. Cantons are further subdivided into the third order

Districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

. Each canton has its own

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

, or local government. *

Cantons of Ecuador The cantons of Ecuador are the second-level subdivisions of Ecuador, below the provinces. The cantons are further subdivided into parishes, which are classified as either urban or rural. As of 2025, there are 222 cantons in the country. The ...

: subdivisions below the

provinces of Ecuador Ecuador is divided into 24 provinces (, singular''provincia''). The provinces of Ecuador and their capitals are: List 1 Population as per the census carried out on 2022-10-01 In addition, there were four areas that were non-delimited. These ...

. *

Cantons of El Salvador A canton is a type of administrative division of a country. In general, cantons are relatively small in terms of area and population when compared with other administrative divisions such as counties, departments, or provinces. Internationally, t ...

: divisions of a

outside the more urban ''caserios'', which border the town or city. ''Cantones'' can be thought as the more rural parts of a city or town, generally far from the actual urban population. *

Cantons of France The cantons of France () are territorial subdivisions of the France, French Republic's Departments of France, departments and Arrondissements of France, arrondissements. Apart from their role as organizational units in relation to certain aspect ...

: a subdivision of '' arrondissements'' and '' départements'', grouping several ''

communes A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

.'' * Cantons of Lebanon: unofficial

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

s and factions during the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The religious diversity of the ...

and afterwards. Most areas have been returned to Lebanese government control. *

Cantons of Luxembourg The 12 canton (administrative division), cantons ( ; ; ) of the Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg are subdivisions at the first level of local administrative unit (LAU-1) in the European Union's Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statist ...

: first order administrative subdivisions * Cantonal Government of Negros: short-lived provisional government in the Visayas during the Filipino-American Wars in the 19th–20th centuries

Republic of Negros The Republic of Negros (; ; ) was a short-lived Revolutionary government in the Philippines, revolutionary entity which had existed on the Negros Island, island of Negros first as a Canton (country subdivision), canton of the First Philippine Rep ...

. * Cantons of Rojava (Western Kurdistan,

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

) *

Cantons of Switzerland The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the Federated state, member states of the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the form of the first three confederate allies used to be referred to as the . Two important ...

: each a semi-sovereign

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

within

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. *

Cantons of Togo The Cantons of Togo are the third-level administrative units of the country, after regions and prefectures; which in turn they are subdivided into villages. They are similar to communes or sub-districts or sub-prefectures of other French Africa ...

: Subdivisions of Togo's prefectures, and further divided into villages. *subdivisions of

vingtaine A vingtaine (, literally "group of twenty" in French) is a political subdivision of Jersey. They are subdivisions of the various parishes of Jersey, and one, La Vingtaine de la Ville (The Vingtaine of the town), in Saint Helier is further divid ...

s in

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

*subdivisions of the

parishes of Guernsey The Bailiwick of Guernsey includes the island of Guernsey and other islands such as Alderney, Sark, Herm, Jethou, Brecqhou, and Lihou. Each parish was established, probably in the 11th century, as a religious area, each having its parish church ...

In former countries

* Cantons of Prussia: military enrollment districts between 1733 and 1813 * Cantons of

Eastern Rumelia Eastern Rumelia (; ; ) was an autonomous province (''oblast'' in Bulgarian, ''vilayet'' in Turkish) of the Ottoman Empire with a total area of , which was created in 1878 by virtue of the Treaty of Berlin (1878), Treaty of Berlin and ''de facto'' ...

, the subdivisions below the

. *

Cantons of the Soviet Union Cantons were administrative units in several autonomous republics and regions of Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, and then the Soviet Union, in 1919–1941. Cantons existed in Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Bashki ...

, subdivisions of several autonomous regions of the

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

before 1941. *In the

Republic of New Granada The Republic of New Granada was a Centralism, centralist unitary republic consisting primarily of present-day Colombia and Panama with smaller portions of today's Costa Rica, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru and Brazil that existed from 1831 to 1858. ...

, cantons were subdivisions below the

provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

. *In the

First Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), historiographically referred to as the First Spanish Republic (), was the political regime that existed in Spain from 11 February 1873 to 29 December 1874. The Republic's founding ensued after the abdication of King ...

in 1873, " Cantonalists" took over the city of

Cartagena, Spain Cartagena () is a Spanish city belonging to the Region of Murcia. As of January 2018, it has a population of 218,943 inhabitants. The city lies in a natural harbor of the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula. Cartage ...

, a major

Spanish Navy The Spanish Navy, officially the Armada, is the Navy, maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation ...

base, and declared the city independent (see Cantonal Rebellion).

References

{{Authority control Types of administrative division *