Prefecture

The term ''prefecture'' (from the Latin Praefectura) indicates the office, seat, territorial circonscription of a Prefect; consequentally, like that word, is its applied in English in relation to actual Prefects, whose title is just that (or the forms it takes in other, especially Romance, languages), in the broadest sense in the Roman tradition, but also by analogy, more or less conventionally, to render offices deemed equivalent in other languages cultural traditions. ==litteral prefectures== ===Antiquity=== For the Roman and subsequent types of ''praefectura'', see ''Praefectus''. It has been used most prominently to denote a somewhat self-governing body or area since the tetrarchy, when emperor Diocletian divided the Roman Empire into 4 districts (each divided into dioceses, grouping under a ''Vicarius'' a number of Roman provinces, listed under that article), initially each under a (senior or junior) emperor, each seconded by a pretorian prefect; soon imperial was reunited, to be split for good i two empires, west (at Rome) and east (at Constantinople), but each maintained two pretorian prefectures as an administrativelevel above the also surviving dioceses (a few of which git split). ===Ecclesiastic=== As canon law is strongly inspired by Roman law, it is nt surprizing that the Catholic church has several offices under a prefect (while that term ocurs also in otherwise styled offices, such as the head of a congregation or department of the Roman curia) === French ''pr�fecture'' === ''Main article: pr�fecture'' In France, a ''pr�fecture'' is the capital city of a ''d�partement''. By extension, it is also the name of one of the governing bodies of the ''d�partement''. There are 100 ''pr�fectures'' in France. == analogous prefectures == ===Greek equivalent of ''prefecture''=== Modern Greece, under its 1975 Constitution, is divided into 51 ''nomos'' (Greek language: νομοί) which form the units of local government. These are most commonly translated into English language as prefectures. Each ''nomos'' is headed by a prefect ''(nomarch),'' who was until recently a ministerial appointee but is nowadays elected by direct popular vote. Municipal elections in Greece are held every four years and voting for the election of nomarchs and mayors is carried out concurrently but with separate ballots. ''See:'' Prefectures of Greece === Chinese equivalents of ''prefecture'' === ==== The ancient''Xian'' ==== When used in the context of Chinese history, especially China before the Tang Dynasty, the word "prefecture" is used to translate ''xian'' (县/縣). This unit of administration is translated as "county" when used in a contemporary context. See County of China for more information on the ''xian'' of China. ==== ''Zhou'' ==== In the context of Chinese history during or after the Tang Dynasty, the word "prefecture" is used to translate ''zhou'' (州), another ancient unit of administration in China. See Zhou (political division) for more information on the ''zhou'' of China. ==== The modern Chinese sense ==== In modern-day People's Republic of China, the prefecture (地区; pinyin: d�qū) is an administrative division found in the Political divisions of China#Prefecture level of the administrative hierarchy. In addition to prefectures, this level also includes autonomous prefectures, league (Inner Mongolia), and prefecture-level city. The prefecture level comes under the Political divisions of China#Province level, and in turn oversees the Political divisions of China#County level. See Prefecture of China for more information on modern prefectures in China. === Japanese sense of ''prefecture'' === In the Japanese system, the word ''prefecture'' is used for translating references to an administrative district, ''ken'' (県), which is about the area of a county (United States) in the United States but, on average, about half the population of a state. The local self-governing system of Japan consists of 2 classes: prefectures as the large area local governing units and municipality the basic local governing units. In the Eastern sense, the administrative segregation of a unified nation is usually trifold: the nation, large area local governing units, and basic local governing units. Japan fits this pattern. Japan is divided into Prefectures of Japan and each prefecture is further divided into municipalities. These prefectures and municipalities have no overlapping districts or uncovered areas. In short, all the residents in Japan are sure to belong to one prefecture and one municipality. These prefectures and municipalities are not merely set up as the nation's administrative section, but also as corporate bodies independent from the country that possesses their own basic governing areas and local residents as their constituents. They hold administrative power within the districts in question. In Nagasaki and Hokkaido, subprefectures are used as special administrative units, due to peculiarities of governmental evolution and the difficulty in centrally governing certain large or remote areas. The current prefectural system in Japan was settled in the Meiji era after the new government abolished feudal clans or ''Han (Japan)''. This is called the "Abolition of the Han system". See Meiji era in History of Japan for historical background of this event. ===Mongolian equivalent=== In Mongolian it is called aymag. ==See also== *County *Politics of China *Politics of Japan *Politics of Taiwan *Politics of Mongolia *Subprefecture Subnational entities

Prefecture

"In the Japanese system, prefecture are used for translating an adminstrative district about the size of a county. " What does "county" relate to here? Is it a US county? By the way, what is the size of a county? - Olivier :That was written by user:Ktsquare, so I couldn't begin to guess. In the US, there's no standard size to counties that I'm aware of; here in California they vary in area from San Francisco, California to San Bernadino County, California km², and in population from Alpine County, California people to Los Angeles County, California. --User:Brion VIBBER ::That sentence was borrowed from a Geocities website written by a Jap. That non-copyright page is brief so I intended to post here as a stub.user:Ktsquare I managed to dig up some [http://www.fs.kochi-u.ac.jp:8000/forengin/tab1.htm stats on population and land area by prefecture] (ignore the forest stuff, just look at the first couple columns; the area figures are in hectares). The prefectures also vary fairly widely from 1880 to 83,410 km2, with an average size of about 8000 km2 (vs about 7000 km2 average of counties in California), and a median around 6000 km2 (vs about 4000 km2 median for counties). In terms of population, Japanese prefectures are significantly more crowded, with an average population of about 2.7 million each (vs ca counties 583,000), but the population is a bit more evenly spread out among them (median of ~1.8 mil, vs counties a mere 165,669!) Hope that helps... --User:Brion VIBBER

Pr�fecture

In France, a ''pr�fecture'' is the capital city of a ''d�partement''. By extension, it is also the name of one of the governing bodies of the ''d�partement'', and of the building housing this government body. ==Role== There are 100 ''pr�fectures'' in France. The civil servant in charge is the ''pr�fet''. The ''pr�fecture'' is an administration that belongs to the Minister of the Interior (France), and is therefore in charge of the delivery of the identity card, driving licenses, passports, residence and work permits for foreigners, car registration, registration of the associations (creation, status modification, dissolution), and of the management of the police and of the firefighters. The prefect represents the national government locally and as such exerces locally the powers that are constitutionally or legally exerced by the national government. The ''pr�fet'' can make ''arr�t�s'', which are legal texts written for the application of the law, e.g. to close a building that does not conform to the safety rules, or to modify vehicular traffic regulations (speed limit, authorisation for construction). The governing body of the ''d�partement'' is the ''Conseil G�n�ral'', which is in charge of the building and maintenance of schools and roads, the financial assistance to dependent people (disabled and elderly), promotion of the economical local development etc. In the past, the prefect would head the executive of the ''d�partement''; since 1982, the president of the ''conseil g�n�ral'' heads the executive. ==Paris== There is an exception with Paris (which is itself a ''d�partement'') and the three surrounding ''d�partements'' (called the ''petite couronne'', small crown): those four ''d�partements'' are governed by a single ''pr�fecture'' for law enforcement and security purposes, which is the ''pr�fecture de police'' (PP). The ''pr�fet de police'' has the power of law enforcement for Paris, which is a power of the mayor for the other French cities and towns. Until 1977, Paris had no mayor and was mostly ruled by the ''pr�fet de police'' (a situation inherited from the Paris Commune, 1871). ==Divisions of the ''d�partements''== The ''d�partements'' are divided into ''arrondissement in France'', themselves divided into ''canton in France''. The capital city of an ''arrondissement'' is the ''sous-pr�fecture''. The civil servant in charge is the ''sous-pr�fet''. The capital city of a ''canton'' is a ''chef-lieu de canton''. The ''cantons'' have little role except as electoral subdivision. ==See also== * Prefecture * Administrative divisions of France * French National Police

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