Unitary state - wikipedia Unitary state hide This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. ( Learn how and when to remove these template messages ) The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the English - speaking world and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may improve this article, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new article, as appropriate. ( February 2011 ) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( December 2015 ) Unitary states Federations The pathway of regional integration or separation Territorial organization of European countries Part of the Politics series Basic forms of government Power structure Separation Associated state Dominion Chiefdom Federalism Federation Confederation Devolution Integration Empire Hegemony Unitary state Administrative division Power source Democracy power of many Direct Representative Liberal Social Demarchy others Oligarchy power of few Aristocracy Plutocracy Kraterocracy Stratocracy Timocracy Meritocracy Technocracy Geniocracy Noocracy Kritarchy Particracy Ergatocracy Netocracy Autocracy power of one Despotism Dictatorship Military dictatorship Others Anocracy Anarchy Theocracy Power ideology Monarchy vs. republic socio - political ideologies Absolute Legalist Constitutional Parliamentary Directorial Semi-presidential Presidential Authoritarian vs. libertarian socio - economic ideologies Tribalism Despotism Feudalism Colonialism Distributism Anarchism Socialism Communism Totalitarianism Global vs. local geo - cultural ideologies Commune City - state National government Intergovernmental organisation World government Politics portal A unitary state is a state governed as a single power in which the central government is ultimately supreme and any administrative divisions ( sub-national units ) exercise only the powers that the central government chooses to delegate. The majority of states in the world have a unitary system of government. Of the 193 UN member states, 165 are governed as unitary states. In a unitary state, sub-national units are created and abolished ( an example being the 22 mainland regions of France being merged into 13 ), and their powers may be broadened and narrowed, by the central government. Although political power may be delegated through devolution to local governments by statute, the central government remains supreme ; it may abrogate the acts of devolved governments or curtail their powers. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is an example of a unitary state. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have a degree of autonomous devolved power, but such power is delegated by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which may enact laws unilaterally altering or abolishing devolution ( England does not have any devolved power ). Many unitary states have no areas possessing a degree of autonomy. In such countries, sub-national regions can not decide their own laws. Examples are the Republic of Ireland and the Kingdom of Norway. Unitary states are contrasted with federations, or federal states. In such states, the sub-national governments share powers with the central government as equal actors through a written constitution, to which the consent of both is required to make amendments. This means that the sub-national units have a right of existence and powers that can not be unilaterally changed by the central government. Contents 1 List of unitary states 1.1 Unitary republics 1.2 Unitary monarchies 1.3 5 largest unitary states by nominal GDP 1.4 5 largest unitary states by population 1.5 5 largest unitary states by area 2 See also 3 References 4 External links List of unitary states Italics : States with limited recognition Unitary republics Afghanistan Albania Algeria Angola Armenia Artsakh, Republic of Azerbaijan Bangladesh Belarus Benin Bolivia Botswana Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Chile China, People 's Republic of Republic of China ( Taiwan ) Colombia Congo, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Djibouti Dominica, Commonwealth of Dominican Republic Donetsk People 's Republic East Timor Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Fiji Finland France Gabon Gambia Georgia Ghana Greece Guatemala Guinea Guinea - Bissau Guyana Haiti Honduras Hungary Iceland Indonesia ( federation before 1950 ) Iran Ireland Israel Italy Ivory Coast Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Korea, Democratic People 's Republic of Korea, Republic of ( federation before 1960 ) Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Liberia Libya Lithuania Luhansk People 's Republic Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Moldova Mongolia Montenegro Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nicaragua Niger Palau Palestine Panama Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Romania Rwanda Samoa San Marino São Tomé and Príncipe Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Somaliland South Africa South Ossetia Sri Lanka Suriname Syria Tajikistan Tanzania Togo Transnistria Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Uganda Ukraine Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vietnam Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe Unitary monarchies Andorra Antigua and Barbuda Bahrain Bahamas Barbados Belize Bhutan Brunei Cambodia Denmark Grenada Jamaica Japan Jordan Kuwait Lesotho Liechtenstein Luxembourg Monaco Morocco Netherlands New Zealand Norway Oman Papua New Guinea Qatar Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saudi Arabia Solomon Islands Spain Sweden Thailand Tonga Tuvalu United Kingdom Vatican City 5 largest unitary states by nominal GDP Main article : List of countries by GDP ( nominal ) China, People 's Republic of Japan United Kingdom France Italy 5 largest unitary states by population Main article : List of countries and dependencies by population China, People 's Republic of Indonesia Bangladesh Japan Philippines 5 largest unitary states by area Main article : List of countries and dependencies by area China, People 's Republic of Kazakhstan Algeria Congo, Democratic Republic of Iran See also Centralized government Constitutional economics Political economy Regional state Rule according to higher law Unitary authority References Jump up ^ Devolution within a unitary state, like federalism may be symmetrical, with all sub-national units having the same powers and status, or asymmetric, with sub-national units varying in their powers and status. Jump up ^ `` unitary system government ''. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2017 - 08 - 11. Jump up ^ Svalbard has even less autonomy than the mainland. It is directly controlled by the government and has no local rule. Jump up ^ Roy Bin Wong. China Transformed : Historical Change and the Limits of European Experience. Cornell University Press. Jump up ^ `` Story : Nation and government -- From colony to nation ''. The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 29 August 2013. Retrieved 19 April 2014. Jump up ^ `` Social policy in the UK ''. An introduction to Social Policy. Robert Gordon University -- Aberdeen Business School. Archived from the original on 4 July 2014. Retrieved 19 April 2014. External links Open University -- The UK model of devolution Open University -- Devolution in Scotland Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Unitary_state&oldid=847828728 '' Categories : Forms of government Political geography Constitutional state types Hidden categories : Articles with limited geographic scope from February 2011 Pages in non-existent country centric categories Articles needing additional references from December 2015 All articles needing additional references Articles with multiple maintenance issues Talk Contents About Wikipedia Alemannisch Asturianu Azərbaycanca Беларуская Български Bosanski Català Cebuano Čeština Dansk Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Français Gaelg Galego 한국어 Հայերեն हिन्दी Ilokano Bahasa Indonesia Italiano Қазақша Kurdî Latviešu Lietuvių Македонски Bahasa Melayu Монгол မြန်မာဘာသာ Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Oʻzbekcha / ўзбекча ਪੰਜਾਬੀ پښتو Polski Português Română Русский Scots සිංහල Simple English Slovenčina Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Basa Sunda Suomi Svenska தமிழ் ไทย Тоҷикӣ Türkçe Türkmençe Українська اردو Tiếng Việt 中文 54 more Edit links This page was last edited on 28 June 2018, at 02 : 01 ( UTC ). 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Question: who has the most power in a unitary system
Answer: central government