# Federal republic

Part of the Politics series :
Basic forms of government :
List of forms · List of countries :
Source of power
Democracy (rule by many)
Demarchy
Direct
Economic
Liberal
Representative
Social
Socialist
Others
Oligarchy (rule by few)
Anocracy
Aristocracy
Gerontocracy
Kleptocracy
Kritarchy
Meritocracy
Noocracy
Particracy
Plutocracy
Stratocracy
Technocracy
Theocracy
Autocracy (rule by one)
Despotism
Dictatorship
Military dictatorship
Tyranny
Anarchy (rule by none)
Anarchism
Free association
Stateless :
Power ideology
MonarchyRepublic (socio-political ideologies)
Absolute
Communist
Constitutional
Directorial
Legalist
Parliamentary
Presidential
Semi-presidential
AuthoritarianLibertarian (socio-economic ideologies)
Anarchism
Colonialism
Communism
Despotism
Distributism
Fascism
Feudalism
Socialism
Totalitarianism
Tribalism
ReligiousSecular
State religion
Secular state
Separation of church and state
State atheism
GlobalLocal (geo-cultural ideologies)
City-state
Intergovernmental organisation
National government
World government
Nationalism
Internationalism
Globalism :
Power structure
Unitarism
Unitary state
Empire
Principality
Client state
Associated state
Dependent territory
Dominion
Protectorate
Puppet state
Puppet monarch
Satellite state
Self-governing colony
Tributary state
Buffer state
Vassal state
Viceroyalty
Federalism
Confederation
Devolution
Federation
Superstate
Supranational union
International relations
Small power
Middle power
Regional power
Emerging power
Great power
Superpower :
Related
Administrative division
Democracy indices
Democratic transition
Autocratization
Democratisation
Hybrid regimes :
Politics portal :
vte :
A federal republic is a federation of states with a republican form of government. At its core, the literal meaning of the word republic when used to reference a form of government means a country that is governed by elected representatives and by an elected leader, such as a president, rather than by a monarch or any hereditary aristocracy.
In a federal republic, a division of powers exists between the federal government and the government of the individual subdivisions. While each federal republic manages this division of powers differently, common matters relating to international affairs and treaties, security and defense, inter-state relations, and monetary policy are usually handled at the federal level, while matters such as infrastructure maintenance and education policy are usually handled at the regional or local level; however, views differ on what issues should be a federal competence, and subdivisions usually have sovereignty in some matters where the federal government does not have jurisdiction. A federal republic is thus best defined in contrast to a unitary republic, whereby the central government has complete sovereignty over all aspects of political life. This more decentralized structure helps to explain the tendency for more populous countries to operate as federal republics.
Most federal republics codify the division of powers between orders of government in a written constitutional document. The political differences between a federal republic and other federal states, especially federal monarchies under a parliamentary system of government, are largely a matter of legal form rather than political substance, as most federal states are democratic in structure if not practice with checks and balances; however, some federal monarchies, such as the United Arab Emirates, are based upon principles other than democracy.
Federal states primarily contrast with unitary states, where the central government retains many of the powers that are delegated to the subdivisions in federal republics. While there are exceptions, the overall tendency is for federal republics to be larger, more populous, and more internally heterogeneous than unitary states, with such larger size and internal heterogeneity being more manageable in a federal system than in a unitary one.

## Contemporary

| Country | Official name and style | Administrative divisions | Form of government | Head of state | Head of government |
| Argentina | Argentine Republic | Provinces (23) and autonomous city (1) | Presidential system | Javier Milei | Javier Milei |
| Austria | Republic of Austria | States (9) | Parliamentary republic | Alexander Van der Bellen | Karl Nehammer |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Entities (2) and self-governing district (1) | Parliamentary republic | Željka Cvijanović Denis Bećirović Željko Komšić | Borjana Krišto |
| Brazil | Federative Republic of Brazil | States (26) and federal district (1) | Presidential system | Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva | Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva |
| Comoros | Union of the Comoros | Autonomous islands (3) | Presidential system | Azali Assoumani | Azali Assoumani |
| Ethiopia | Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia | Regions (10) and chartered cities (2) | Parliamentary republic | Sahle-Work Zewde | Abiy Ahmed |
| Germany | Federal Republic of Germany | States (16) | Parliamentary republic | Frank-Walter Steinmeier | Olaf Scholz |
| India | Republic of India | States (28) and union territories (8) | Parliamentary republic | Droupadi Murmu | Narendra Modi |
| Iraq | Republic of Iraq | Governorates (19) | Parliamentary republic | Abdul Latif Rashid | Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani |
| Mexico | United Mexican States | States (31) and autonomous entity (1) | Presidential system | Claudia Sheinbaum | Claudia Sheinbaum |
| Micronesia | Federated States of Micronesia | States (4) | Presidential system | David W. Panuelo | David W. Panuelo |
| Nepal | Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal | Provinces (7) | Parliamentary republic | Ram Chandra Poudel | Pushpa Kamal Dahal |
| Nigeria | Federal Republic of Nigeria | States (36) and federal territory (1) | Presidential system | Bola Tinubu | Bola Tinubu |
| Pakistan | Islamic Republic of Pakistan | Provinces (4), autonomous territories (2) and federal territory (1) | Parliamentary republic | Asif Ali Zardari | Shehbaz Sharif |
| Russia | Russian Federation | Federal subjects (85) | Semi-presidential system | Vladimir Putin | Mikhail Mishustin |
| Somalia | Federal Republic of Somalia | Federal member states (6) | Parliamentary republic | Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed (acting) | Hamza Abdi Barre |
| South Sudan | Republic of South Sudan | States (10), administrative areas (2) and area with special administrative status (1) | Presidential system | Salva Kiir Mayardit | Salva Kiir Mayardit |
| Sudan | Republic of the Sudan | States (18) | Provisional government | Abdel Fattah al-Burhan | Osman Hussein |
| Switzerland | Swiss Confederation | Cantons (26) | Directorial Parliamentary republic | Federal Council (2023): -Alain Berset -Ignazio Cassis -Albert Rösti -Élisabeth Baume-Schneider -Guy Parmelin -Karin Keller-Sutter -Viola Amherd | Federal Council (2023): -Alain Berset -Ignazio Cassis -Albert Rösti -Élisabeth Baume-Schneider -Guy Parmelin -Karin Keller-Sutter -Viola Amherd |
| United States | United States of America | States (50), federal district (1) and territories (14), nine of which are uninhabited. | Presidential system | Donald Trump | Donald Trump |
| Venezuela | Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela | States (23) and capital district (1) | Presidential system | Nicolás Maduro | Nicolás Maduro |

## Historical

| Country | Official name and style | Period of federal form of government | Administrative divisions |
| Regency of Algiers | Regency of Algiers Kingdom of Algiers | 1563–1830 | Beyliks |
| Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth | Serenissima Res Publica Poloniae | 1569–1795 | Provinces and Voivodeships |
| Dutch Republic | Republic of the Seven United Netherlands | 1581–1795 | Provinces |
| Valais | Republic of the Seven Tithings | 1613–1798 | |
| Gran Colombia | Republic of Colombia | 1819–1831 | |
| Federal Republic of Central America | Federal Republic of Central American | 1823–1838 | |
| Granadine Confederation | Granadine Confederation | 1858–1863 | |
| United States of Colombia | United States of Colombia | 1863–1886 | States |
| First Spanish Republic | Spanish Republic | 1873-1874 | |
| Republic of China | Republic of China | 1912–1928 | Provinces |
| Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus | Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus | 1917–1922 | Republics |
| Weimar Republic | German Reich | 1919–1933 | States |
| East Germany | German Democratic Republic | 1949–1990 | States |
| Soviet Union | Union of Soviet Socialist Republics | 1922–1991 | Republics |
| Yugoslavia | Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia (1945–1963) Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1963–1992) | 1945–1992 | Republics |
| Serbia and Montenegro | Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1992–2003) State Union of Serbia and Montenegro (2003–2006) | 1992–2006 | Constituent republics |
| Burma | Union of Burma | 1948–1962 | States |
| Indonesia | Republic of the United States of Indonesia | 1949–1950 | States |
| Cameroon | Federal Republic of Cameroon | 1961–1972 | |
| Czechoslovak Socialist Republic | Czechoslovak Republic (1948–1960) Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (1960–1990) | 1969–1990 | Republics |
| Czech and Slovak Federative Republic | Czech and Slovak Federative Republic | 1990–1992 | Republics |