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Unitary state

State with a supreme central government

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A unitary state is a sovereign state governed as a single entity in which the central government is the supreme authority. The central government may create or abolish administrative divisions (sub-national or sub-state units). Such units exercise only the powers that the central government chooses to delegate. Although political power may be delegated through devolution to regional or local governments by statute, the central government may alter the statute, to override the decisions of devolved governments or expand their powers.

The modern unitary state concept originated in France; in the aftermath of the Hundred Years' War, national feelings that emerged from the war unified France. The war accelerated the process of transforming France from a feudal monarchy to a unitary state. The French then later spread unitary states by conquests, throughout Europe during and after the Napoleonic Wars, and to the world through the vast French colonial empire. Presently, prefects remain an illustration of the French unitary state system, as the representatives of the State in each department, tasked with upholding central government policies.

Unitary states stand in contrast to federations, also known as federal states. A large majority of the UN member countries, 166 out of 193, have a unitary system of government, while significant population and land mass is under some kind of federation.

Devolution compared with federalism

A unitary system of government can be considered to be the opposite of federalism. In federations, the provincial/regional 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 to existence and powers that cannot be unilaterally changed by the central government.

List of current unitary sovereign states

Italics: States with limited recognition from other sovereign states or intergovernmental organizations.

Unitary republics

Abkhazia
Albania
Algeria
Angola
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Benin
Bolivia
Botswana
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
People's Republic of China
Colombia
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Republic of the Congo
Costa Rica
Croatia
Cuba
Cyprus
North Cyprus
Czech Republic
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican 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
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Ivory Coast
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kiribati
North Korea
South Korea
Kosovo
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Latvia
Lebanon
Liberia
Libya
Lithuania
Madagascar
Malawi
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Marshall Islands
Mauritania
Mauritius
Moldova
Mongolia
Montenegro
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nauru
Nicaragua
Niger
North Macedonia
Palau
Palestine
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Rwanda
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
Samoa
San Marino
São Tomé and Príncipe
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
Somaliland
South Africa
South Ossetia
Suriname
Syria
Republic of China (Taiwan)
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Togo
Transnistria
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Uganda
Ukraine
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Vietnam
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe

Unitary monarchies

The United Kingdom 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. Similarly in Spain, the devolved powers are delegated through the central government.

Andorra
Antigua and Barbuda
Bahamas
Bahrain
Belize
Bhutan
Brunei Darussalam
Cambodia
Kingdom of Denmark
Eswatini
Grenada
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kuwait
Lesotho
Liechtenstein
Luxembourg
Monaco
Morocco name="WorldAtlas" /
Kingdom of the Netherlands
New Zealand
Kingdom of Norway
Oman
Papua New Guinea
Qatar
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Saudi Arabia
Solomon Islands
Spain
Sri Lanka
Kingdom of Sweden
Thailand
Tonga
Tuvalu
United Kingdom
Vatican City

Unitary states with a unique form of government

Afghanistan (theocracy)
Iran (theocracy with a presidential republic)

List of former unitary states

Belgium/Belgium (1830–1993)
Brazil Brazil (1822–1889)
Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992–1995)
Comoros/Comoros (1975–1978)
Ethiopia/Ethiopia/Ethiopia/Ethiopia (1270–1995)
Iraq/Iraq/Iraq/Iraq/Iraq (1932–2005)
Nepal/Nepal/Nepal (1768–2008)
Somalia (1960–2004)

References

(1948). "A History of the French Language". Harold L. Hedrick.
(2015-11-20). "Democracy".
(September 2006). "Unitary state, devolution, autonomy, secession: State building and nation building in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea". The Round Table.
(August 2017). "What is a Unitary State?".
(2021-11-30). "Barbados ditches Britain's Queen Elizabeth to become a republic". Reuters.
See also [[Political status of Taiwan]], [[two Chinas]] and [[Cross-Strait relations]].
Habben Jansen, Eddy. (2021). "Nederlandse politiek voor Dummies". BBNC Uitgevers.
(29 August 2013). "Story: Nation and government – From colony to nation". Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage.
(June 30, 2014). "Social policy in the UK". Robert Gordon University – Aberdeen Business School.
(28 September 2021). "Taliban Say They Will Use Parts of Monarchy Constitution to Run Afghanistan for Now". [[Voice of America]].
"Constitution of Afghanistan = Assasi Qanun (1964)". [[University of Nebraska-Omaha]].
(18 February 2023). "Inside the Taliban campaign to forge a religious emirate". [[The Washington Post]].

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