Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Prefecture |
PrefectureNoun1. The district administered by a prefect (as in France or Japan or the Roman Empire). 2. The office of prefect. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "prefecture" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1830. (references) |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Albania is divided into 12 prefectures, each of which contains several districts. The following is the list of Albanian prefectures, the districts they contain, and their capitals:
Prefecture Districts Capital
Berat Berat, Kuçovë, Skrapar Berat
Dibër Bulqizë, Dibër, Mat Peshkopi
Durrës Durrës, Krujë Durrës
Elbasan Elbasan, Gramsh, Librazhd, Peqin Elbasan
Fier Fier, Lushnjë, Mallakastër Fier
Gjirokastër Gjirokastër, Përmet, Tepelenë Gjirokastër
Korçë Devoll, Kolonjë, Korçë, Pogradec Korçë
Kukës Has, Kukës, Tropojë Kukës
Lezhë Kurbin, Lezhë, Mirditë Lezhë
Shkodër Malësi e Madhe, Pukë, Shkodër Shkodër
Tiranë Kavajë, Tiranë Tiranë
Vlorë Delvinë, Sarandë, Vlorë Vlorë
See Also
- Geography of Albania
- List of cities in Albania
External Links
- Statistics on the Districts of Albania
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "List of Albanian prefectures."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The term prefecture has been used to denote a self-governing body or area since the time of Constantine I, who divided the Roman Empire into 4 districts (each divided into dioceses). Much like a state or city, these were largely self-governed; however each owed allegiance to Rome. A prefect was the head of a prefecture.
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 size of a county.
The local self-governing system of Japan consists of 2 classes: prefectures as the large area local governing units and municipalities 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 47 prefectures 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 municipalites 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 Okinawa, Nagasaki and Hokkaido, subprefectures are used as special administrative unites because such regions are too large or remote to govern for a prefectural government.
The current prefecture system in Japan was settled in Meiji era after the new government abolished feudal clans or Han. That is called "Abolition of the Han system". See Meiji era in History of Japan for historical background of this event.
Chinese sense of prefecture
Prefecture was the good enough English translation before the establishment of ROC for the Chinese term xian (县 or 縣 pinyin xian4) which marked the level of government below the province. The word county has been employed for denoting the same Chinese term after 1911. This situation was much more complicated before 1911.
The number of prefectures in China proper gradually increased from dynasty to dynasty. As Qin Shi Huang Di reorganized the chinese prefectures after his unification, just below 1000 were found. In Eastern Han Dynasty, numbers of prefecture increased to above 1000. About 1400 were observed when Sui dynasty eradicated jun or commandry (郡 jun4), the level just above xian, many of which were demoted to prefectures. Current number of counties mostly resembled that of the prefectures in the later years of Qing Dynasty. Changes of location and names of prefectures in Chinese history had been a major field of research in Chinese historical geography, especially during 1960s to 1980s.
In Eastern sense, the administrative regions of a unified nation are usually segregated into three levels: the nation, large area local governing units and small local governing units. Though taking different names during the course of Chinese history, this ideology had been followed until Ming Dynasty. In Imperial China, the prefecture was a significant administrative unit because it marked the lowest level of the imperial bureaucratic structure. Government below the prefecture level was often undertaken through informal non-bureaucratic means, varying from dynasties.
In modern-day People's Republic of China, prefecture is the level immediately below a province, which include prefecture, autonomous prefecture, and prefecture-level city. (See Political divisions of China#Level)
French sense of prefecture
In France, a préfecture is the capital city of a département. By extension, it is also the name of one of the governing bodies of the département. The civil servant in charge is the préfet. The other governing body is the Conseil Général. It is also the name of the building where the préfet is based.
There are 100 préfectures in France.
French départements are divided into arrondissements. The capital city of an arrondissement is the sous-préfecture. The civil servant in charge is the sous-préfet.
Other meanings of prefecture
....See also: Subprefecture -- Politics of Japan -- Politics of China -- Politics of Taiwan -- County
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Prefecture."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Greece consists of 13 administrative regions known as Peripheries of Greece, which are further subdivided into 51 prefectures (nomoi, singular - nomos):
- Attica:
- Attica
- Central Greece:
- Euboea
- Evritania
- Fokis
- Fthiotis
- Viotia
- Central Macedonia
- Khalkidhiki
- Imathia
- Kilkis
- Pella
- Pieria
- Serres
- Thessaloniki
- Crete
- Chania
- Heraklion
- Lasithi
- Rethimno
- East Macedonia and Thrace
- Drama
- Evros
- Kavala
- Rodhopi
- Xanthi
- Epirus
- Arta
- Ioannina
- Prevezala
- Thesprotia
- Ionian Islands
- Corfu
- Kefallinia
- Levkas
- Zakinthos
- North Aegean
- Chios
- Lesbos
- Samos
- Peloponnesus
- Arcadia
- Argolis
- Corinth
- Laconia
- Messinia
- South Aegean
- Cyclades
- Dodecanese
- Thessaly
- Kardhitsa
- Larissa
- Magnesia
- Trikala
- West Greece
- Achaea
- Aitolia-Acarnania
- Ilia
- West Macedonia
- Florina
- Grevena
- Kastoria
- Kozani
External link
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Prefectures of Greece."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Japan is divided into 47 local jurisdictions. Namely, one metropolitan district (都; To), Tokyo; one circuit (道; Dō), Hokkaido; two urban prefectures (府; Fu), Osaka and Kyoto); and 43 rural prefectures (県; Ken). In Japanese they are commonly referred to as Todōfuken (都道府県).
The current system was established by the Meiji government in 1871 and is known as the abolition of the Han system. In 2003, Prime Minister Koizumi proposed that the government consolidate the current prefectures into about 10 regional states. The plan called for each region to have greater autonomy than existing prefectures.
Prefecture Japanese Capital Region Island Population 1 Area 2 Density 3 Districts Municipalities ISO 3166-2
Aichi 愛知県 Nagoya Chubu Honshu 7,043,235 5,153.81 1,366 15 88 JP-23
Akita 秋田県 Akita Tohoku Honshu 1,189,215 11,612.11 102 9 69 JP-05
Aomori 青森県 Aomori Tohoku Honshu 1,475,635 9,606.26 154 8 67 JP-02
Chiba 千葉県 Chiba Kanto Honshu 5,926,349 5,156.15 1,149 9 80 JP-12
Ehime 愛媛県 Matsuyama Shikoku Shikoku 1,493,126 5,676.44 263 11 70 JP-38
Fukui 福井県 Fukui Chubu Honshu 828,960 4,188.76 198 10 35 JP-18
Fukuoka 福岡県 Fukuoka Kyushu Kyushu 5,015,666 4,971.01 1,009 17 97 JP-40
Fukushima 福島県 Fukushima Tohoku Honshu 2,126,998 13,782.54 154 15 90 JP-07
Gifu 岐阜県 Gifu Chubu Honshu 2,107,687 10,598.18 199 17 99 JP-21
Gunma 群馬県 Maebashi Kanto Honshu 2,024,820 6,363.16 318 12 70 JP-10
Hiroshima 広島県 Hiroshima Chugoku Honshu 2,878,949 8,476.95 340 15 86 JP-34
Hokkaido 北海道 Sapporo Hokkaido Hokkaido 5,682,950 83,452.47 68 66 212 JP-01
Hyogo 兵庫県 Kobe Kinki Honshu 5,550,742 8,392.42 661 19 88 JP-28
Ibaraki 茨城県 Mito Kanto Honshu 2,985,424 6,095.62 490 14 84 JP-08
Ishikawa 石川県 Kanazawa Chubu Honshu 1,180,935 4,185.32 282 8 41 JP-17
Iwate 岩手県 Morioka Tohoku Honshu 1,416,198 15,278.51 93 12 59 JP-03
Kagawa 香川県 Takamatsu Shikoku Shikoku 1,022,843 1,861.70 549 7 43 JP-37
Kagoshima 鹿児島県 Kagoshima Kyushu Kyushu 1,786,214 9,132.42 196 12 96 JP-46
Kanagawa 神奈川県 Yokohama Kanto Honshu 8,489,932 2,415.42 3,515 7 37 JP-14
Kochi 高知県 Kochi Shikoku Shikoku 813,980 7,104.70 115 7 53 JP-39
Kumamoto 熊本県 Kumamoto Kyushu Kyushu 1,859,451 6,908.45 269 11 94 JP-43
Kyoto 京都府 Kyoto Kinki Honshu 2,644,331 4,612.93 573 12 44 JP-26
Mie 三重県 Tsu Kinki Honshu 1,857,365 5760.72 322 14 69 JP-24
Miyagi 宮城県 Sendai Tohoku Honshu 2,365,204 6,861.51 325 15 71 JP-04
Miyazaki 宮崎県 Miyazaki Kyushu Kyushu 1,170,023 6,684.67 175 8 44 JP-45
Nagano 長野県 Nagano Chubu Honshu 2,214,409 12,598.48 163 16 120 JP-20
Nagasaki 長崎県 Nagasaki Kyushu Kyushu 1,516,536 4,092.80 371 9 79 JP-42
Nara 奈良県 Nara Kinki Honshu 1,442,862 3,691.09 391 8 47 JP-29
Niigata 新潟県 Niigata Chubu Honshu 2,475,724 12,582.37 197 16 111 JP-15
Oita 大分県 Oita Kyushu Kyushu 1,221,128 5,804.24 210 12 58 JP-44
Okayama 岡山県 Okayama Chugoku Honshu 1,950,656 7,008.63 278 18 78 JP-33
Okinawa 沖縄県 Naha Kyushu Okinawa 1,318,281 2,271.30 580 5 53 JP-47
Osaka 大阪府 Osaka Kinki Honshu 8,804,806 1,893.18 4,652 5 44 JP-27
Saga 佐賀県 Saga Kyushu Kyushu 876,664 2,439.23 359 8 49 JP-41
Saitama 埼玉県 Saitama Kanto Honshu 6,938,004 3,767.09 1,827 9 90 JP-11
Shiga 滋賀県 Otsu Kinki Honshu 1,342,811 4,017.36 334 11 50 JP-25
Shimane 島根県 Matsue Chugoku Honshu 761,499 6,707.32 114 12 59 JP-32
Shizuoka 静岡県 Shizuoka Chubu Honshu 3,767,427 7,328.61 484 12 74 JP-22
Tochigi 栃木県 Utsunomiya Kanto Honshu 2,004,787 6,408.28 313 7 49 JP-09
Tokushima 徳島県 Tokushima Shikoku Shikoku 823,997 4,145.26 199 10 50 JP-36
Tokyo 東京都 Shinjuku Kanto Honshu 12,059,237 2,187.08 5,514 1 39 JP-13
Tottori 鳥取県 Tottori Chugoku Honshu 613,229 3,507.19 175 6 39 JP-31
Toyama 富山県 Toyama Chubu Honshu 1,120,843 4,247.22 264 7 35 JP-16
Wakayama 和歌山県 Wakayama Kinki Honshu 1,069,839 4,725.55 226 7 50 JP-30
Yamagata 山形県 Yamagata Tohoku Honshu 1,244,040 9,323.34 133 9 44 JP-06
Yamaguchi 山口県 Yamaguchi Chugoku Honshu 1,528,107 6,110.76 250 11 56 JP-35
Yamanashi 山梨県 Kofu Chubu Honshu 888,170 4,465.37 199 8 64 JP-19 Notes: 1 as of 2000, 2 km², 3 per km²
See also
- Politics of Japan
- List of Japanese prefectures by population
- List of Japanese prefectures ranked by area
- List of regions in Japan
- ISO 3166-2 codes for Japan
External links
- http://www.nga.gr.jp/english/index.html
- Map
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Prefectures of Japan."
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Government | Reign, regime, dynasty; directorship, dictatorship; protectorate, protectorship; caliphate, pashalic, electorate; presidency, presidentship; administration; proconsul, consulship; prefecture; seneschalship; magistrature, magistracy. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Prefecture |
| English words defined with "prefecture": prefectural. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "prefecture": Judee ♦ new passenger car registrations. (references) |
| Domain | Title | ||
References | |||
Books |
| ||
Theater & Movies | |||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit |  | Notre Dame and Prefecture of Police, Paris, France. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |
| "Sakura train" by Tomas Cermak Commentary: "Local train in Gifu prefecture between sakura." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | At this time it was that I sent my denunciation to the Prefecture at Paris |
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man | Joyce, James | On the wall of his bedroom hung an illuminated scroll, the certificate of his prefecture in the college of the sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Business | Kishiwada Fishery Port's fish catch is one of the largest in the Osaka Prefecture. (references) | |
As of March 31, 1999, there were 33 cities, 10 towns and one village in Osaka Prefecture. (references) | ||
The size of Osaka Prefecture is 1,892.76 square kilometers, which corresponds to 0.5% of total Japan’s territory (377,854.64 square kilometers). (references) | ||
Civil Liberties | France | Religious groups must apply with the local prefecture to be recognized as an association of worship and therefore receive tax-exempt status under the 1905 statute. (references) |
Brunei | However, in 1998, the Government allowed the Catholic Church to establish the first apostolic prefecture in the country and to install a Bruneian of Chinese origin as the country's first apostolic prefect. (references) | |
China | However, beginning in June, the Government began to expel thousands of Tibetan nuns, monks, and students from the Serthar Tibetan Buddhist Institute (also known as the Larung Gar Monastic encampment) located in the Ganze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province. (references) | |
Economic History | Japan | Kanagawa, which includes the cities of Yokohama and Kawasaki, is by far the richest prefecture in Japan, with a per-capita income almost 50 percent above the Japanese average. (references) |
Japan | Okinawa Prefecture, population 1.3 million, is an archipelago of sub-tropical Ryukyu Islands 2.5 hours south of Tokyo by air. (references) | |
Taiwan | From 1680 the Qing Dynasty ruled Taiwan as a prefecture and in 1875 divided the island into two prefectures, north and south. (references) | |
Human Rights | Guinea | Prior to their withdrawal from Guekedou, RUF forces vandalized and destroyed the hospital; prefecture headquarters; water, power, and phone systems; and other government installations. (references) |
Togo | In August the Government arrested a suspect in the September 1998 killing of Koffi Mathieu Kegbe, a local activist in the opposition Action for Renewal Committee (CAR) party in Yoto Prefecture; no further action was taken by year's end. (references) | |
Rwanda | Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that Hutu residents, mostly boys and small business owners, from Kibungo prefecture disappeared from their homes or from prisons. (references) | |
Minorities | China | In Aksu prefecture, 186 persons were arrested for offenses such as "endangering state security," and illegal religious publications were reportedly seized. (references) |
Japan | In February non-Japanese residents of Nagano prefecture petitioned the governor to remove posters issued by the Nagano Prefectural Police and the Japan Crime and Fire Prevention Communication Association that depicted foreigners committing crimes. (references) | |
Japan | In March 1999, the Osaka Prefectural Assembly passed a measure granting permanent residents local suffrage, becoming the third prefecture to pass such a bill. (references) | |
Political Rights | Togo | Foreign diplomats observed voting at close to 200 polling stations, mainly in and around Lome, but also in Yoto prefecture. (references) |
Togo | The progovernment National Electoral Commission, absent the commission's opposition party members (who also boycotted the process), reported that turnout reached approximately 37 percent in the opposition stronghold of Ave and as much as 95 percent in Kozah prefecture in the north, where the ruling party has greater support. (references) | |
Women | Greece | Prostitutes must register at the local prefecture and carry a medical card that is updated every 2 weeks. (references) |
Worker Rights | Guinea | However, at regional and prefecture levels, unionized labor faces stiff opposition from government officials. (references) |
Morocco | The Governor of Sale reportedly responded to the situation by commenting publicly, "I do not recognize nor want a trade union in my Prefecture." The eight workers later were allowed to return to their jobs, but it is not known if they were allowed to establish a union. (references) | |
China | In June Chinese authorities ordered thousands of monks and nuns to leave the Serthar Tibetan Buddhist Institute located in the Ganze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province (also known as the Larung Gar monastic encampment). (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Prefecture" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 88.00% of the time. "Prefecture" is used about 25 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 88% | 22 | 74,468 |
| Noun (proper) | 12% | 3 | 202,518 |
| Total | 100.00% | 25 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| Hypenated Usage | |
Ending with "prefecture": sub-prefecture. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "prefecture"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | prefekturë, seli e prefektit. (various references) | |
Arabic | مقاطعة يحكمها والي, مقر الولاية, الولاية (state). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | префектура. (various references) | |
Chinese | 府 (mansion), 地方官職位 , 专区. (various references) | |
French | préfecture. (various references) | |
German | präfektur. (various references) | |
Greek | νομαρχία, διεύθυνση αστυνομίασ. (various references) | |
Hungarian | prefektúra. (various references) | |
Italian | prefettura. (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 県下 , 県 , 府県 , 府県 . (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | ふけん (husband's marital rights, paternal rights), けんか (brawl, failure, flower offering, nut, price of a cocoon, quarrel), けん (and, authority, bayonet, blade, bond, case, certificate, circle, clock hand, concurrently, coupon, economy, emperor, health, heaven, in addition, item, matter, range, sabre, sphere, stick-to-itiveness, sting, strength, sword, tendon, the right, ticket). (various references) | |
Manx | meoiraght (mayorality, stewardship). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | efecturepray.(various references) | |
Portuguese | prefeitura (city hall, town hall). (various references) | |
Romanian | prefecturã. (various references) | |
Russian | префектура. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | prefektura. (various references) | |
Spanish | prefectura. (various references) | |
Swedish | prefektur. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | префектура. (various references) | |
Vietnamese | quận chức quận trưởng, nhiệm kỳ của quận trưởng, nhà quận trưởng. (various references) | |
Welsh | rhaglawiaeth. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "prefecture": prefectures. (additional references) | |
| |
"Prefecture" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: perfecture, praefecture, prefactor, prefacture. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "prefecture" (pronounced prē"fe'kkher) |
| 4 | -e' k kh er | architecture. |
| 3 | -k kh er | acupuncture, conjecture, fracture, infrastructure, juncture, lecture, manufacture, picture, puncture, remanufacture, restructure, stricture, structure, superstructure, tincture. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "c-e-e-e-f-p-r-r-t-u" | |
-1 letter: perfecter. | |
-2 letters: preerect. | |
-3 letters: creeper, erecter, perfect, precure, prefect, reerect, refuter. | |
-4 letters: curter, ferret, perter, precut, prefer, recept, reefer, refect, refute, repute, ureter. | |
-5 letters: creep, crepe, crept, cruet, curer, curet, cuter, erect, eruct, erupt, freer, frere, peter, puree, purer, recur, recut, refer, rupee, tepee, terce, truce, truer. | |
| Words containing the letters "c-e-e-e-f-p-r-r-t-u" | |
+1 letter: prefectures. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Commercial 4. Images: Photo Album | 5. Images: Digital Art 6. Quotations: Fiction 7. Quotations: Non-fiction 8. Usage Frequency | 9. Expressions 10. Expressions: Internet 11. Translations: Modern 12. Derivations | 13. Rhymes 14. Anagrams 15. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
