Province vs State
The difference between province and state depends on the country in which they are a part of. Now, have you ever wondered why some countries have provinces as smaller geographical units while others have states? Is it just a difference in nomenclature or provinces have different structures of administration than states? Are states in US the same as provinces in Canada? What is the actual difference between a province and state? You will get the answers to these questions after reading this article. This article looks at the features of the two geographical units to find out the differences between a province and a state. If one looks up a dictionary, province is defined as a unit of a country that is created with administrative point of view. On the other hand, a state is also defined as a smaller territory that adds up to make a federation, such as US. However, these definitions do not clear up the situation. Let’s discuss the subject in more detail.
What is a State?
A state is a smaller territory of a country that adds up to make a federation. In the case of United States, the circumstances were unique. In the sense, the states were formed first, and they were actually independent in nature and agreed to exist as united in the form of a federation. Thus, we have United States of America, and the states here are more autonomous than states in any other country. There is no political leaning in the case of states in US as their allegiance is with the federal government. However, rights of states are better defined in the case of states in the US.
US has states
What is a Province?
A province is a unit of a country that is created with administrative point of view. Talking about Canada, it was the central government that was formed earlier. It was the constitutional act of 1867 that established smaller geographical units as provinces that were meant to be sub divisions of the country with separate administrative setups that worked under the central government. It is not just Canada that has provinces. There is another mammoth example of China as a country having huge provinces and not states. Even India before independence used to have provinces but they were changed into states through an act to the constitution. Talking about Canada in particular, some of the provinces like Quebec and Montreal owe allegiance (or at least slight leaning) towards France, whereas there are other provinces that are loyal to the sovereignty of the Queen. When it comes to the level of autonomy, we find that the level of autonomy is less in the case of provinces in Canada. Rights of provinces are not that well defined for provinces in Canada.
Canada has provinces
What is the difference between Province and State?
There is a difference between the power shown by a province and a state. However, there are undefined areas in both US and Canada that create problems when it comes to describing the division of powers between the central government and the provinces or the states.
• Definition of Province and State:
• Province is defined as a unit of a country that is created with administrative point of view.
• A state is also defined as a smaller territory that adds up to make a federation, such as US.
• Allegiance:
• Provinces show their allegiance to the central government. However, in Canada you can see that some provinces have a way of leaning to either the Queen of England or to France.
• States bear their allegiance to the the central government.
• Level of Autonomy:
• Provinces are more or so under the power of the central government. Usually, though they can take decisions provincially, they have to obey the rules of the central government.
• States are more autonomous. They can have different laws. That is why you see that sometimes something that is accepted as a crime in one state of US is not accepted as a crime in another state. They are very much independent. However, they too have to obey the central government of the country.
As you can see, both province and state have their differences that make them different entities though both are sub-divisions of a country.
Images Courtesy:
- USA by User:Wapcaplet (CC BY-SA 3.0)
- Canada via Wikicommons (Public Domain)
