Administrative divisions of Zhenia

The Republic of Zhenia is formally divided into four different levels of administration, which are separated by varying degrees of administrative power - provincial (provinces and metropolitan municipalities), prefectural (independent city or prefecture), municipal (municipality, county or district) and township-level areas. While there are indeed multiple administrative divisions that are roughly equivalents in their degrees of administrative power, they are generally referred to as the closest and most common administrative subdivision of its equivalent.

The current hierarchy of administrative areas in the nation mostly follows the form generally maintained since the Shindan dynasty, although revisions in the actual structure of administrative power has shifted closer to a federalized one as opposed to a unitary one. Despite some exceptions, borders of most administrative areas have generally followed the traditionally-drawn, geographical and/or cultural borders dating back to the later stages of the Shindan dynasty and eventually the Empire of Zhenia. Generally, province-level administrative areas are deemed the most important, as many view their identities directly tied to the provinces they are from.

Regional Level
Although not officially used by the Government of Zhenia since 1961, the Regions were and still are at least statistically considered the highest level of administrative division in the nation. Consisting of multiple province-level administrative subdivisions, they have been classified primarily in accordance to geography and cultural similarities. While a nominal governmental structure existed for each of the regions until 1961, it has become more of a theoretical organization lacking a governing structure under the reforms of the Third Republic.

Today, however, such regions exist as statistical, administrative and social benchmarks used for reference within the government and among citizens. As of now, there are five of such regions statistically accepted by the National Census Bureau in the nation - the Danguk Peninsula region (often alternately referred to as Eastern Zhenia), Northern Zhenia, Western Zhenia, Central Zhenia and Southern Zhenia.

Province-Level Areas
In practice, province-level areas (Zhenian: 주급 행정구역/州級 行政區域) are the highest level of administrative divisions directly acknowledged by the Government of the Greater Eastern Union. Although varying in their political treatment and autonomy, province-level areas are to exert high levels of autonomy in areas excluding foreign affairs and the military, both of which fall under the domain of the national government; however, they are allowed to constitute their own assembly of elected representatives and form their own executive branch to handle the day-to-day administration of said area. All province-level areas are represented by both assemblymen of the Sangseowon and representatives of the National Assembly; five Sangseowon assemblymen represent each province-level area, while the number of National Assembly representatives vary by population. As of January 2020, there are 34 of such province-level areas - one Special City, five Metropolitan Municipalities, 27 Provinces and one Special Administrative Region.

Provinces
Provinces (Zhenian: 도/都) are often regarded as the highest level and most common province-level administrative subdivision in the nation. Enjoying autonomy apart from foreign and military affairs, provinces are allowed to form provincial governments and elect their own representatives to the Provincial Assembly (Zhenian: 도의회/都議會). Each provincial government is headed by the Provincial Governor (Zhenian: 도지사/都知事), which can serve up to three terms each lasting for four years. Legislation from the Provincial Assembly, however, must yield to National legislation if both cover the same area but with different perspectives, unless such National legislation is not enforced; the Provincial Assembly, however, can challenge the National legislation via the National Judiciary or the Constitutional Court. As of January 2020, there are 27 of such provinces in Zhenia, from Chungmu to Hanju province.

Special Cities and Metropolitan Municipalities
Special Cities (Zhenian: 특별시/特別市) are similar to Metropolitan Municipalities (Zhenian: 광역시/廣域市), in that they are granted more administrative autonomy than prefectures and that their delegated affairs are overseen directly by the national government; however, while the delegated affairs of metropolitan municipalities are overseen by the respective ministers of each ministry in the national government, the delegated affairs of special cities are overseen by the Premier. In drafting their own legislation and setting policies, both special cities and metropolitan municipalities are allowed to form their own elected assembly, while their respective executive branches are headed by the Special City Administrator (Zhenian: 특별판윤/特別判尹) and Metropolitan Administrator (Zhenian: 광역부윤/廣域府尹) respectively. Both the Special City Administrator and his/her deputy are allowed to partake in the national government's cabinet meetings, the Special City Administrator is regarded equal to the ministers of the national government's respective ministries; his deputy and the Metropolitan Administrator, on the other hand, are regarded equal to deputy ministers.

As of 2020, there is one Special City - Daedo, the nation's capital city - and five Metropolitan Municipalities: Jinhae, Changan, Shinhang, Bakhan and Ariul. While Daedo was immediately designated as a Special City in 1868 by Emperor Seongjo due to its importance as the empire's capital, Metropolitan Municipalities were systematically established to both disperse the functions of the capital city and to expand the reach of the central government beyond the Danguk Peninsula. Jinhae, Changan, Bakhan and Ariul were initially designated as Metropolitan Municipalities in 1871 due to them being the largest cities in each of their respective regions; Shinhang was elevated into a Metropolitan Municipality in 1909 amid the ever-growing importance of Central Zhenia.

While there have been movements to designate more cities into Metropolitan Municipalities, it has so far been the national government's policy to designate no more new metropolitan municipalities. In principle, a city can be designated a metropolitan municipality if the population of the city - comprised of residents spending more than 8 months of the year in the city - is over 6,000,000, and fulfills a number of criteria including the degree of fiscal self-reliance, area, geographical circumstances and its influence to the remainder of the region. Once such requirements are fulfilled, the national government is allowed to assess the city's status and the feasibility of elevation upon request of the city's municipal or prefectural government, which is followed by a city-wide referendum on the issue: a city can be designated a Metropolitan Municipality if over two-thirds of the referendum results support the city's elevation.

Special Administrative Regions
Special Administrative Regions (Zhenian: 특별행정구/特別行政區, commonly SAR) have initially been designated as autonomous zones with higher levels of administrative autonomy with province-level subdivisions. Like Provinces, Special Administrative Regions are allowed to form their own assembly of representatives; however, their executive branch is administered by the Regional Administrator (Zhenian: 지역행정장관/地域行政長官), which exerts higher levels of authority than Provincial Governors. While foreign policy and national defense rest at the hands of the national government, Special Administrative Regions enjoy higher autonomy in drafting legislation and administering said area, while they are also exempt from most national income taxation and can designate their own official languages alongside Zhenian; such benefits of autonomy come at the expense of less national support in infrastructure projects among other areas. Special Administrative Regions can be designated if 1) an ethnic minority in a certain region constitutes over 66% of the population; and 2) there are at least 2,500,000 permanent residents of said ethnicity spending more than 8 months of the year in the region, although other criteria, including fiscal self-reliance and area, are assessed as well. If any of such criteria are not fulfilled, its status of Special Administrative Region can be challenged through a SAR-wide referendum.

Upon the creation of Special Administrative Regions, three were initially designated as Special Administrative Regions - Shingang, Karavankon and Haedong. Shingang and Karavankon, however, were elevated into provinces in 1931 and 1956 respectively, leaving Haedong as the only Special Administrative Region still existent in Zhenia. In 2018, a referendum in the Haedong Special Administrative Region has concluded that its stance as a SAR would be terminated, signifying Haedong's elevation into a province; as of January 2020, the proposal is under evaluation by the Sangseowon.

Prefecture-Level Areas
Prefecture-level areas (Zhenian: 현급 행정구역/県級 行政區域) are subdivisions directly below province-level areas in the hierarchy. Prefecture-level areas can be represented in the Provincial Assembly also retains the right to elect their own representatives and governmental heads. Prefecture-level assemblies are allowed to draft their own statutes and pass them, although they must yield to Provincial and National legislation if such statutes collide with them in content. Prefecture-level areas are usually the most common unitary size of electoral districts for National Assembly representatives, although there are some exceptional cases in which electoral districts are either smaller or larger.

Prefectures
Prefectures (Zhenian: 현/県) are the most common subdivision of province-level areas, consisting of a mix of municipalities and counties but not necessarily districts. They are, however, not found in Metropolitan Municipalities and Special Cities. Prefectures are allowed to constitute a Prefectural Assembly consisting of directly-elected representatives and administratively elect a Prefectural Governor (Zhenian: 현지사/県知事). While provincial governments lay out the more general rules of administration, Prefectural governments are more focused in exerting control over the day-to-day administration of the given area.

Independent Cities
Independent Cities (Zhenian: 독립시/市獨立) are cities that are not part of a prefecture. A Municipality becomes an Independent City when the city has a population of over 600,000 residents, although there is an additional threshold of 1,000,000 residents for further autonomy. Despite their smaller size compared to prefectures, Independent Cities can be represented in the province-level areas equally as Prefectures, while they can also directly process some of the delegated rights traditionally granted to province-level areas, including residential area construction, transportation permits and industrial area designations. Independent Cities, unlike municipalities, are also allowed to designate their own districts within its domain, assuming that it has fulfilled its population requirements.

Municipality-Level Areas
Municipality-level areas (Zhenian: 시급 행정구역/市級 行政區域), also referred to as Basic Administrative Areas (Zhenian: 기초행정구역/基礎行政區域), are smaller subdivisions below prefecture-level areas in the administrative hierarchy. Although having to adhere to the legislation from all administrative areas above it in the administrative hierarchy, municipality-level areas still enjoy some degree of autonomy in less crucial areas of governmental rule. Municipality-level areas are usually the most common size of electoral districts for Provincial Assembly representatives.

Municipalities
Municipalities (Zhenian: 시/市) are densely populated urban areas that are smaller than independent cities. For a county to be designated into a city, it must have a population of over 60,000 and retain the form of an urban area, which would then be assessed by the prefectural and provincial governments. Often cities can merge with more rural, suburban counties and form composite municipalities (Zhenian: 복합시/複合市), a less formal derivative of municipalities: composite municipalities, however, have higher population thresholds and are scrutinized more thoroughly in their evaluation. While both composite municipalities and municipalities have under them townships, villages and neighborhoods, only composite municipalities are allowed to have up to two districts, opposed to municipalities, which are allowed no districts unless otherwise noted.

Counties
Counties (Zhenian: 군/郡) are rural or suburban areas that are normally parts of prefectures. While they can be designated into municipalities once they fulfill the required population and urban components, some counties retain county status due to administrative considerations. Almost all counties, however, still have a population of under 150,000. Counties have an array of townships and villages under it.

Districts
Districts (Zhenian: 구/區) are subdivisions found in larger cities, particularly Special Cities, Metropolitan Municipalities, Independent Cities and some Composite Municipalities. Being part of metrpolitan cities that are high in population, districts can exert similar administrative powers and autonomy as municipalities. Districts consist of multiple neighborhoods.

Township-Level Areas
Township-level areas (Zhenian: 면급 행정구역/面級 行政區域) are normally the smallest level of administrative subdivisions found in Zhenia. Township-level areas enjoy the lowest level of autonomy among Zhenia's administrative areas, although their administrative heads can still be elected by the residents. Township-level areas officially do not have an elected set of representatives, while their administrative head can be assigned by the municipality, county or provincial government.

Townships
Townships (Zhenian: 면/面) are some of the most common township-level administrative subdivisions found in the nation, found in municipalities, composite municipalities and counties. As opposed to neighborhoods, townships are usually found in rural or suburban areas. Like neighborhoods, townships are allowed autonomy restricted to local administration. Unlike other administrative units above its place in the hierarchy, townships can in theory cannot be elevated into neighborhoods unless the county that it is a part of is redesignated into a Municipality. Townships can consist of multiple villages.

Neighborhoods
Townships (Zhenian: 동/洞), often identifiable with the suffix '-dong' (Zhenian: -동), is normally the smallest level of administrative subdivisions found in urban areas. The autonomy of neighborhoods is restricted to the day-to-day affairs of local administration, similar to townships in rural and suburban areas. The administrative heads of neighborhoods, unlike those of townships and towns, can be assigned by the government of the Municipality or District.

Villages
Villages (Zhenian: 리/里 - translated as 'rural village') is often the smallest possible administrative subdivision found in the nation. Unlike townships and neighborhoods, villages have no population requirements whatsoever; in theory, one person occupying a village can still be considered a village, according to the Regional Administrative Laws. Almost all villages are situated in rural areas and can often contain large plots of unpopulated land. The village administrator is normally assigned by the county government.