Administrative territorial unit. Administrative division

A number of similar in terms of meaning and meaning of concepts helps to describe the formal political structure of any country. This is the "administrative-territorial structure", and "administrative-territorial organization", and "administrative-territorial division" (ATD).

What is the territorial division of the country and how does it happen?

As a rule, the ATD is a concept with a fairly wide semantic load. Administrative division can be understood as a map of the country, consisting of their individual subjects. The politico-geographical plan of the state is the most widespread embodiment of the ATD, which, in addition, can be perceived as a process of direct division of the country's territory into separate units. The procedure for the regionalization and implementation of the ADT is largely similar, but the main difference between them is that the administrative-territorial units (ATE - the main element of the ATD structure) are established only by state bodies. The fixing of the borders of each subject is carried out at the official level and is confirmed by the relevant regulatory and legal acts.

How are administrative-territorial units formed?

The administrative territorial unit in the country is most often considered a region. Meanwhile, the administrative-territorial division has a three-dimensional system, which functions exclusively on a hierarchical basis. As a "matryoshka", the ATD system is the presence of several management steps. Each level has its own political and administrative structure.

The set of territorial units of the first, second, third order, etc., ordered by the ATD system, is typical for all modern states. The subdivision into different levels at all times could be periodic, giving way to a degree of complexity and elaboration. A stable permanent administrative-territorial division is a characteristic feature of only the modern state. In the meantime, the distribution of the country's territories, practically without any residue at the official level, can be viewed as constituting a separate segment that does not depend on each other (regions). Power, as a rule, in each of them, most often personifies the state, but often every administrative territorial unit has the right of self-government or autonomy.

Historical influence on the formation of the ATD system

The division of the state into certain segments is a phenomenon that has quite ancient roots and centuries-old history. The most striking example of the ATD can be called a section on the provinces of the Roman Empire. As for the period of feudalism, here, on the contrary, constant strife prevented the formation of permanent units. Such a model of state structure implied a characteristic division into cities where the feudal landlords dominated.
Being the ruler and master of the lands in one person, the representative of the highest class automatically became the owner of the territories and the manager of the ATU.

What influences the process of administrative zoning of the state?

Unlike the medieval way of the state, today almost all modern developed powers use the system of administrative division. The transition from feudalism to centralized power became a clear demand for a radical revision of the methods for determining the territories.

The status of administrative-territorial units is largely determined by the peculiarities of the regional structure. Since this system, as already mentioned, is formed over a long period of time and is a consequence of the most complicated evolutionary processes, an administrative territorial unit can be formed by superimposing gradations of different origin. In particular, in Russia each regional district is a combination of structures:

• Ethnocultural;
• Historical;
• Socio-political;
• Economic;
• Natural and geographical.

Ethnos as one of the factors of the formation of territorial boundaries of regions

Ethno-cultural factors play an important role in the formation of the system as a separate unit of the ATD. On the territory of the Russian state this principle was one of the fundamental. A characteristic feature of the formation of ethnocultural regions is that they are formed regardless of the will of the statesmen, their desires. Each link in the ATD system, based on this principle, has an identity, representing a clearly expressed cell of the regional structure.

However, not wanting the emergence of separatist sentiments and simultaneously not fulfilling the demands of national minorities, a state with a multinational population often limits itself to such problems by establishing the area of residence of a particular ethnic circle of citizens.
Another reason for the formation of regions with a population of a certain nationality can be called the impossibility of establishing a clear boundary separating these or other areas of residence of ethnic groups.

How did the story affect the definition of individual ATUs?

The next prerequisite for the formation of territorial units is the administrative division, based on historical factors. Within one state, regions are often folded a few centuries ago, preserving which residents and state authorities, as it were, pay tribute to national traditions. What is the name of the territorial administrative unit, the territories of which are clearly marked due to the development of stable structures, it is not difficult to guess. Such areas are called historical. It is believed that the administrative-territorial unit of the state can bear this name, if its boundaries remained unchanged for the last 2-3 centuries.

It is worth noting that the factors of historical relations of specific geographical areas in the implementation of the ATD can be easily traced in the structures of the Old World. And if the borders of the countries of the medieval era could not remain static, then the structures of individual regions remained stable, moving to other rulers in their original form. Modern Europe, as most historians believe, is based on compact segments defined by specific territorial units even under the feudal form of government.

Other factors of the administrative-territorial division of the country

Socio-political and economic factors affect the territorial structure of the country no less than the above-mentioned reasons. The principles of resettlement are based on the so-called nodal areas. A large administrative-territorial unit has always been a zone of primary gravitation of the inhabitants of the country. The "center-periphery" system is formed, as a rule, on the basis of their geographical orientations of settlements and a stable interconnection between other nodal areas.

Factors of demographic nature, which are the socio-political and economic principles of the ATD, it is easy to see when forming regions in countries with a less pronounced ethno-cultural and historical structure. Most often such countries are the young states of a unitary system. Examples of such states may be the countries of central-eastern Europe.

The administrative territorial unit can be formed as a result of influence on the ATD process of natural-geographical objects. For example, island or mountain areas of states can become a vivid example.

Features of the administrative-territorial structure in Russia

The ATD of the Russian Federation is the most important component of the regional organization of the country. The whole system of government, distribution and placement of government bodies, self-government structures and public associations is based on political-administrative division. Today, the territorial structure of Russia is largely due to the vast expanses of the state, as well as the broadest variety of all factors affecting the formation of ATU: demographic, economic, natural, ethnocultural.

Principles of territorial division in Russia

The administrative-territorial units of Russia fully correspond to the federal state system. In addition, the ATD in the Russian Federation is carried out in another direction - the municipal one. In addition to the administrative and territorial division necessary for the orderly implementation of the functions of the bodies of state administration, the system of regionalization of the country implies a division into segments for the convenient implementation of local government.

Specificity of ADT in some areas and the capital

In Russia, these approaches to the relationship between managerial division and the distribution of municipalities can be expressed:

1. Combining the two methods of regional formation (it is understood that the boundaries of municipalities will coincide with the boundaries of administrative regions). For example, according to this scheme, an ATD in the Chelyabinsk region is defined.
2. A complete legal mismatch between the two types of methods of territorial division (the boundaries of municipalities and administrative units may vary). For example, in the Sverdlovsk region, the ATD is produced according to this principle.

In addition to these options for the division of territories, separate additional levels may be envisaged in certain regions of the Russian Federation. In particular, the capital of the Russian state is divided by the method of municipal identification of districts (146 city districts of federal significance) and 12 administrative districts.