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Federal districts are subdivisions of a federal system of government. Often, these districts are not one of the countries' component subdivisions, and should not be confused with them, but are rather separate entities under the direct control of the federal government. The seat of the federal government is often located in a Federal District, so that no single individual component can exercise undue influence over federal affairs.
Australia In addition to the six self-governing states (New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia), the Australian federation contains two self-governing territories, the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and the Northern Territory. The ACT was created specifically to be the home of the federal capital, Canberra, in order to avoid situating the new nation's capital in either of New South Wales and Victoria, the two most populous states at the time of federation. Although the ACT has its own Chief Minister and its own legislature, the Federal Parliament retains the right to over-rule ACT legislation. The ACT Parliament acts as a municipal government for the city of Canberra. The Governor-General of Australia exercises certain rights that in the states would be exercised by a state Governor and in the Northern Territory by the Administrator, such as the power to issue writs for elections. At a federal level, the ACT elects two members of the House of Representatives and two Senators. Both Senators are elected at every election for the Senate, unlike the States, who elect half of their senators at every normal Senate election. United States The seat of the U.S. federal government in Washington is a federal district known as the District of Columbia. In addition, the U.S. government has several other kinds of "federal districts" which are not specifically related to a capital city: Other countries In Malaysia, the Capital City, Kuala Lumpur is known as Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur (Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur). The Adminstrative City is Putrajaya known as Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya (Federal Territory of Putra Jaya). Labuan Island, located off the coast of Sabah is known as Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan (Federal Territory of Labuan). The term Distrito Federal, meaning "Federal District" in both the Spanish and Portuguese languages, is used to refer to: In India, the capital city, New Delhi, is located in the National Capital Territory of Delhi. Other uses There are seven Federal districts of Russia, which function as an additional administrative layer between other subdivisions and the Russian Federation as a whole. But these have nothing to do with the territory surrounding a capital city. | ||||||||
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