Autonomous regions
Regions with their own parliament, laws or language inside a bigger country.
- AcehAfter the 2004 tsunami came peace, and Aceh alone in Indonesia can apply Islamic law.
- ÅlandSwedish-speaking islands left in Finland by the League of Nations, demilitarized since 1856.
- BangsamoroSet up in 2019 to end decades of war, it elected its first parliament in September 2026.
- Basque CountryA Spanish region that collects its own taxes and pays Madrid for what Madrid provides.
- BougainvilleIt voted 97.7% for independence in 2019. Papua New Guinea still has to decide.
- CataloniaIts parliament declared independence in 2017, and Spain ran its government for seven months.
- GagauziaA Turkic-speaking Christian region with the right to leave Moldova if Moldova stops being independent.
- KarakalpakstanMore than a third of Uzbekistan, and the only part with a constitutional right to leave.
- Kurdistan RegionThe only place Kurds run their own government, with a parliament, president and armed forces.
- NakhchivanA piece of Azerbaijan cut off from the rest by a strip of Armenia.
- South TyrolA German-speaking corner of Italy that keeps about 90% of the state taxes raised there.
- TatarstanIt called itself a sovereign state in the 1990s, and gave up its last symbol, a president, in 2023.
- VojvodinaSerbia’s northern plain, where six languages are in official use.
- ZanzibarOnce the capital of Oman’s sultans, and still with its own president inside Tanzania.