Administrative divisions

Spain is divided into 17 autonomous communities (comunidades autónomas) and 2 African autonomous cities (ciudades autónomas) - (Ceuta and Melilla. These autonomous communities are subdivided into 50 provinces (provincias).

Traditionally and historically, some provinces are also divided into comarcas (singular comarca). A comarca is roughly equivalent to a US "county" or an English district. In some of the regions (e.g. Catalonia) their borders are clear so they are easy to identify. In some other (e.g. Extremadura) their legal status is not very formal so they rather correspond to natural areas (valleys, sierres and so on).

The lowest administrative division of Spain is the municipality (municipio).