FEDERAL REPUBLIC

A 'federal republic' is a federation of states with a republican form of government. A federation is composed of a number of self-governing states united by a federal government. In a federation, unlike in a unitary state, the self-governing status of autonomous regions is constitutionally entrenched and cannot be revoked by a unilateral decision of the central government. The states in a federation also maintain all political sovereignty that they do not yield to the federation. Usage of the term ''republic'' is inconsistent but, as a minimum, it means a state or federation of states that does not have a monarch as head of state.
Three states explicitly describe themselves as federal republics. These are the Federal Republic of Germany, the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. A close variant is the term ''federative republic'', which appears in the full official title of Brazil. Not every federation is a republic; for example Canada, Australia, and Malaysia are each federal constitutional monarchies.
In English, the phrase "Federal Republic" was often used to refer to West Germany, in contrast with the German Democratic Republic, otherwise called East Germany.

Contents

List of federal republics

Contemporary

Historic

See also

List of federal republics

Contemporary

Federation	Style	Subdivisions	Head of state
Argentina	''Republic''	Provinces of Argentina	President of Argentina
Austria	''Republic''	States of Austria	Federal President of Austria
Bosnia and Herzegovina	(None)	Divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina	Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Brazil	''Federal Republic''	States of Brazil	President of Brazil
Comoros	''Union''	Islands of Comoros, Municipalities of Comoros	President of Comoros
Ethiopia	''Federal Democratic Republic''	Regions of Ethiopia	President of Ethiopia
Germany	''Federal Republic''	States of Germany	Federal President of Germany
India	''Federal Republic''	States of India	Prime Minister and President of India
Madagascar	''Republic''	Provinces of Madagascar	President of Madagascar
Mexico	''United Mexican States''	States of Mexico	President of Mexico
FS Micronesia	''Federated States''	States of FS Micronesia	President of FS Micronesia
Nigeria	''Federal Republic''	States of Nigeria	President of Nigeria
Russia	''Federation''	Subjects of Russia	President of Russia
Switzerland	''Confederation''	Cantons of Switzerland	Swiss Federal Council
United States	''Federal Republic''	States of the United States	President of the United States
Venezuela	''Bolivarian Republic''	States of Venezuela	President of Venezuela

Historic

★ Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (1581–1795)

★ United Provinces of Central America (1824-1840)

★ "Great Colombia" (1819-1831), later Colombia (federal republic until 1886; unitary republic after 1886)

★ Weimar Republic (German Empire 1919-1933)

★ Federal Republic of Cameroon (République Fédérale du Cameroun) (1961-1972)

★ Czechoslovakia (1969-1992)

★ Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922-1991)

★ Yugoslavia (1945-2003)

★ Serbia and Montenegro (2003-2006)

★ Uganda (1962-1966)

See also

★ Form of government

★ European Union