Autonomous communities of Spain

In Spain, an autonomous community (Spanish: comunidad autónoma, Basque: autonomia erkidego, Catalan: comunitat autònoma, Galician: comunidade autónoma) is a first-level political and administrative division, created in accordance with the Spanish constitution of 1978, with the aim of guaranteeing limited autonomy of the nationalities and regions that comprise the Spanish nation.

Since sovereignty resides in the nation as a whole, represented in the central institutions of government, not in the communities, Spain is not a federation but a highly decentralizedunitary state that has asymmetrically devolved power to the communities, which, in turn, exercise their right to self-government within the limits set forth in the constitution and their autonomous statutes.

There are 17 autonomous communities and two autonomous cities that are collectively known as "autonomies". The two autonomous cities have the right to become autonomous communities, but neither has yet utilized this right. This unique framework of territorial administration is known as the "State of Autonomies".