In political geography, a regional state is a state

Sovereign state

A sovereign state, or simply, state, is a state with a defined territory on which it exercises internal and external sovereignty, a permanent population, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states. It is also normally understood to be a state which is neither...

 more centralized than a federation

Federation

A federation , also known as a federal state, is a type of sovereign state characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government...

, but less centralized than an unitary state

Unitary state

A unitary state is a state governed as one single unit in which the central government is supreme and any administrative divisions exercise only powers that their central government chooses to delegate...

. Regional states include federations in which power has become more centralized, and unitary states in which some power has been devolved

Devolution

Devolution is the statutory granting of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to government at a subnational level, such as a regional, local, or state level. Devolution can be mainly financial, e.g. giving areas a budget which was formerly administered by central government...

 to regional governments. This term has yet to become widely used.

Subnational regions are intermediate level between local and national government.

Examples

Regional State	Regional Units	Major Regional Units	Other Regional Units
Chile	Regions of Chile	15 regions
Colombia	Departments of Colombia Departments of Colombia Colombia is an unitary republic formed by thirty-two departments and a Capital District . Each department has a Governor and a Department Assembly , elected by popular vote for a four-year period. The governor cannot be re-elected in consecutive periods...	32 departments	1 special department+ capital district
Indonesia	Provinces of Indonesia Provinces of Indonesia The province is the highest tier of local government subnational entity in Indonesia. Each province has its own local government, headed by a governor, and has its own legislative body...	33 provinces	5 special status provinces
Italy	Regions of Italy Regions of Italy The regions of Italy are the first-level administrative divisions of the state, constituting its first NUTS administrative level. There are twenty regions, of which five are constitutionally given a broader amount of autonomy granted by special statutes....	15 regions	5 autonomous regions
Japan	Prefectures of Japan Prefectures of Japan The prefectures of Japan are the country's 47 subnational jurisdictions: one "metropolis" , Tokyo; one "circuit" , Hokkaidō; two urban prefectures , Osaka and Kyoto; and 43 other prefectures . In Japanese, they are commonly referred to as...	47 prefectures
Peru	Departments of Peru	24 departments
Philippines	Regions of the Philippines Regions of the Philippines In the Philippines, regions are administrative divisions that serve primarily to organize the provinces of the country for administrative convenience. Currently, the archipelagic republic of the Philippines is divided into 17 regions...	17 regions, 1 autonomous region	National Capital Region
Poland	Voivodeships of Poland Voivodeships of Poland The voivodeship, or province, called in Polish województwo , has been a high-level administrative subdivision of Poland since the 14th century....	16 voivodeships
Portugal	Autonomous regions of Portugal Autonomous regions of Portugal The two Autonomous Regions of Portugal are the Azores and Madeira...	2 autonomous regions
South Africa	Provinces of South Africa Provinces of South Africa South Africa is currently divided into nine provinces. On the eve of the 1994 general election, South Africa's former homelands, also known as Bantustans, were reintegrated and the four existing provinces were divided into nine. The twelfth, thirteenth and sixteenth amendments to the constitution...	9 provinces
South Korea	Provinces of South Korea Provinces of South Korea ||Provinces or more formally Provincial level divisions are the first-level division within South Korea and it is divided into four groups: provinces, special self-governing province, special city, and metropolitan cities.-Do :...	8 provinces	1 special province + 7 cities
Spain	Autonomous communities of Spain Autonomous communities of Spain An autonomous community In other languages of Spain:*Catalan/Valencian .*Galician .*Basque . The second article of the constitution recognizes the rights of "nationalities and regions" to self-government and declares the "indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation".Political power in Spain is...	17 autonomous communities (nationalities and regions of Spain)	2 autonomous cities
Ukraine	Oblasts of Ukraine	24 oblasts	1 autonomous republic