The word "province" in the Russian language has several meanings, and because of this, its meaning is not entirely clear to some people. For example, what is a province in Russia? As a rule, this word has a somewhat derogatory, mocking meaning, and is associated with a small city or urban-type settlement.
All that is not the capital
A resident of the capital of the Russian Federation will say that the province is “everything that is not Moscow,” and his friend from St. Petersburg will supplement the definition with a mention of his hometown. Although Moscow was populated mainly by residents of various “provinces,” Muscovites believe that they’ve come to their hometown, and only the native Muscovite has the full right to live in the capital of Russia. Of course, this opinion is too chauvinistic to be reckoned with, so the so-called provincial residents continue to gather in a huge city in search of happiness. In other cultures, the question “what is a province” will be answered in a completely different way, without some sort of dismissive or arrogant tone or suspicious connotation.
Province in history
Initially, this word denoted territories in ancient Rome that were administratively subordinate to it and were located outside the Apennine peninsula. They were governed by governors and were in fact considered foreign. You can understand what a province is if you turn to the Latin language. There is an opinion that the word comes from the Latin verb vincere, which means “take control over something / someone”, and the particle pro, which means “on behalf of”. The whole Roman Empire was divided into such provinces , however , Rome was still considered the central authority of each of them. Moreover, initially in this word the semantics of a certain scale of the territory were not laid down, because it meant more a form of government than a kind of territorial unit. Perhaps it is precisely because of this difference between the old and the modern interpretation that not everyone understands what a province is. The definition is slightly blurry and depends on whether it is historical or geopolitical to approach it.
We are so different, but still we are together
In the modern world, many countries divide their territories into provinces. One of the most striking examples is Canada. Their functioning is very similar to the administration of the United States of America: all Canadian provinces are subject to the same general constitution, however, they have the right to independently form local governments and exist abstracted from the federal government. It is very simple to explain what a province of Canada is: it is a separate small state that obeys laws common to the whole country, but has a large number of powers within its territory. For example, provinces can create their own laws, but they do not have the right to ignore those that are already included in the constitution. In Canada, there are English- and French-speaking provinces, and some residents of French-speaking regions believe that French is depressed in Canada. This is strange, because Canada has adopted both languages as state languages.
Irish provinces and cultural identities
Also, the Irish divide the territory of their country into the provinces. They existed before, but then they were called tuats, which in Old Irish meant "people", "nation" or "tribe". As you can see, Ireland has preserved its cultural identity to this day, though it prefers to pay tribute to fashion and call its tuatas provinces. So, what is a province in the country of ethnic Celts and elves? Earlier in Ireland there were only five, but later the little Meath was included in Lenster. Thus, four provinces have formed on the territory of modern Ireland. They do not differ so much from each other as in Canada, but a resident of a province can be identified by a characteristic accent or the use of dialect words. The capital of Ireland, Dublin, is located in the province of Leinster, but the province of Munster is superior in size.
United States and United Provinces
Another good way to uncover the concept of “province” is to clarify what a state is. The province is not much different from it, but for some reason a smaller part of the countries prefers to divide its territory into states. The most famous states are, of course, those located in North America. USA includes 50 states. Also, this administrative unit exists in Australia, India, Brazil, Venezuela and some other countries. At the same time, Texas (USA), where almost 27 million people live, is considered the largest state. In the United States, the origin of a person can be determined by his accent, just like in the case of Canada or Ireland. A huge number of jokes are common among Americans regarding cultural differences between residents of different states, but in general this nation can be called united, since the mentality of its citizens is almost the same.