How about confederation?
villages
District
French "states" are called Departments.
Balkanization means The division of a state into smaller territorial units but I believe that your question correct answer is secession movement.
federalism
A political unit made up of a city and surrounding villages is called a metropolitan area or urban agglomeration.
The British alliance, particularly during the American Revolutionary War, was not fundamentally federalist in nature. Federalism generally refers to a political system where power is divided between a central authority and constituent political units. The British alliance was more characterized by a central monarchy and parliament exercising control over its colonies, rather than promoting a federalist structure. The concept of federalism became more prominent later in the formation of the United States after independence.
Switzerland is your country. It is bordered by France to the west and Italy to the south, and French and Italian languages are common in some cantons, the political units that replace states or territories.
Switzerland is your country. It is bordered by France to the west and Italy to the south, and French and Italian languages are common in some cantons, the political units that replace states or territories.
Those are called derived units.
Political geography. It focuses on the study of how political boundaries are created, maintained, and changed over time, as well as the impact of these boundaries on human activity and relationships.
(government) the study of government of states and other political units