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subnational

American  
[suhb-nash-uhn-uhl] / sʌbˈnæʃ ən əl /

adjective

  1. relating to a distinct part of a nation, especially a political subdivision of a nation, such as a province, state, region, or municipality.


noun

  • subnationals
    plural
  1. a government of a political subdivision of a nation, such as of a province, state, region, or municipality.

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

"Scottish government must address this now and be open and transparent with hard working NHS staff about this subnational approach and the implications for frontline services."

From BBC Jan. 30, 2026

The team compiled data from national and subnational records and the work of other agencies.

From Science Daily Jan. 24, 2024

The scientists from the University of California, Santa Barbara reviewed nearly 1,700 aquifers all over the planet, including national and subnational records over a century including 300 million water level measurements from 1.5 million wells.

From Salon Jan. 24, 2024

As sister cities, San Francisco and Shanghai developed longstanding economic and cultural exchanges that Han called “a good example of China-U.S. subnational cooperation.”

From Los Angeles Times Oct. 25, 2023

The World Factbook provides national-level information on countries, territories, and dependencies, but not on subnational administrative units within a country or supranational entities like the European Union.

From The 2003 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency

California is the undeniable star of the subnationals.

From Scientific American Nov. 9, 2017

“There's a huge amount that subnationals and businesses can do, and ultimately, the trillions of dollars that need to be invested will often be from the private sector,” he said.

From Scientific American Sep. 22, 2017

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