A departamento (Spanish pronunciation: [depaɾtaˈmento]) is a country subdivision in several Latin American countries, mostly as top-level subnational divisions (except in Argentina). It is usually simply translated as "department".
Current use
Ten countries currently have departamentos.
| Country | Level | Num. | Subdivisions |
|---|---|---|---|
 Argentina | 2nd (under provincias) | 378 | municipios |
 Bolivia | 1st | 9 | provincias |
 Colombia | 1st | 32 | municipios |
 El Salvador | 1st | 14 | municipios |
 Guatemala | 1st | 22 | municipios |
 Honduras | 1st | 18 | municipios |
 Nicaragua | 1st | 15 | municipios |
 Paraguay | 1st | 17 | municipios |
 Peru | 1st | 24 | municipios |
 Uruguay | 1st | 19 | municipios |
Past use
Mexico in the 1830s was divided into 24 departamentos, which were first-level divisions. It was during an attempt to centralize the government.