The modes of government amongst civilized peoples have little influence on political geography; some republics are as arbitrary and exacting in their frontier regulations as some absolute monarchies. It is, however, to be noticed that absolute monarchies are confined to the east of Europe and to Asia, Japan being the only established constitutional monarchy east of the Carpathians. Limited monarchies are (with the exception of Japan) peculiar to Europe, and in these the degree of democratic control may be said to diminish as one passes eastwards from the United Kingdom. Republics, although represented in Europe, are the peculiar form of government of America and are unknown in Asia. The forms of government of colonies present a series of transitional types from the autocratic administration of a governor appointed by the home government to complete democratic self-government. The latter occurs only in the temperate possessions of the British empire, in which there is no great preponderance of a coloured native population. New colonial forms have been developed during the partition of Africa amongst European powers, the sphere of influence being especially worthy of notice. This is a vaguer form of control than a protectorate, and frequently amounts merely to an agreement amongst civilized powers to respect the right of one of their number to exercise government within a certain area, if it should decide to do so at any future time. The central governments of all civilized countries concerned with external relations are closely similar in their modes of action, but the internal administration may be very varied. In this respect a country is either centralized, like the United Kingdom or France, or federated of distinct self-governing units like Germany (where the units include kingdoms, at least three minor types of monarchies, municipalities and a crown land under a nominated governor), or the United States, where the units are democratic republics. The ultimate cause of the predominant form of federal government may be the geographical diversity of the country, as in the cantons occupying the once isolated mountain valleys of Switzerland, the racial diversity of the people, as in Austria-Hungary, or merely political expediency, as in republics of the American type. The minor subdivisions into provinces, counties and parishes, or analogous areas, may also be related in many cases to natural features or racial differences perpetuated by historical causes. The territorial divisions and subdivisions often survive the conditions which led to their origin; hence the study of political geography is allied to history as closely as the study of physical geography is allied to geology, and for the same reason. Towns.