Confederation

A confederation is a group of countries that, by treaty, have given some of their powers to a central government. They do this in order to coordinate their actions in a number of areas. This is like a federation, but without the association being a new country.

A confederation is not the same as a federation, but they have a similarity. A confederation is a group of countries, a federation is a country.

The only example today is the European Union. Switzerland has the Latin name Confœderatio Helvetica, although it is not a confederation in this sense, but a federation.

This short article about politics can be made longer. You can help Wikipedia by adding to it.

Confederation Media

Proclamation of Canadian Confederation
Map of the Five Nations (from the Darlington Collection)