**Provinces** are the basic unit of territory in Dominions. Maps consist of interconnected provinces, and [[commander|commanders]] and troops occupy a single province each turn; strategic movement consists of moving from one province to another. Combat happens when two unfriendly armies (not [[stealth|stealthed]]) occupy the same province at the same time.

Provinces have a few basic properties, some of which are fixed and some of which change over the game:


  * Their owner. Each province can be owned by one nation at a time. The exception is provinces with a fort, where the fort can be owned by one nation but the rest of the province by another nation that is besieging the fort.

  * Their population. Higher population in a province means more income and recruitment points. Population can go up and down as the game progresses; generally, population increases from the effect of growth scales and decreases from a variety of effects, like bad events and hostile magic.

  * The amount of [[resources]] they provide.

  * Their (indie) poptype. Poptypes determine what independent units defend a province at the start of the game, what non-national units a controlling player can recruit, and what sort of non-fort [[province defense]] the province will have.

  * Their terrain type. Terrain types are plains, forest, mountains, highland, cave, waste, swamp, farmland, ocean, deep ocean, kelp forest. Terrain most directly affects population (and thus income and recruitment), resources, and movement rate. It also affects [[magic sites]] and (for some nations) recruitment options.

  * The [[magic sites]] present

  * Which buildings (forts, [[laboratory|labs]], [[temple|temples]]) are present

  * Their [[scales]], which modify many things.

  * Their [[dominion]]. Dominion strength and affiliation is tracked province-by-province, and changes from turn to turn.

  * Their [[unrest]] level. Unrest goes up and down depending on events (combat, events, patrolling, dominion, scales), reduces income, and hinders recruitment and blood hunting.

  * Their level of [[province defense]], which provides low-level defending troops to hold it against attackers.