Designed to supplement undergraduate college geography courses, this paper discusses a particular type of territorial division--the administrative area within a state. The study of administrative patterns allows geographers to formulate and test hypotheses about man's organization of space, and also to assist in a very practical way by applying his knowledge to real world problems. All states, with the exception of only the very smallest, are divided for the purpose of internal administration into smaller units. With an increasing proportion of the world's population becoming concentrated in urban centers there is a pressing need to examine the spatial administrative structures which have been defined to delimit service areas of many public facilities, such as fire and police protection, education, health, and welfare. In many large metropolitan areas services are paid for by the residents of one municipality but these same services are enjoyed by people in neighboring municipalities. The problem becomes more complex when individual demands for services and daily movement patterns of consumers are considered. This paper examines the spatial aspects of administrative systems. The problems of how large the administrative area should be is examined and the contributions of disciplines related to geography are mentioned. The development of administrative structures over time is also discussed. (Author/RM)