The 1974 Yugoslav constitution laid down Kosovo's status as an autonomousprovince, and pressure for independence mounted in the 1980s after the death of Yugoslav President Tito.
Meanwhile, Iraq's autonomous northern province of Kurdistan has signed dozens of oil contracts with foreign companies, outside central government control.
For the geographically-challenged, Erdos sits in the southwestern part of Inner Mongolia near where Shaanxi province meets the autonomous region known as Ningxia.
Al-Saadiya is close to Khanaqin, a predominantly Kurdish area of the province in dispute between the central government and the autonomous Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq.