Interior minister

An interior minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for policing, national security, and immigration matters. In some countries, matters relating to the maintenance of law and order and the administration of justice are the responsibility of a separate justice minister.

In countries with a federal constitution, an interior minister will often be found at both the federal and state levels. Similarly, autonomous entities and dependent territories may also have interior ministers; an example is Hong Kong (a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China), which has a Secretary for Security.

The United States Secretary of the Interior is primarily concerned with managing lands owned by the federal government, mainly the administration of natural resources such as parks and wildlife. National security is the responsibility of the US Secretary of Homeland Security, while the US Attorney General is responsible for federal law enforcement.

Canada does not have a minister with a single title, rather it is split amongst three ministries. From 1873 to 1936, the title of Minister of the Interior did exist and responsible for land and resource extraction. It replaced the Secretary of State for the Provinces (1867–1873). For more see List of Canadian Ministers of the Interior.