In the United States, a Grand Lodge will often divide its area of control into "Districts" or "Regions."
The lack of a central authority means that Grand Lodges are held together simply by fellowship with one another.
Many PHGLs also sponsor and govern Prince Hall Lodges abroad, principally on or near US military bases.
However, these organisations' governing bodies, as a rule, defer to their Grand Lodges as the essential authority over Masonry in their regions.
The Odd Fellows, Elks, and other similar fraternal groups also have Grand Lodges, as does the Orange Order, as many of them based their organizational model on that of Freemasonry.