self-governing vs autonomous

self-governing and autonomous both are adjectives.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
self-governing	No	Yes	No	No
autonomous	No	Yes	No	No

As adjectives, self-governing and autonomous are synonyms defined as:

self-governing and autonomous: (of political bodies) not controlled by outside forces

Other synonyms of self-governing include independent, sovereign.

self-governing (adjective)	autonomous (adjective)
(of political bodies) not controlled by outside forces	(of political bodies) not controlled by outside forces
	(of persons) free from external control and constraint in e.g. action and judgment
	existing as an independent entity