What are the two divisions of the autonomic nervous system?

The autonomic nervous system is separated into the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system.

The sympathetic nervous system comprehends the nerves that come out from the ganglia of the neural chains lateral to the spinal column (near the spinal cord) and therefore are distant from the tissues they innervate. The central and peripheral neurons associated to those neurons are also part of the sympathetic.