  The equivalence principle is treated on a mathematically rigorous base on
sufficiently general subsets of a differentiable manifold. This is carried out
using the basis of derivations of the tensor algebra over that manifold.
Necessary and/or sufficient conditions of existence, uniqueness, and
holonomicity of these bases in which the components of the derivations of the
tensor algebra over it vanish on these subsets, are studied. The linear
connections are considered in this context. It is shown that the equivalence
principle is identically valid at any point, and along any path, in every
gravitational theory based on linear connections. On higher dimensional
submanifolds it may be valid only in certain exceptional cases.
