Municipality




An administrative division having corporate status and usually some powers of self-government or jurisdiction



The Ponce City Hall, in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico, is the seat of the government for both the city and the surrounding barrios making up the municipality.




Map of all city municipalities in Slovenia


A municipality is usually a single urban administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and state laws to which it is subordinate. It is to be distinguished (usually) from the county, which may encompass rural territory or numerous small communities such as towns, villages and hamlets.


The term municipality may also mean the governing or ruling body of a given municipality.[1] A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district.


The term is derived from French municipalité and Latin municipalis.[2] The English word municipality derives from the Latin social contract municipium (derived from a word meaning "duty holders"), referring to the Latin communities that supplied Rome with troops in exchange for their own incorporation into the Roman state (granting Roman citizenship to the inhabitants) while permitting the communities to retain their own local governments (a limited autonomy).


A municipality can be any political jurisdiction from a sovereign state, such as the Principality of Monaco, to a small village, such as West Hampton Dunes, New York.


The territory over which a municipality has jurisdiction may encompass



  • only one populated place such as a city, town, or village

  • several of such places (e.g., early jurisdictions in the U.S. state of New Jersey (1798–1899) as townships governing several villages, Municipalities of Mexico, Municipalities of Colombia)

  • only parts of such places, sometimes boroughs of a city such as the 34 municipalities of Santiago, Chile.[3]




Contents






  • 1 Political powers


  • 2 In various countries


    • 2.1 English-speaking


    • 2.2 Chinese-speaking




  • 3 Municipalities by country


  • 4 See also


  • 5 References


  • 6 External links





Political powers


Powers of municipalities range from virtual autonomy to complete subordination to the state. Municipalities may have the right to tax individuals and corporations with income tax, property tax, and corporate income tax, but may also receive substantial funding from the state.



In various countries




Coat of arms of the town Svätý Jur in Western Slovakia.


In various countries, municipalities are usually referred to as "communes", notably in Romance languages (derived from Latin) such as French commune (France, French-speaking areas of Belgium and Switzerland, French-speaking countries of Africa, e.g. Benin), Italian comune, Romanian comună, and Spanish comuna (Chile), and in Germanic languages such as German Kommune (in political parlance, the official term being Gemeinde), Swedish kommun, Faroese kommuna, and Norwegian, Danish kommune. However, in Moldova and Romania exists both municipalities (municipiu; urban administrative units) and communes (comună; rural units), and a commune may be part of a municipality (see more: communes of Moldova, communes of Romania).


Similar terms include Spanish ayuntamiento, also called municipalidad (cognate to "municipality"), Polish gmina, Dutch/Flemish Gemeente and Luxembourgish Gemeng.



English-speaking



  • In Australia, the term local government area (LGA) is used in place of the generic municipality. Here, the "LGA Structure covers only incorporated areas of Australia. Incorporated areas are legally designated parts of states and territories over which incorporated local governing bodies have responsibility."[4]

  • In Canada, municipalities are local governments established through provincial and territorial legislation, usually within general municipal statutes.[5][6] Types of municipalities within Canada include cities, district municipalities, municipal districts, municipalities, parishes, rural municipalities, towns, townships, villages, and villes among others.[6] The Province of Ontario has different tiers of municipalities, including lower, upper, and single tiers.[7] Types of upper tier municipalities in Ontario include counties and regional municipalities.[7]Nova Scotia also has regional municipalities, which include cities, counties, districts, or towns as municipal units.[8]

  • In India, a Municipality or Nagar Palika is an urban local body that administers a city of population 100,000 or more. However, there are exceptions to that, as previously Municipality were constituted in urban centers with population over 20,000, so all the urban bodies which were previously classified as Municipality were reclassified as Municipality even if their population was under 100,000. Under the Panchayati Raj system, it interacts directly with the state government, though it is administratively part of the district it is located in. Generally, smaller district cities and bigger towns have a Municipality. Municipality are also a form of local self-government entrusted with some duties and responsibilities, as enshrined in the Constitutional (74th Amendment) Act,1992.

  • In the United Kingdom, the term was used until the 1972 Local Government Act came into effect in 1974 in England and Wales, and until 1975 in Scotland and 1976 in Northern Ireland, "both for a city or town which is organized for self-government under a municipal corporation, and also for the governing body itself. Such a corporation in Great Britain consists of a head as a mayor or provost, and of superior members, as aldermen and councillors".[9] Since local government reorganisation, the unit in England, Northern Ireland and Wales is known as a district, and in Scotland as a council area. A district may be awarded borough or city status, or can retain its district title.

  • In Jersey, a municipality refers to the honorary officials elected to run each of the 12 parishes into which it is subdivided. This is the highest level of regional government in this jurisdiction.

  • In Trinidad and Tobago, "municipality" is usually understood as a city, town, or other local government unit, formed by municipal charter from the state as a municipal corporation. A town may be awarded borough status and later on may be upgraded to city status. Chaguanas, San Fernando, Port of Spain, Arima and Point Fortin are the 5 current municipalities in Trinidad and Tobago.

  • In the United States, "municipality" is usually understood as a city, town, village, or other local government unit, formed by municipal charter from the state as a municipal corporation.[10] In a state law context, some U.S. state codes define "municipality" more widely, from the state itself to any political subdivisions given jurisdiction over an area that may include multiple populated places and unpopulated places.[11][12] (See also Political divisions of the United States.)



Chinese-speaking



  • In the People's Republic of China, a direct-controlled municipality (直辖市 in pinyin: zhíxiáshì) is a city with equal status to a province: Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing (see Municipality of China).

  • In Taiwan (Republic of China), a special municipality (直轄市 in pinyin: zhíxiáshì) is a city with equal status to a province: Kaohsiung, New Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, Taipei and Taoyuan (see Special municipality of Taiwan).



Municipalities by country









































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Country
Term
Example
Subdivision of
Quantity
Notes
Further reading

Afghanistan

shārwāli


Provinces of Afghanistan
154
34 'provincial' municipalities of provincial capitals (shārwāli) and 120 rural or 'district' municipalities (shārwāli uruswāli)
www.km.gov.af

Albania

bashki (urban) or komunë (rural)


61


Municipalities of Albania

Algeria

baladiyah


daïra (district), which is part of a wilaya (province)
1,541


Municipalities of Algeria

Andorra

parròquia

Sant Julià de Lòria

7



Argentina

municipalidad

Puerto Madryn

Provinces of Argentina, in some provinces they are a subdivision of departments
2,100
Smallest administrative division; either a city, town, or township

Municipalities of Argentina

Austria

Gemeinde

a state (Bundesland).
1,725
The entire area of Austria is divided into municipalities, with no non-municipal gaps. This leads to some municipalities being very large despite having a small population.

Municipality (Austria)

Bangladesh

Pouroshabha / Pouroshava


Upazila or subdistrict, which is in turn part of a district
311


Municipalities of Bangladesh

Belgium

gemeente/commune

Montigny-le-Tilleul
a province (provincie/province) or of the Brussels-Capital Region
589
The provinces are themselves subdivisions of the Walloon and Flemish Regions which have the authority over the municipalities

Municipalities in Belgium

Bolivia

municipio

Arani Municipality

province, which is part of a departamento.
327 (2005)


Municipalities of Bolivia

Bosnia and Herzegovina

općina or opština

in Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina : of a canton (kanton). In Republika Srpska, municipality is first order of government after entity government.
144


Municipalities of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Brazil

município

São Paulo (most populous), Borá (least populous)
states (estados)
5,570
Smallest administrative subdivision. Not used in the Federal District or the Fernando de Noronha and St. Peter and St. Paul archipelagos, but encompasses all other territories nationwide

Municipalities of Brazil

Brunei

bandaran

Bandar Seri Begawan

4
Independent of subdivisions; nevertheless overlap with mukims and villages

Municipalities of Brunei

Bulgaria

Bulgarian: община, Bulgarian: obshtina

Aksakovo Municipality
an oblast
264


Municipalities of Bulgaria

Kingdom of Cambodia
(ស឵ល឵ក្រុង) refers to city hall


1446



Chile

municipalidad
Torres del Paine
provinces
346
Specifically the administrative body, while subdivisions are comunas; most municipalities administer one comuna each, but occasional municipalities administer more


China

直辖市

Beijing

4
Status equal to a province

Municipalities of China

Colombia

municipio

a department (departamento)
1,102
It is also subdivided into Localities and Neighborhoods in urban municipalities and into Corregimientos and Veredas in rural municipalities

Municipalities of Colombia

Costa Rica

Municipalidad

Province (Provinces of Costa Rica)



Cantones of Costa Rica

Croatia

općina

county (županija)
428


Municipalities of Croatia

Czech Republic

obec

Karlovy Vary
a kraj (kraj)
6250



Denmark

kommune

Aabenraa Municipality
a region
98
Counties (amter) were abandoned in 2007

Municipalities of Denmark

Dominican Republic

municipio


province



Municipalities of the Dominican Republic

El Salvador

municipio

Zacatecoluca

departamentos
262


Municipalities of El Salvador

Estonia

omavalitsus
Are vald (Are Parish)

county (maakond)
215
Can be either towns (linn) or parishes (vald)

Municipalities of Estonia

Finland

kunta/kommun

Helsinki

region

311
Can choose whether to call itself a "city" (kaupunki).

Municipalities of Finland

France

commune

canton, which is part of an arrondissement, which is part of a department (département) which is part of a region (région)
36,600



Germany

Gemeinde

district (Kreis, literally "Circle"). Larger entities of the same level are called Stadt, plural Städte (Cities resp. Towns), which can be part of a Kreis (they are kreisangehörig, meaning "belonging to a Circle") or constituting a district on its own (kreisfrei, meaning "free of a Circle"). In less populated regions, small municipalities are often put together into consolidated superior municipalities (Verbandsgemeinde, Samtgemeinde or Amtsgemeinde)
12,013


Municipalities of Germany

Georgia

munits'ipaliteti


76
self-governing towns/cities (k'alak'i) and communities (t'emi)

Municipalities of Georgia

Greece

demos (δήμος, pl. δήμοι) or koinoteta (κοινότητα, pl. κοινότητες)


325
Demoi and koinotetes are both considered municipalities; the latter are less populous

Municipalities and communities of Greece

Greenland
kommunea

Kujalleq

4
First-level administrative division

Municipalities of Greenland

Haiti

commune

an arrondissement, which is part of a department (département).




Honduras

municipio

was in 1895 originally the subdivision of the district (distrito), but as districts have fallen into disuse, it is now the subdivision of the department (departamento).
298


Municipalities of Honduras

Hungary

település

a county (megye).
3,168 (in 2005)



Iceland

sveitarfélag

Reykjavík

Regions
74
The country's only self-governing local administrative units

Municipalities of Iceland

India




Excludes both villages and large cities; typically has more than twenty thousand residents, but cannot exceed five hundred thousand

Municipalities of India

Iraq
Qadhaa

Al-Hamdaniya District
a district (Arabic: Qadhaa‎) which is part of a Governorate (Region or Province, Arabic: Mouhafatha).
130
Second-level, below the governorate

Municipalities of Iraq

Israel
Iri'ya (עיריה, City Government), Moatsa (מועצה, Council)



Includes city councils (large municipalities), local councils (small municipalities), and regional councils (a group of communities; often rural)


Italy

comune

a province (provincia) which is part of a region (regione).
7,982
Solely used for subdivisions of larger comuni, especially in Rome; municipio indicates the city hall; in some case, they are joined in mountain communities (comunità montane)[13]

List of comuni of Italy

Japan



1,719
Below the prefecture; includes shi (cities), cho (towns), and son (villages)

Municipalities of Japan

Kenya




a municipality is one of four types of local authorities. Nearly 50 major towns are given the municipality status.


Latvia
singular: novads, plural: novadi
Aglonas novads (Aglona Municipality)

110
A municipality normally consists of amalgamated parishes (singular: pagasts, plural: pagasti).

Municipalities of Latvia

Lebanon


a district (Arabic: Qadaa‎) which is part of a Governorate (Region or Province, Arabic: Mouhafazah).




Libya




the municipality level is that of the Basic People's Congress. Large cities are subdivided.

Municipalities of Libya

Lithuania

savivaldybė
Kalvarijos savivaldybė (Kalvarija Municipality)
a district (apskritis) and is subdivided into elderates (seniūnija).



Municipalities of Lithuania

Luxembourg

commune (in French); Gemeng, plur. Gemengen
(in Luxembourgish)

part of a canton (Luxembourgish: Kantoun) which itself is part of a district
105
are the lowest divisions


Macedonia

opština

Aračinovo Municipality
the country (top-level) or the City of Skopje
84 (2004)
current set established in 2004, reduced from 123 created in 1996.

Municipalities of the Republic of Macedonia

Malta

Kunsill Lokali (Local Council)

Valletta Local Council
none
68
established 1993, one new council created since then (Mtarfa)

Local councils of Malta

Mauritius




a municipality: The administration of all the main towns in Mauritius is done by the municipality of the respective towns.Most of the towns are found in the district of Plaines Wilhems. The capital city, Port-Louis is managed by the Municipality of Port-Louis, found in the district of Port Louis. The other seven districts are administered by are called district councils.


Mexico

municipio / delegación

Asientos Municipality
a state (estado) or the DF
2,466
a borough (delegación) is a subdivision of the Federal District

Municipalities of Mexico and boroughs of the Mexican Federal District

Moldova

municipiu

Municipiul Chișinău

32
is a main city or town and surrounding villages ranked by law at this level.

Moldova#Administrative divisions

Montenegro

opština

Andrijevica Municipality
the country (top-level)



Municipalities of Montenegro

Nepal
Nagarpalika


58 (after the census in 2001)
a municipality is a town not large enough in population or infrastructure to qualify as a sub-metropolitan city.


Netherlands

gemeente

a province (provincie)
388 + 3 special municipalities


Municipalities in the Netherlands

New Zealand




a municipality is part of either a "city" (mostly urban) or a "district" (mostly rural). The term "municipality" has become rare in New Zealand since about 1979 and has no legal status. (See territorial authorities of New Zealand.)


Nicaragua

municipio

a department (departamento) or of one of the two Autonomous Regions, North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region and South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region.


Municipalities of Nicaragua


Norway

kommune

Røyken kommune
a county (fylke)
430 (2009)


Municipalities of Norway

Palestinian National Authority



105
municipalities are localities with populations over 4,000 and have 13-15 council members.

Municipality (Palestinian Authority)

Pakistan


of a tehsil/taluka or sub-district of a "district".
149


Local government in Pakistan

Paraguay

municipalidad

a departament (departamento)




Peru

municipio

a province (provincia), which is part of a department (departamento). As of 2002 a department is now called a region (región).

is another term for district (distrito) and is the lower-level administrative subdivision.


Philippines

bayan or munisipyo or munisipalidad

a province

is a town with a popularly elected administration including a mayor and is part of a province (lalawigan or probinsya) (except for the independent municipality of Pateros, Metro Manila in the National Capital Region). Municipalities are not the smallest division of local government and are composed of barangays.


Poland

gmina

Gmina Annopol
county (powiat).




Portugal

concelho or município

Oeiras

District
308

Concelho is a directly elected local area authority generally consisting of a main city or town and surrounding villages, with wide-ranging local administration powers. Apart from the municipality of Corvo, however, municípios are not the smallest administrative unit in Portugal, that being the freguesia (civil parish). For central government purposes, Portuguese municipalities are grouped into districts (distritos). In Portugal, a municipality (município/concelho) is the primary local administrative unit. Although part of a district (distrito) for certain national administrative purposes, the municipality is not subordinate to the district and decentralization is doing away with the districts. A municipality contains one or more freguesias.

Municipalities of Portugal

Puerto Rico

municipio



municipality consists of an urban area (termed a city or town) plus all of its surrounding barrios comprising the municipality. It has a popularly elected administration and a municipal mayor. The seat of the municipal government is located in such urban area and serves the entire municipal jurisdiction.[14][15]

Municipalities of Puerto Rico

Romania

municipiu / oraș / comună

Deva

County (județ)
103 + 217 + 2856
A municipality (municipiu) is a special status given to cities which fulfill certain criteria related to size, influence and development, as defined by Law no. 351/2001 (on the National Territorial Management Plan). Localities which do not meet the criteria are designated "cities" (orașe) or "communes" (comune).

Municipalities of Romania
Cities of Romania
Communes of Romania

Russia




several types of municipalities ("municipal formations") exist; see subdivisions of Russia


San Marino




there are also eight minor municipalities, castelli.


Serbia

opština

a district (okrug)




Slovakia

obec


district (okres) which is part of a kraj (kraj)

2,891



Slovenia

občina


region (regija)
212
a municipality (občina) is the primary local administrative unit. There are 212 of them, 11 of which have a special "Urban" status with additional autonomy.

Municipalities of Slovenia

South Africa





district municipalities and metropolitan municipalities are subdivisions of the provinces, and local municipalities are subdivisions of district municipalities.


Spain

municipio / municipi / concello / udalerria


8,122
a municipality (municipio) is the primary local administrative unit. It is a part of a province (provincia) for all national administrative purposes. In the Galicia region, the municipalities are called, in Galician language, concellos, and in the Principality of Asturias region, a municipality is called a concejo (in Spanish language) or a conceyu (in Asturian language). In these two regions a municipality contains one or more parroquias (parishes).

Municipalities of Spain

Sweden

kommun

Stockholm Municipality

Gothenburg Municipality
Malmö Municipality
Ale Municipality



County Councils of Sweden (Swedish: landsting) self-governing local authority, covering 21 counties, each comprising one or more of the municipalities.
290
is self-governing according to the Swedish constitution and constitutes local government. Before 1971, a municipality could be called a town (stad), a köping or a rural municipality (landskommun); present municipalities which used to be towns are still commonly called towns. Sweden is also divided in 2 523 districts (Swedish: distrikt) since 1 January 2016.[16]

Municipalities of Sweden

Switzerland

commune/Gemeinde/comune

a canton (canton/Kanton/cantone) and defined by cantonal law.
2,596


Municipalities in Switzerland

Thailand

thesaban

None
1,602
There are three levels of municipalities, and municipalities are not self-governed except for Bangkok and Pattaya. Municipalities introduced in 1935, Bangkok became self-governed in 1972, and Pattaya became self-governed in 1978.

Thesaban

Turkey

belediye

Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality

il(province)
2,920
is a local government authority and there are two types of municipalities: metropolitan (büyükşehir) municipality, district (alt/ilçe) municipality.


Ukraine




there are two types of municipalities: urban and rural. Both are referred to after their governing body as council (i.e. miskrada, selyshchna rada or silrada). They are considered the lowest administrative division in the country and better known as the local government. Urban municipalities are more complex and divided into city municipalities (miskrada) and town municipalities (selyshchna rada). The most complex municipalities are the cities of regional significance which are referred to simply as cities and create a sort of ambiguity.


United Arab Emirates


an emirate

is defined by the law of the specific emirates.


Uruguay

municipio


89


Municipalities of Uruguay

Venezuela

municipio

Anaco Municipality
a state, as well as a subdivision of the Capital District (estado)



Municipalities of Venezuela

Vietnam

Direct-controlled municipality

Ho Chi Minh City (largest)

5
A direct-controlled municipality (Thành phố trực thuộc trung ương) is a city with equal status to a province

Municipalities of Vietnam

  • In Portuguese language usage, there are two words to distinguish the territory and the administrative organ. When referring to the territory, the word concelho is used, when referring to the organ of State, the word município is used. This differentiation is in use in Portugal and some of its former overseas provinces, but it’s no longer in use in Brazil.


See also



  • Council of European Municipalities and Regions

  • Council-manager government

  • Creature of statute

  • Lists of municipalities

  • Mayor-council government

  • Municipal corporation

  • Municipal government



References





  1. ^ "Municipality". Merriam-Webster..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}


  2. ^ "municipality definition". Yourdictionary.com.


  3. ^ "Santiago de Chile – Comunas". Mapas de Chile, Castor y Polux Ltda.


  4. ^ "Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC)". Australian Bureau of Statistics.


  5. ^ "Municipal Government". The Canadian Encyclopedia > Government > Government, General > Municipal Government. Historica Foundation of Canada. 2009. Retrieved 2011-07-17.


  6. ^ ab "Interim List of Changes to Municipal Boundaries, Status, and Names – From January 2, 2010 to January 1, 2011" (PDF). Statistics Canada. April 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-17.


  7. ^ ab "List of Ontario Municipalities". Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. 2011-07-04. Retrieved 2011-07-17.


  8. ^ "Municipal Government Act" (PDF). Office of the Legislative Counsel, Nova Scotia House of Assembly. 2010-01-07. Retrieved 2011-07-17.


  9. ^ Wikisource:1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Municipality


  10. ^ "Legal Dictionary: Municipal Law". FindLaw.


  11. ^ "2009 Nevada Code". Justia.


  12. ^ "Kansas Statues". Lesterama.


  13. ^ The law provides for the possibility of overlapping of the office of President of the mountain community with that of mayor of one of the municipalities of the community: Buonomo, Giampiero (2001). "Compatibile il sindaco-dirigente della locale Comunità montana". Diritto&Giustizia edizione online.  – via Questia (subscription required)


  14. ^ Ayuda: Divulgación de Resultados de la Comisión Estatal de Elecciones – Municipio. Comision Estatal de Elecciones. Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 2004. Retrieved 6 December 2011.


  15. ^ Autonomous Municipalities Law. (in Spanish) Archived 2010-12-05 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 24 October 2011.


  16. ^ SFS 2015:493, Svensk författningssamling: Förordning om distrikt.




External links







  • Wikisource Elton, Charles Isaac (1884). "Municipality". Encyclopædia Britannica. 17 (9th ed.).








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