Municipality - Definition and Overview

A municipality or "general-purpose district" (compare with: "special-purpose district") is an administrative local area generally composed of a clearly defined territory and commonly referring to a city, town, or village government.

Municipalities are not necessarily the same as townships.

In most countries, this is the smallest administrative subdivision that has its own democratically elected representative leadership. In several European countries, municipalities as second level entities are referred to as communes.

Municipalities as second level entities

In Australia, a municipality is a city, or shire and is a subdivision of a state
In Austria, a municipality (Gemeinde) is part of a district (Bezirk), which is in turn part of a state (Bundesland).
In Belgium, a municipality (gemeente/commune) is part of a province (provincie/province)
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, a municipality (općina) is
- part of a canton (kanton)
- a subdivision (grouped in regions)
In Brazil, a municipality (município) is part of a state (estado)
In Canada, a municipality is a city, town, township or regional municipality which has been incorporated by statute by the legislatures of the Provinces and territories of Canada
In Chile, a municipality (comuna) is part of a province (provincia)
In Croatia, a municipality (općina) is part of a county (županija)
In Denmark, a municipality (kommune) is part of a county (amt)
In Finland, a municipality (kunta/kommun) is part of a province (lääni/län)
In France, a municipality (commune) is part of a department (département)
In Germany, a municipality (Gemeinde) is part of a district (Kreis). Larger entities of the same level are named city (Stadt).
In Italy, a municipality (comune) is part of a province (provincia) which is part of a region (regione).
In Japan, any government other than the Japanese national government is called a municipality.
In Mexico, a municipality (municipio) is subdivision of a state (estado).
In the Netherlands, a municipality (gemeente) is part of a province (provincie).
Every part of mainland New Zealand 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.
In Norway, a municipality (kommune) is part of a county (fylke)
In the Philippines, a municipality (bayan) is part of a province (lalawigan) and is composed of barangays.
In Poland, a municipality (commune) (gmina) is a part of a county (powiat).
In Romania, a municipality (comună) is part of a county (judeţ)
In Serbia, a municipality (opština) is part of a county (okrug)
In Sweden, a municipality (kommun) is part of a county (län).
In Switzerland, a municipality (commune/Gemeinde/comune) is part of a canton (canton/Kanton/cantone) and defined by cantonal law.
In the United States, the entities that have status as a municipality vary from state to state. Cities, towns, boroughs, or villages are common terms for municipalities. Townships, counties, and parishes are not generally considered to be municipalities, although there are exceptions. In some states, towns have a non-municipal status similar to townships.

First level entities and other forms of municipalities

In the People's Republic of China, a municipality (直辖市 in pinyin: zhíxiéshì) is a city with equal status to a province: Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing (see Municipality of China)
In the Republic of China on Taiwan, a municipality (直轄市 in Wade-Giles: chi-hsia-shih) is a city with equal status to a province: Taipei and Kaohsiung. (see Municipality of China)
In Portugal, a municipality (município/concelho) is the primary local administrative unit. Although it is a 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.
In Puerto Rico, there are no first order administrative divisions, and the municipalities (municipio) serves as second-order, but first level, administrative divisions.
In Montenegro, a municipality (opština) is the topmost regional division
Municipalities of Libya, some very large.
In Spain, a municipality (município) is the primary local administrative unit. It is a part of a province(provincia) for all national administrative purposes. A municipality contains one or more parroquias. In the Galiza region, the municipalities are called concellos.

Municipality - Definition and Overview

Municipalities as second level entities

First level entities and other forms of municipalities

See also

Example Usage of Municipality