In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking

official An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their su ...

in a

municipal government A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

such as that of a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

or a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

. Worldwide, there is a wide

variance In probability theory and statistics, variance is the expectation of the squared deviation of a random variable from its population mean or sample mean. Variance is a measure of dispersion, meaning it is a measure of how far a set of numbe ...

in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as the means by which a mayor is elected or otherwise mandated. Depending on the system chosen, a mayor may be the chief executive officer of the municipal government, may simply chair a multi-member governing body with little or no independent power, or may play a solely ceremonial role. A mayor's duties and responsibilities may be to appoint and oversee municipal managers and employees, provide basic governmental services to constituents, and execute the laws and ordinances passed by a municipal governing body (or mandated by a state, territorial or national governing body). Options for selection of a mayor include direct election by the public, or selection by an elected governing council or board. The term ''mayor'' shares a linguistic origin with the military rank of ''

Major Major ( commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicato ...

'', both ultimately derived from French .

History

United Kingdom

In modern

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, the position of mayor descends from the feudal lord's

bailiff A bailiff (from Middle English baillif, Old French ''baillis'', ''bail'' "custody") is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. Bailiffs are of various kinds and their o ...

or reeve (''see

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

''). The

chief magistrate Chief magistrate is a public official, executive or judicial, whose office is the highest in its class. Historically, the two different meanings of magistrate have often overlapped and refer to, as the case may be, to a major political and admini ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

bore the title of portreeve for considerably more than a century after the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conq ...

. This official was elected by popular choice, a privilege secured from King John. By the beginning of the 12th century, the title of portreeve gave way to that of mayor as the designation of the chief officer of London, followed around 1190 by that of

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

. Other boroughs adopted the title later. In the 19th century, in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

, the

Municipal Corporations Act 1882 The Municipal Corporations Act 1882 (45 & 46 Vict. c.50) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It replaced existing legislation governing municipal boroughs in England and Wales, and gave the corporations powers to make byelaws a ...

, Section 15, regulated the election of mayors. The mayor was to be a fit person elected annually on 9 November by the council of the borough from among the aldermen or councilors or persons qualified to be such. His term of office was one year, but he was eligible for re-election. He might appoint a deputy to act during illness or absence, and such deputy must be either an alderman or councilor. A mayor who was absent from the borough for more than two months became disqualified and had to vacate his office. A mayor was ''ex officio'' a

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or '' puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the s ...

for the borough during his year of office and the following year. He received such remuneration as the council thought reasonable. These provisions have now been repealed. In medieval Wales, the Laws of Hywel Dda codified the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

(

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

: ';

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

: ') as a position at the royal courts charged with administering the serfs of the king's lands. To maintain its dependence on and loyalty to the Crown, the position was forbidden to the leaders of the clan groups.

Wade-Evans, Arthur Arthur Wade Wade-Evans (born Arthur Wade Evans) (31 August 1875 – 4 January 1964) was a Welsh clergyman and historian. Biography Evans was born in Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, in south Wales on 31 August 1875 and did not include his mother's ...

. ''

Welsh Medieval Law Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

''. Oxford Univ., 1909. Accessed 1 February 2013. A separate mayor, known as the "cow dung mayor" (), was charged with overseeing the royal cattle. There were similar offices at the Scottish and Irish courts. The office of

in most modern English and Welsh boroughs and towns did not in the 20th century entail any important administrative duties and was generally regarded as an honor conferred for local distinction, long service on the council, or for past services. The mayor was expected to devote much of his (or her) time to civic, ceremonial, and representational functions, and to preside over meetings for the advancement of the public welfare. The administrative duties of mayors were to act as returning officer at parliamentary elections and to chair the meetings of the council. The mayor of a

town council A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities. Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions. Republic of Ireland Town Councils in the Republic of Ireland were the second ti ...

is officially known as "town mayor" (although in popular parlance, the word ''town'' is often dropped). The person is known as "mayor" regardless of gender; the partner of a mayor is sometimes known as the "mayoress". Since the 1974 local government reforms, mayors are also appointed to English local government districts which have

borough status Borough status is granted by royal charter to local government districts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The status is purely honorary, and does not give any additional powers to the council or inhabitants of the district. In Scotland, ...

. This results in mayors of districts which include towns which also have separate mayors. In districts which do not have borough status, the role of civic leader is taken by the chairman of the council, who undertakes exactly the same functions as a mayor of a district with borough status. Some cities in England have a Lord mayor. In

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

the post holders are known as convenors, provosts, or lord provosts depending on the local authority.

Directly elected mayors

Since reforms introduced in 2000, a number of English local authorities have directly elected mayors who combine the "civic" mayor role with that of

leader of the council In England, local authorities are required to adopt one of three types of executive arrangements, having either an "elected mayor and cabinet", a "leader and cabinet", or a "committee system". The type of arrangement used determines how decisions ...

and have significantly greater powers than either. Areas which now have directly elected mayors include cities, local government districts which cover several towns and rural areas, and since 2014

combined authority A combined authority is a type of local government institution introduced in England outside Greater London by the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009. Combined authorities are created voluntarily and allow a grou ...

areas which include two or more local authority districts.

Continental Europe

The original Frankish mayors or majordomos were like the Welsh lords commanding the king's lands around the

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gaul ...

courts in

Austrasia Austrasia was a territory which formed the north-eastern section of the Merovingian Kingdom of the Franks during the 6th to 8th centuries. It was centred on the Meuse, Middle Rhine and the Moselle rivers, and was the original territory of the ...

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The ...

, and

Neustria Neustria was the western part of the Kingdom of the Franks. Neustria included the land between the Loire and the Silva Carbonaria, approximately the north of present-day France, with Paris, Orléans, Tours, Soissons as its main cities. It late ...

. The mayorship of Paris eventually became hereditary in the

Pippinids The Pippinids and the Arnulfings were two Frankish aristocratic families from Austrasia during the Merovingian period. They dominated the office of mayor of the palace after 687 and eventually supplanted the Merovingians as kings in 751, foundi ...

, who later established the

Carolingian dynasty The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pi ...

. In modern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, since the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

, a mayor () and a number of mayoral adjuncts () are selected by the municipal council from among their number. Most of the administrative work is left in their hands, with the full council meeting comparatively infrequently. The model was copied throughout Europe in Britain's mayors, Italy's

sindaco The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

s, most of the German states'

burgomaster Burgomaster (alternatively spelled burgermeister, literally "master of the town, master of the borough, master of the fortress, master of the citizens") is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chie ...

s, and Portugal's presidents of the municipal chambers. In

Medieval Italy The history of Italy in the Middle Ages can be roughly defined as the time between the collapse of the Western Roman Empire and the Italian Renaissance. The term "Middle Ages" itself ultimately derives from the description of the period of "obsc ...

, the city-states who did not consider themselves independent principalities or dukedoms particularly those of the Imperial Ghibelline faction were led by

podestà Podestà (, English: Potestate, Podesta) was the name given to the holder of the highest civil office in the government of the cities of Central and Northern Italy during the Late Middle Ages. Sometimes, it meant the chief magistrate of a city ...

s. The

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

equivalent of a mayor is the demarch ( el, δήμαρχος, 3=

archon ''Archon'' ( gr, ἄρχων, árchōn, plural: ἄρχοντες, ''árchontes'') is a Greek word that means "ruler", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem αρχ-, mean ...

of the

deme In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside seem to have existed in the 6th century BC and ear ...

Scandinavia

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

all

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

are led by a political official called '' borgmester'', 'mayor'. The mayor of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...

is however called '' overborgmester'' 'lord mayor'. In that city other mayors, (plural), are subordinate to the lord mayor with different undertakings, like ministers to a prime minister. In other municipalities in Denmark there is only a single mayor. 1389-09-04, brev Iserlohn

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

the mayoral title ''/'' has now been abolished. Norway abolished it in 1937 as a title of the non-political top manager of (city) municipalities and replaced it with the title ('

alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members ...

' or '

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...

'), which is still in use when referring to the top managers of the

municipalities of Norway Norway is divided into 11 administrative regions, called counties (''fylker'' in Norwegian, singular: ''fylke''), and 356 municipalities (''kommuner/-ar'', singular: ''kommune'' – cf. communes). The capital city Oslo is considered both a cou ...

. The top ''elected'' official of the municipalities of Norway, on the other hand, has the title , which actually means 'word-bearer', i.e. 'chairperson' or 'president', an equivalent to the Swedish word '' ordförande''. In

was a title of the senior judge of the courts of the cities, courts which were called , literally 'town hall court', somewhat of an equivalent to an English

magistrates' court A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings. Courts * Magistrates' court (England and Wales) * Magistrate's Cou ...

. These courts were abolished in 1971. Until 1965, these mayor judges on historical grounds also performed administrative functions in the board of magistrates, in Swedish known collegially as . Until 1965 there were also municipal mayors (), who had these non-political administrative roles in smaller cities without a magistrates' court or . This office was an invention of the 20th century as the smaller cities in Sweden during the first half of the 20th century subsequently lost their own courts and magistrates. Arthur-Castren

In the 16th century in Sweden, king

Gustav Vasa Gustav I, born Gustav Eriksson of the Vasa noble family and later known as Gustav Vasa (12 May 1496 – 29 September 1560), was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death in 1560, previously self-recognised Protector of the Realm ('' Riksför ...

considerably centralised government and appointed the mayors directly. In 1693 king

Charles XI Charles XI or Carl ( sv, Karl XI; ) was King of Sweden from 1660 until his death, in a period of Swedish history known as the Swedish Empire (1611–1721). He was the only son of King Charles X Gustav of Sweden and Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein- ...

accepted a compromise after repeated petitions from the Estate of the Burgesses over decades against the royal mayor appointments. The compromise was that the burgesses in a city could normally nominate a mayor under the supervision of the local governor. The nominee was then to be presented to and appointed by the king, but the king could appoint mayors directly in exceptional cases. This was codified in the Instrument of Government of 1720 and on 8 July the same year Riksrådet ("the Council of the Realm") decided, after a petition from the said Estate, that only the city could present nominees, not the king or anyone else. Thus the supervision of the local governor and directly appointed mayors by the king ceased after 1720 (the so-called

Age of Liberty In Swedish and Finnish history, the Age of Liberty ( sv, frihetstiden; fi, vapauden aika) was a period that saw parliamentary governance, increasing civil rights and the decline of the Swedish Empire that began with Charles XII's death in ...

). On 16 October 1723, it was decided after a petition that the city should present three nominees, of whom the king (or the Council of the Realm) appointed one.The article ''Borgmästare'' (in Swedish)
in

Nordisk Familjebok ''Nordisk familjebok'' (, "Nordic Family Book") is a Swedish encyclopedia that was published in print from between 1876 and 1993, and that is now fully available in digital form via Project Runeberg at Linköping University. Despite their co ...

. This was kept as a rule from then on in all later regulations and was also kept as a tradition in the 1809 Instrument of Government
§ 31
until 1965. In

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

, there are two mayors, in

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population ...

and Pirkkala. Usually in Finland the highest executive official is not democratically elected, but is appointed to a public office by the city council, and is called simply 'city manager' or 'municipal manager', depending on whether the municipality defines itself as a city. The term 'mayor', from Swedish confusingly on historical grounds has referred to the highest official in the registry office and in the city courts (abolished in 1993) as in Sweden, not the city manager. In addition, is also an honorary title, which may be given for distinguished service in the post of the city manager. The city manager of Helsinki is called , which translates to 'chief mayor', for historical reasons. Furthermore, the term ''city manager'' may be seen translated as ''mayor''.

Spain

The office of the ''

Alcalde Alcalde (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian '' cabildo'' (the municipal council) ...

'' evolved during the

Reconquista The ' ( Spanish, Portuguese and Galician for "reconquest") is a historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the N ...

as new lands were settled by the expanding kingdoms of León and Castile. As fortified settlements in the area between the Douro and

Tagus The Tagus ( ; es, Tajo ; pt, Tejo ; see below) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales near Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows , generally west with two main south-westward sections, to e ...

rivers became true urban centers, they gained, from their

feudal lords Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structur ...

or the kings of Leon and Castile, the right to have councils. Among the rights that these councils had was to elect a municipal judge ( in

and in Spanish). These judges were assisted in their duties by various assistant judges, called , whose number depended on the number of parishes the town had. The title was borrowed from the Arabic '' al-qaḍi'' (), meaning 'the judge'. The word originally was used for simple judges, as in

Andalusian Arabic Andalusi Arabic (), also known as Andalusian Arabic, was a variety or varieties of Arabic spoken mainly from the 9th to the 17th century in Al-Andalus, the regions of the Iberian Peninsula (modern Spain and Portugal) once under Muslim rule. It b ...

. Only later was it applied to the presiding municipal magistrate. This early use continued to be reflected in its other uses, such as , the judges in the '' audiencias''; , who formed the highest tribunal in Castile and also managed the royal court; , a synonym for ''corregidor''; and , who were roughly the equivalent of British parish constables. Because of this, the municipal was often referred to as an .

Mayors by country

Australia

In Australian councils, the mayor is generally the member of the council who acts as a ceremonial figurehead at official functions, as well as carrying the authority of the council between meetings. Mayoral decisions made between meetings are subject to council and may be confirmed or repealed if necessary. Mayors in Australia may be elected either directly through a ballot for the position of mayor at a local-government election, or alternatively may be elected from within the council at a meeting. The civic regalia and insignia of local government have basically remained unaltered for centuries. For ceremonial occasions a mayor may wear robes, a mayoral chain and a mace. Mayors have the title of ' His/Her Worship' whilst holding the position. In councils where

councillors A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

are elected representing political parties, the mayor is normally the leader of the party receiving the most seats on council. In

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, the lord mayor and mayors are elected by popular vote at the general council election.

Bangladesh

Mayors in

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...

are elected every five years. They are very powerful in municipal government. The mayor is the highest-ranking official in municipal governments in Bangladesh.

Brazil

Every municipality in Brazil elects a mayor (Portuguese: ) and a vice-mayor (Portuguese: ) for a four-year term, acting as an executive officer with the city council (Portuguese: ) functioning with legislative powers. The mayor can be re-elected and manage the city for two consecutive terms. Mayoral elections in Brazil occur in two different ways: in municipalities with more than 200,000 inhabitants, the voting happens in a

two-round system The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resu ...

, like the presidential and

gubernatorial A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of politica ...

elections. In municipalities with less than 200,000 inhabitants, the voting happens in a relative majority system (with only one round). The Brazilian system works similarly to the mayor-council government in the United States.

Canada

The chief executives of

boroughs A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle A ...

(''

arrondissements An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements' ...

'') in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

are termed mayors ( in French). A borough mayor simultaneously serves as head of the borough council and as a regular councillor on the main city council. The scheduling of municipal elections in Canada varies by jurisdiction, as each province and territory has its own laws regarding municipal governance. As is the practice in most Commonwealth countries, in Canada a mayor is addressed as His/Her Worship while holding office.

Reeve

In a few

and

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, ...

s in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, the reeve is the elected head of the municipality, and the second-in-command is referred to as the deputy reeve. Historically, in some small townships, the title "reeve" was used instead of mayor. In some other municipalities, "mayor" and "reeve" were two separate offices, with the mayor retaining leadership powers while the reeve was equivalent to what other municipalities called an "

at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather than ...

councillor". Today most municipalities in the province now designate their elected municipal government heads as mayors, but a small handful retain the position. This continues to be the case in the following municipalities and

s: *

Dysart et al The United Townships of Dysart, Dudley, Harcourt, Guilford, Harburn, Bruton, Havelock, Eyre and Clyde, commonly known as the Municipality of Dysart et al, is a municipality in Haliburton County in Central Ontario, Canada. Shows the area of the mu ...

, Haliburton County *

Highlands East Highlands East is a township municipality located in Haliburton County, Ontario, Canada. History The township was incorporated in 2001 through the amalgamation of the former townships of Bancroft, Cardiff, Glamorgan, and Monmouth. Communities ...

, Haliburton County * Beckwith Township,

Lanark County Lanark County is a county located in the Canadian province of Ontario. Its county seat is Perth, which was first settled in 1816.Brown, Howard Morton, 1984. Lanark Legacy, Nineteenth Century Glimpses of on Ontario County. Corporation of the C ...

Lanark Highlands Lanark Highlands is a township in eastern Ontario, Canada in Lanark County. The township administrative offices are located in the village of Lanark. History The current township was incorporated on July 1, 1997 by amalgamating the former tow ...

* Drummond/North Elmsley Township,

* Tay Valley Township,

* Montague Township,

The reeve is also the chief elected official in most of

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...

's municipal districts. The elected heads of rural municipalities (RM) in the provinces of

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

and

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

are also referred to as a reeve.

Dominican Republic

The mayor of a municipality in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

is called indistinctly or . The latter name is preferred to avoid confusing the title with the similar-sounding (lit. '

prison warden The warden ( US, Canada) or governor ( UK, Australia), also known as a superintendent (US, South Asia) or director (UK, New Zealand), is the official who is in charge of a prison. Name In the United States and Canada, warden is the most common ...

'). Such a person is the governor of the municipality whose township elected him (or her) by

direct vote Direct election is a system of choosing political officeholders in which the voters directly cast ballots for the persons or political party that they desire to see elected. The method by which the winner or winners of a direct election are cho ...

for a term of four years. The daily duties of the mayor's office are restricted to local governance, and as such, it is responsible for the coordination of waste collection, upkeep of public spaces (parks, undeveloped urban parcels, streets, city ornate, traffic light control, sewage and most public utilities). In practice, most of its duties are centered on minor street repairs (new or large road projects, like overpasses, bridges, pedestrian crossings, etc. are handled by the Ministry of Public Works (), under the direct control of the central government. Subcontracting

garbage collection Waste collection is a part of the process of waste management. It is the transfer of solid waste from the point of use and disposal to the point of treatment or landfill. Waste collection also includes the curbside collection of recyclabl ...

and management, overseeing the use of public spaces and arbitrating neighborhood land use disputes which are managed by the National Property office () is also controlled by the mayor's office. Water, electrical supply and public transportation coordination are handled by several central government offices, and as such, are not under the control of the mayor.

France

Mayors () are elected for a six-year term by the municipal council, whose members are elected by direct universal suffrage in

local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct v ...

held every six years.

Germany

In Germany, local government is regulated by

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

statutes. Nowadays only the mayors of the three city-states (Berlin, Hamburg and

Bremen Bremen ( Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state cons ...

) are still elected by the respective city-state parliaments. In all the other states the mayors are now elected directly by the EU citizens living in that area. The post of mayor may be said to be a professional one, the mayor being the head of the local government, and requiring, in order to be eligible, training in administration. In big cities (details are regulated by state statutes) the official title is (mayor). In these cities, a "simple" mayor is just a deputy responsible for a distinct task (e.g., welfare or construction works). Big cities are usually '' kreisfrei'' ('district-free'). That means that the city council also has the powers and duties of a rural district council. The leader of a rural district council is called ('land counsellor'). In that case, the chief mayor also has the duties and powers of a . There are also some German states that allow smaller cities to have an ''Oberbürgermeister'' as well. In

Saarland The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, a ...

, for instance, every city with more than 35,000 inhabitants has one, and in

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making i ...

every city with a population bigger than 25,000 has one. The term is not used in the three city-states, where the mayors are simultaneously head of state governments, but (

Governing Mayor of Berlin The Governing Mayor (german: Regierender Bürgermeister) of Berlin is the head of government, presiding over the Berlin Senate. As Berlin is an independent city as well as one of the constituent States of Germany (''Bundesländer''), the office ...

), (

First Mayor of the city-state of Hamburg The following is a chronological list of mayors of Hamburg, a city-state in Germany. The mayors are the head of the city-state, part of the government of Hamburg. Since 1861, according to the Constitution of Hamburg, constitution of 28 September ...

) and ( President of the Senate and Mayor of Bremen) are used. However, the term was used for the head of the state government of

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

until 1951 and was also used in

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as West Berlin. From 13 August 1961 u ...

from 1948 to January 1991.

Greece

Mayors (, , sing. , '' dēmarchos'') in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

were previously elected every four years in

and are the head of various municipal governments in which the state is divided. Starting in 2014, mayors are elected for a five-year term. Local administration elections for the new, consolidated municipalities and peripheries will henceforth be held together with the

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...

for the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

. Local administration in Greece recently underwent extensive reform in two phases: the first phase, implemented in 1997 and commonly called the

Kapodistrias Plan Kapodistrias reform ( el, Σχέδιο Καποδίστριας, "Kapodistrias Plan") is the common name of law 2539 of Greece, which reorganised the country's administrative divisions. The law, named after 19th-century Greek statesman Ioannis Kapod ...

, consolidated the country's numerous municipalities and communities down to approximately 1000. The second phase, initially called Kapodistrias II but eventually called the

Kallikratis Plan The Kallikratis Programme ( el, Πρόγραμμα Καλλικράτης, Prógramma Kallikrátis) is the common name of Greek law 3852/2010 of 2010, a major administrative reform in Greece. It brought about the second major reform of the count ...

, was implemented in 2010, further consolidated municipalities down to 370, and merged the country's 54 prefectures, which were disbanded in favour of the larger 13 regions. The Kallikratian municipalities were designed according to several guidelines; for example, each island (except

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

) was incorporated into a single municipality, while the majority of small towns were consolidated so as to have an average municipal population of 25,000.

India

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, mayor is the first citizen of a city and the head of

Municipal Corporation A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including (but not necessarily limited to) cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. The term can also be used to describe municipally owne ...

which is a local government of cities with a population over 1 million. They have a number of roles, both ceremonial and functional. In most Indian states mayors are elected indirectly among the corporators (who are directly elected by the people of their respective

wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...

) of Municipal Corporation, except in nine states:

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (, ) is a landlocked state in Central India. It is the ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the seventeenth most populous. It borders seven states – Uttar Pradesh to the north, Madhya Prade ...

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . It ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India b ...

and

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

, where mayors are elected directly by the public.

Indonesia

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, mayor ( id, wali kota, formerly called and ) is a regional head of a city or town. A mayor has the same level as a

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

(''bupati''), head of a regency (''kabupaten''). Basically, a mayor has the duty and authority to lead the implementation of the policies established by the region along with the city council (''Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Daerah Kota'', DPRD Kota; formerly called Tier 2-DPRD (''DPRD Tingkat II'')). A mayor is elected in a pair with a vice mayor through direct elections and is a political office. An exception is

Special Capital Region of Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

, where mayoralty is a civil-service career position with limited authority and is designated by the governor. Their regions are called administration cities (''kota administrasi''). Before 1999, there were administrative cities (''kota administratif'', d which were headed by administrative mayors.

Iran

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, the mayor is the executive manager of a city and is elected by the Islamic City Council. The mayor is elected for a four-year term.

Ireland

In the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

, the head of a borough corporation was called "mayor" from the

Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840 The Municipal Corporations Act (Ireland) 1840 (3 & 4 Vict. c. 108), ''An Act for the Regulation of Municipal Corporations in Ireland'', was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom on 10 August 1840. It was one of the Municipal Corporati ...

until boroughs were abolished by the

Local Government Reform Act 2014 The Local Government Reform Act 2014 (No. 1) is an act of the Oireachtas which provided for a major restructuring of local government in Ireland with effect from the 2014 local elections. It merged some first-tier county and city councils, ...

. The

Local Government Act 2001 The Local Government Act 2001 (No. 37) was enacted by the Oireachtas on 21 July 2001 to reform local government in the Republic of Ireland. Most of the provisions of the Act came into operation on 1 January 2002. The act was a restatement and a ...

allowed

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

councils to style their chairperson as "mayor" and some do so.

City A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

council chairs are "mayor" (or "lord mayor" in the cases of Dublin and of Cork). Since 2000 there have been proposals for a directly elected mayor of the

Dublin Metropolitan Area The Greater Dublin Area (GDA; Irish language, Irish: ''Mórcheantar Bhaile Átha Cliath''), or simply Greater Dublin, is an informal term that is taken to include the city of Dublin and its hinterland, with varying definitions as to its extent. A ...

Italy

In Italy, the mayor is called , or informally ('first citizen'). Every municipality ( it, comune) has a mayor who represents the local government. The mayor is elected every five years by the inhabitants of the municipality; the mayor cannot serve for more than two consecutive terms, except in municipalities of up to 3,000 inhabitants, those not having any term limit.

Japan

Japan's Local-Autonomy Law of 1947 defines the structure of Japanese local governments, which were strengthened after World War II. It gives strong executive power to the mayor in local politics like strong mayors in large cities in the United States of America. The titles that are translated as ''mayor'' by the governments are those of the heads of

cities A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

towns A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

villages A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

, and Tokyo's

special wards are a special form of municipalities in Japan under the 1947 Local Autonomy Law. They are city-level wards: primary subdivisions of a prefecture with municipal autonomy largely comparable to other forms of municipalities. Although the autono ...

(The head of the

Tokyo prefecture Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

is the ). A mayor is elected every four years by direct popular votes held separately from the assembly. A mayor can be recalled by a popular initiative but the

prefectural A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...

and the national governments cannot remove a mayor from office. Towards the assembly the mayor prepares budgets, proposes local

acts The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its message ...

and may veto local acts approved by the assembly which can be overridden by two-thirds assembly support. A mayor can dissolve the assembly if the assembly passes a

motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

or if the mayor thinks the assembly has no confidence in fact.

Kazakhstan

In Kazakhstan, the mayor is called ''

akim An ''akim'' ( kk, әкім, әкімдер / ''äkimder''; ky, аким; russian: аким) is the head of a local government in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. ''Akim'', meaning "God will establish", is derived from the Arabic word '' hakim'', whi ...

'', who is the head of an , a municipal, district, or provincial government (), and serves as the presidential representative. ''s'' of provinces and cities are appointed to the post by the president on the advice of the prime minister. Meanwhile, the ''s'' of other administrative and territorial units are appointed or elected to the post in an order defined by the president. The president may also dismiss ''s'' from their posts. The ' powers end upon the newly elected president of the republic taking office. Thus, the continue to fulfill their duties before the appointment of the corresponding by the President of Kazakhstan.

Malaysia

The mayor functions as the head of the local government of the cities in Malaysia. To date, there are 14 officially-recognised cities in the country. In cities which lie within the jurisdiction of any one of the 13 Malaysian states, the mayor is appointed by the state government.

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

, the country's capital, is a notable exception, as it forms part of the

Federal Territories A federal territory is an administrative division under the direct and usually exclusive jurisdiction of a federation's national government. A federal territory is a part of a federation, but not a part of any federated state. The states constit ...

which come under the purview of the Malaysian federal government, via the Ministry of Federal Territories. Thus, the mayor of Kuala Lumpur is selected by, and subordinate to, the Minister of Federal Territories. Following the 2018 general election, which saw the country undergoing its first ever regime change, there have been calls to revive local government elections, which had been the practice in certain cities such as Kuala Lumpur, George Town,

Ipoh , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Ipoh in Perak , pushpin_map = #Malaysia#Asia#Earth , pushpin_mapsize = 275px , pushpin_map_caption = Ipoh in Malaysia , coordinates ...

and

Melaka Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has bee ...

until their abolishment in 1965. The reinstatement of local government elections would lead to the mayoral position being elected, instead of being appointed as per the current system.

Malta

In Malta, the mayor ( Maltese: ) is the leader of the majority party in the local council. The members of the local councils are directly elected and collectively serve as a basic form of local government.

Moldova

The mayor of the municipality in Moldova is elected for four years. In

Chișinău Chișinău ( , , ), also known as Kishinev (russian: Кишинёв, r=Kishinjóv ), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Republic of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial center, and is located in the ...

, the last mayoral elections had to be repeated three times because of the low rate of participation.

Netherlands

In the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, the mayor (in nl, burgemeester) is the leader of the college of mayor and aldermen (''

College van Burgemeester en Wethouders In the Netherlands, the municipal executive (, ) is the executive board of a municipality. It plays a central role in municipal politics in the Netherlands, similar to the communal college in Belgium. It consists of the mayor and the members of t ...

''), the municipal executive. In the Netherlands, ''s'' are ''de facto'' appointed by the national

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

, ''de jure'' by the

monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority ...

. Appointment is generally preceded by a selection procedure and nomination by the municipal council and king's commissioner (head of the provincial executive), and a nomination is only very rarely not followed by an appointment. Mayors preside over both the municipal executive and the legislative (''

gemeenteraad In the Netherlands, the municipal council (Dutch: ''gemeenteraad'') is the elected assembly of the municipality. Its main role is laying down the guidelines for the policy of the municipal executive and exercising control over its execution by th ...

''), although they can vote in the former and not in the latter. The title is sometimes translated as

, to emphasise the appointed, rather than elected, nature of the office. The appointment procedure was brought for discussion in the early 2000s (decade), as some of the political parties represented in parliament regarded the procedure as undemocratic. Generally, mayors in the Netherlands are selected from the established political parties, although since the late 2010s mayors without political affiliation have become more common. Alternatives proposed were direct election of the mayor by the people or official appointment by the municipal council (). A constitutional change to allow for this failed to pass the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

in March 2005, but succeeded in 2018.

Nepal

Mayors in Nepal are elected every five years in the

. They are very powerful in municipal government. The mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government in Nepal.

New Zealand

Mayors in New Zealand are elected every three years in the local body elections.

Pakistan

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, a city is headed by the

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

nazim Subahdar, also known as Nazim or in English as a "Subah", was one of the designations of a governor of a Subah (province) during the Khalji dynasty of Bengal, Mamluk dynasty (Delhi), Khalji dynasty, Tughlaq dynasty, Mughal era ( of India who w ...

'' (the word means 'administrator' in Urdu, but is sometimes translated as 'mayor') and assisted by the ''naib nazim'', who is also speaker of the district council. The district is elected by the of union councils, union councillors and by

tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

, who themselves are elected directly by the votes of the local public. Council elections are held every four years.

Philippines

In the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, mayors ( tl, Punong Bayan/Punong Lungsod) are the head of a municipality or a city, with the vice mayor as the second-highest position in the city. They are elected every three years during the midterm and national elections, and they can serve up to three consecutive terms of office. , there are 1,635 mayors in the Philippines.

Poland

As of 30 April 2022, there are altogether 2477 municipalities (

gmina The gmina (Polish: , plural ''gminy'' , from German ''Gemeinde'' meaning ''commune'') is the principal unit of the administrative division of Poland, similar to a municipality. , there were 2,477 gminas throughout the country, encompassing over 4 ...

) in Poland, including 1513 rural gminas, while the remaining 968 ones contain cities and towns. Among them, 666 towns are part of an urban-rural gmina while 302 cities and towns are standalone as an urban gmina. The latter group includes 107 cities (governed by a ''prezydent miasta''), including 66

cities with powiat rights A city with powiat rights ( pl, miasto na prawach powiatu) is in Poland a designation denoting 66 of the 107 cities (the urban gminas which are governed by a city mayor or ''prezydent miasta'') which exercise also the powers and duties of a county ...

. 37 cities among the latter group are over 100,000, including 18 cities serving as a seat for

voivode Voivode (, also spelled ''voievod'', ''voevod'', ''voivoda'', ''vojvoda'' or ''wojewoda'') is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe since the Early Middle Ages. It primarily referred to the me ...

voivodeship sejmik A voivodeship sejmik ( pl, sejmik województwa), also known as a provincial or regional assembly, is the regional-level elected legislature for each of the sixteen voivodeships of Poland.#Machnikowski, Machnikowski et al., p. 21 Sejmiks are electe ...

, informally called voivodeship cities. All municipalities in Poland including cities and towns are governed under the mandatory

mayor–council government The mayor–council government system is a system of local government that has a mayor who is directly elected by the voters serve as chief executive, and a separately elected legislative city council. It is one of the two most common forms of loc ...

system. Executive power is vested in an official called one of the following: * a city mayor (''prezydent miasta'') * a town mayor (''burmistrz'') * a ''

wójt Wójt is a Polish senior civil administrative officer and the highest representative of the government of a ''rural gmina'', i.e., of a commune (''gmina'') comprising only villages. (Heads of towns and cities are called "burgomaster" (Polish: ''bur ...

'' which is the equivalent office in a rural municipality ('' gmina wiejska'') They are elected by a two-round

direct election Direct election is a system of choosing political officeholders in which the voters directly cast ballots for the persons or political party that they desire to see elected. The method by which the winner or winners of a direct election are cho ...

for a five-year term concurrently with the five-year term of the

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...

and cannot serve in the latter or in any higher-level deliberative bodies: a

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...

, a

, the

Parliament of Poland The parliament of Poland is the bicameral legislature of Poland. It is composed of an upper house (the Senate) and a lower house (the Sejm). Both houses are accommodated in the ''Sejm'' complex in Warsaw. The Constitution of Poland does not ref ...

or the

. Citizens with a criminal record cannot run for mayor, but only if sentenced for intentional criminal offence prosecuted

ex officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by right ...

. The municipal/town/city council is the legislative, budget-making and oversight body. City mayors or town mayors may appoint a deputy mayor if needed. A town or city mayor may be scrutinized or denied funding for his/her projects by the council, but is not politically responsible to it and does not require its confidence to remain in office; therefore,

cohabitation Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not married, usually couples, live together. They are often involved in a romantic or sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. Such arrangements have become increas ...

is not uncommon. A

recall referendum A recall election (also called a recall referendum, recall petition or representative recall) is a procedure by which, in certain polities, voters can remove an elected official from office through a referendum before that official's term of off ...

may however be triggered through a petition supported by at least 1/10 of eligible voters, but the turnout in the recall referendum must be at least 3/5 of the number of people voting in the original election in order for the referendum to be valid and binding. A town/city mayor can also be dismissed by the

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

in case of persistent transgression of the law. Town/city mayors manage the municipal estate, issue administrative decisions and minor regulations, and incur liabilities within limits set by the municipal council. They prepare and present the planned budget to the municipal council, subject to its acceptation and amendments. After the municipal council votes to accept the budget, the town/city mayor is responsible for its realization. Town/city mayors are heads of the town/city hall (office), the

register office A register office or The General Register Office, much more commonly but erroneously registry office (except in official use), is a British government office where births, deaths, marriages, civil partnership, stillbirths and adoptions in England, ...

(the town/city mayor may appoint deputies for these specific tasks), as well as the parent authority for all public

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

s and

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

s in the municipality. They are also personally responsible for the

emergency management Emergency management or disaster management is the managerial function charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. Emergency management, despite its name, does not actuall ...

and

civil defense Civil defense ( en, region=gb, civil defence) or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state (generally non-combatants) from man-made and natural disasters. It uses the principles of emergency operations: prevention, miti ...

in a municipality. A municipality itself is responsible among others for

public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

water supply Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Thes ...

and treatment, and

waste management Waste management or waste disposal includes the processes and actions required to manage waste from its inception to its final disposal. This includes the collection, transport, treatment and disposal of waste, together with monitoring ...

. A town/city mayor has the legal capacity to act as employer for all the officials of a town/city hall. Town/city mayors in Poland have wide administrative and staffing authority: the only municipal executive official that the town/city mayor cannot appoint or dismiss is a

city treasurer The municipal treasurer is a position of responsibility for a municipality according to the locally prevailing laws. The treasurer of a public agency is elected mayor-council government.In a

city with powiat rights A city with powiat rights ( pl, miasto na prawach powiatu) is in Poland a designation denoting 66 of the 107 cities (the urban gminas which are governed by a city mayor or ''prezydent miasta'') which exercise also the powers and duties of a Powiat, ...

, the city mayor also has the powers and duties of a powiat executive board and a

starosta The starosta or starost (Cyrillic: ''старост/а'', Latin: ''capitaneus'', german: link=no, Starost, Hauptmann) is a term of Slavic origin denoting a community elder whose role was to administer the assets of a clan or family estates. Th ...

. In addition, an office of quarter mayor (''burmistrz dzielnicy'') exists in the auxiliary units of the city of Warsaw, called quarters. In spite of remaining an integral part of the city as an entity, the quarters have a degree of autonomy legally guaranteed through a form of an own local self-government exercising some powers devolved by law from the city. Each of the 18 city quarters has an own council (''rada dzielnicy'') which elects an executive board (''zarząd dzielnicy'') headed by a quarter mayor (''burmistrz dzielnicy''), the latter elected by the council among several candidates nominated by the city mayor of Warsaw among the council's members, as opposed to a town or a city mayor, both elected under direct suffrage.

Portugal

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and many other Portuguese-speaking countries the mayor of a municipality is called the ('

President of the Municipal Chamber President of the Municipal Chamber ( pt, Presidente da Câmara Municipal) is the title of the mayor in Portugal and other Portuguese-speaking countries. In Brazil, the same title refers to the speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * ...

').

Romania

In Romania, the mayor of a commune, town or city is called . The is elected for a period of four years. In carrying out their responsibilities they are assisted by an elected local council (). Bucharest has a general mayor () and six sector mayors (), one for each Sectors of Bucharest, sector. The responsibilities of the mayor and of the local council are defined by Law 215/2001 of the Romanian Parliament.

Russia

In Russia, the , from French (transliteration: – not to be confused with the NATO OF-3 rank – English: ''major''), is one of the possible titles of the head of the administration of a city or municipality. This title is equivalent to that of the head of a Russian rural district. Exceptionally, the of Moscow, Saint-Petersburg and Sevastopol are equivalent to governors in Russia, since these three federal cities are Russian federal subjects. Except for the aforementioned three large cities, the governance system of a Russian municipality (city, county, district or town) is subordinate to the representative council of the federation in which it is located. The is either directly elected in municipal elections (citywide referendum) or is elected by the members of the municipality's representative council. Election by council members is now more widespread because it better integrates with the Russian federal three-level vertical governance structure: # National government: ## President (executive) ## Federal Assembly (Russia), Federal Assembly # Federation governments: ## Heads of federation (commonly governors) ## Regional representative councils # Local governments: ## Heads of administration (who have the official title of , whether or not local law defines it as such) ## Local representative councils The typical term of office of a in Russia is four years. The '''s'' office administers all municipal services, public property, police and fire protection, and most public agencies, and enforces all local and state laws within a city or town. According to Medialogy, the of Novosibirsk, Anatoly Lokot', is mentioned in the media more than any other Russian mayor. The of Kazan, Il'sur Metshin, is the most popular in Russia, scoring 76 out of 100, according to the Russian People's Rating of ''s''. The status of the post in Sevastopol is not legally recognized outside of the Russian Federation.

Serbia

In Serbia, the mayor is the head of the city or a town. The mayor acts on behalf of the city, and performs an executive function. The position of the mayor of Belgrade is important as the capital city is the most important hub of economics, culture and science in Serbia. Furthermore, the post of the mayor of Belgrade is the third most important position in the government after the Prime Minister of Serbia, prime minister and President of Serbia, president.

Spain and Hispanic America

'' is the most common Spanish term for the mayor of a town or city. It is derived from the ar, Qadi, al-qaḍi, script=Latn (), i.e., 'the (Sharia) judge', who often had administrative, as well as judicial, functions. Although the Crown of Castile, Castilian and the Al-Andalus, Andalusian had slightly different attributes (the oversaw an entire province, the only a municipality; the former was appointed by the ruler of the state but the latter was elected by the Cabildo (council), municipal council), the adoption of this term reflects how much Muslim society in the Iberian Peninsula influenced the Christian one in the early phases of the ''

''. As Spanish Christians took over an increasing part of the Peninsula, they adapted the Muslim systems and terminology for their own use. Today, it refers to the executive head of a municipal or local government, who usually does not have judicial functions. The word ''Intendant, intendente'' is used in Argentina and Paraguay for the office that is analogous to a mayor. In municipio, ''municipios'' and larger cities in Mexico, the chief executive is known as both or as ('municipal president'), with the latter being more widely used.

Sweden

The Swedish title (

) was abolished in the court reform of 1971 when also the stad (Sweden), towns of Sweden were officially abolished.

Switzerland

The function and title for mayor vary from one canton to another. Generally, the mayor presides over an executive council of several members governing a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality. The title is: * In Italian: (Ticino), (Grigioni) * In French: (Canton of Geneva, Geneva, Canton of Jura, Jura, Canton of Bern, Bern), (Vaud, Canton of Fribourg, Fribourg), (Valais), (Canton of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel) * In German: e.g. , , ,

Taiwan

In the Republic of China in Taiwan the mayor is the head of the city's government and its city's council, which is in charge of legislative affairs. The mayor and city council are elected separately by the city's residents.

Turkey

Mayors (Turkish language, Turkish: ) in Turkey are elected by popular vote for five years alongside the municipal council. As a rule, there are municipalities in all province centers and district centers as well as towns ( tr, belde) which are actually villages with a population in excess of 2000. However, beginning by 1983, a new level of municipality was introduced in the Turkish administrative system. In big cities, metropolitan municipalities ( tr, Büyükşehir belediyesi) are established. (See metropolitan municipalities in Turkey) In a metropolitan municipality there may be several district municipalities (hence mayors). Mayors are elected in Elections in Turkey, local elections.

Ukraine

In Ukraine the title "head of the city" (; unofficially the foreign adaptation also is present) was introduced in 1999. Since then, the post is elected by all residents of the city. Before that date, the post was elected by members of the city council only and was known as head of the city council, which ''ex officio'' also serves as the head of the executive committee. For the cities that carry special status such as Kyiv and Sevastopol, the head of the city was a matter of long debate and the post is regulated by special laws. Since 2015 a post of ('elder') has been implemented at the lower level of the administrative-territorial pyramid. Candidates to the post are also elected by members of the territorial community (). The post is historical and existed in the territory of Ukraine during the times of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

United States

The mayor is the municipal head of government, the maximum civil authority at the municipal level, in most United States municipalities (such as cities, townships, etc.). In the Mayoralty in the United States, United States, there are several distinct types of mayors, depending on whether the system of local government is council-manager government or mayor-council government. Under the council-manager government system, the mayor is a first among equals on the city council, which acts as a legislative body while executive functions are performed by the appointed manager. The mayor may chair the city council, but lacks any special legislative powers. The mayor and city council serve part-time, with day-to-day administration in the hands of a professional city manager. The system is most common among medium-sized cities from around 25,000 to several hundred thousand, usually rural and suburban municipalities. Under the mayor-council system, the mayoralty and city council are separate offices. This system may be of two types, either a strong mayor system or a weak mayor system. Under the ''strong mayor'' system, the mayor acts as an elected executive with the city council exercising legislative powers. They may select a chief administrative officer to oversee the different departments. This is the system used in most of the United States' large cities, primarily because mayors serve full-time and have a wide range of services that they oversee. In a ''weak mayor'' or ''ceremonial mayor'' system, the mayor has appointing power for department heads but is subject to checks by the city council, sharing both executive and legislative duties with the council. This is common for smaller cities, especially in New England. Charlotte, North Carolina, and Minneapolis, Minnesota, are two notable large cities with a ceremonial mayor. Many American mayors are styled "His Honor" or "Her Honor" while in office.

Multi-tier local government

In several countries, where there is no local autonomy, mayors are often appointed by some branch of the national or regional government. In some cities, subdivisions such as

s may have their own mayors; this is the case, for example, with the arrondissements of Paris, Montreal, and Mexico City. In Belgium, Brussels is administratively one of the federation's three regions, and is subdivided, without the other regions' provincial level, into 19 rather small municipalities, with one, the City of Brussels, being the kingdom's capital, which each have an elected—formally appointed—burgomaster (i.e., mayor, responsible to his/her elected council); while Antwerp, the other major metropolitan area, has one large city (where the boroughs, former municipalities merged into it, elect a lower level, albeit with very limited competence) and several smaller surrounding municipalities, each under a normal burgomaster as in Brussels. In the People's Republic of China, the mayor () may be the administrative head of any municipality, provincial, prefecture-level, or county-level. The mayor is usually the most recognized official in cities, although the position is the second-highest-ranking official in charge after the local Communist Party secretary. In principle, the mayor (who also serves as the deputy Communist Party secretary of the city) is responsible for managing the city administration while the Communist Party secretary is responsible for general policy and managing the party bureaucracy, but in practice the roles blur, frequently causing conflict.

Acting mayor

Acting mayor is a temporary office created by the charter of some municipal governments. In many cities and towns, the charter or some similar fundamental document provides that in the event of the death, illness, resignation, or removal from office of the incumbent mayor, another official will lead the municipality for a temporary period, which, depending on the jurisdiction, may be for a stated period of days or months until a special election can be held, or until the original end of the term to which the vacating mayor was elected. Some cities may also provide for a deputy mayor to be temporarily designated as "acting mayor" in the event that the incumbent mayor is temporarily unavailable, such as for health reasons or out-of-town travel, but still continues to hold the position and is expected to return to the duties of the office. In this latter capacity, the acting mayor's role is to ensure that city government business can continue in the regular mayor's absence, and the acting mayor is not deemed to have actually held the office of mayor. In some jurisdictions, however, when a mayor resigns or dies in office, the mayor's successor is not considered to be an acting mayor but rather fully mayor in their own right. The position of acting mayor is usually of considerably more importance in a mayor-council form of municipal government, where the mayor performs functions of day-to-day leadership, than it is in a council-manager form of government, where the city manager provides day-to-day leadership and the position of mayor is either a largely or entirely ceremonial one.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * A. Shaw, ''Municipal Government in Continental Europe'' * J – A. Fairlie, ''Municipal Administration'' * S. and B. Webb, ''English Local Government'' * Redlich and Hirst, ''Local Government in England'' * A. L. Lowell, ''The Government of England''.

External links

Comparative database of European mayors
{{Authority control Mayors, Government occupations Local government in the United States Management occupations Positions of authority Titles Heads of local government

History

United Kingdom

Directly elected mayors

Continental Europe

Scandinavia

Spain

Mayors by country

Australia

Bangladesh

Brazil

Canada

Reeve

Dominican Republic

France

Germany

Greece

India

Indonesia

Iran

Ireland

Italy

Japan

Kazakhstan

Malaysia

Malta

Moldova

Netherlands

Nepal

New Zealand

Pakistan

Philippines

Poland

Portugal

Romania

Russia

Serbia

Spain and Hispanic America

Sweden

Switzerland

Taiwan

Turkey

Ukraine

United States

Multi-tier local government

Acting mayor

See also

References

External links