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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 governing body of a given municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a
special-purpose district.
The term is derived from
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
and
Latin . The
English word ''municipality'' derives from the Latin
social contract
In moral and political philosophy
Political philosophy or political theory is the philosophical study of government, addressing questions about the nature, scope, and legitimacy of public agents and institutions and the relationships betw ...
(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
West Hampton Dunes is an incorporated village in the Town of Southampton on Westhampton Island, in Suffolk County, in New York, United States, off the South Shore of Long Island. The population was 55 at the 2010 census.
History
West Hampt ...
.
The territory over which a municipality has jurisdiction may encompass
* only one
populated place
Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...
such as 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 ...
,
town, or
village
* several 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.
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 some European countries, such as Germany, municipalities have the constitutional right to
supply public services through municipally-owned
public utility companies.
Terms in various countries
Municipality
Terms cognate with "municipality", mostly referring to territory or political structure, are Spanish ' (Spain) and ' (Chile), Catalan ', Portuguese .
* In
Brazil, municipalities are the local governments, established through state legislations. They are the smallest territorial divisions holding administrative and legislative powers in the following decrescent order:
Federation/Union >
State > Municipality. Colloquially, the local population uses the terms ''municipality'' and ''city'' interchangeably.
Communes
In many countries, terms cognate with "commune" are used, referring to the community living in the area and the common interest. These include terms:
* in Romance languages, such as French ' (
France, French-speaking areas of Belgium and Switzerland, French-speaking countries of Africa, e.g.
Benin), Italian ', Romanian ', and Spanish ' (
Chile);
* in Germanic languages such as German ' (in political parlance), Swedish ', Faroese ', Norwegian, Danish ';
* the more remote cognates ' in Dutch, ' in Luxembourgish and in German (the official term);
* Finnish '.
* Ukrainian '.
* and Polish '.
The same terms may be used for church congregations or parishes, for example, in the German and Dutch Protestant churches.
Other terms
In Greece, the word () is used, also meaning 'community'; the word is known in English from the compound ''democracy'' (rule of the people).
In some countries, the Spanish term ', referring to a municipality's administration building, is extended via
synecdoche
Synecdoche ( ) is a type of metonymy: it is a figure of speech in which a term for a part of something is used to refer to the whole (''pars pro toto''), or vice versa (''totum pro parte''). The term comes from Greek .
Examples in common Engl ...
to denote the municipality itself. In
Moldova and
Romania, both ''municipalities'' (''
municipiu''; urban administrative units) and ''communes'' (; rural units) exist, and a commune may be part of a municipality.
In many countries, comparable entities may exist with various names.
English-speaking
*In
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, the term
local government area
A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...
(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."
*In
Canada, municipalities are local governments established through provincial and territorial legislation, usually within general municipal statutes.
Types of
municipalities within Canada include
cities,
district municipalities,
municipal districts, municipalities,
parishes
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...
,
rural municipalities,
towns,
townships,
villages, and
villes among others.
The province of
Ontario has different tiers of municipalities, including lower, upper, and single tiers.
Types of upper tier municipalities in Ontario include counties and regional municipalities.
Nova Scotia also has regional municipalities, which include cities, counties, districts, or towns as municipal units.
*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 municipalities 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. Municipalities 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
Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...
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". 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
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...
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
San Fernando may refer to:
People
*Ferdinand III of Castile (c. 1200–1252), called ''San Fernando'' (Spanish) or ''Saint Ferdinand'', King of Castile, León, and Galicia
Places Argentina
*San Fernando de la Buena Vista, city of Greater Buenos ...
,
Port of Spain
Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ...
,
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. 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
(see also:
Local government in the United States#Municipal governments).
Chinese-speaking
*In the
People's Republic of China, a
direct-administered municipality (直辖市 in
pinyin: zhíxiáshì) is a municipality with equal status to a
province:
Beijing Municipality
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
,
Chongqing Municipality,
Shanghai Municipality
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
, and
Tianjin Municipality (see also:
Direct-administered municipalities of China
A direct-administrated municipality (), commonly known as municipality, is the highest level of classification for cities used by the People's Republic of China. These cities have the same rank as provinces and form part of the first tier of ad ...
).
*In the
Republic of China (Taiwan), a
special municipality Special municipality may refer to:
* Special municipality (Netherlands)
There are twelve provinces of the Netherlands (), representing the administrative layer between the national government and the local municipalities, with responsibility fo ...
(直轄市 in
pinyin: zhíxiáshì) is a municipality with equal status to a province:
Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsi ...
,
New Taipei,
Taichung,
Tainan,
Taipei, and
Taoyuan (see also:
Special municipality (Taiwan)
Special municipality, historically known as Yuan-controlled municipality is a first-level administrative division unit in the Republic of China (Taiwan). Under the administrative structure of Taiwan, it is the highest level of division in Taiwan ...
).
Municipalities by country
*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, where ''município'' refers to the territorial boundaries and ''prefeitura'' is its administrative organ.
See also
*
Council of European Municipalities and Regions
*
Council–manager government
*
Creature of statute
*
Lists of municipalities
Africa
*Algeria
**Municipalities of Algeria
*Angola
**Municipalities of Angola
*Benin
**Communes of Benin
*Burundi
**Communes of Burundi
*Cape Verde
**Municipalities of Cape Verde
*Cameroon
** List of municipalities in Cameroon
*Djibouti
**Distr ...
*
Mayor–council government
*
Municipal corporation
*
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 go ...
* ''
''
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Types of administrative division
Municipality
Types of populated places