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A ward is a
local authority Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...
area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after
neighbourhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural are ...
s,
thoroughfare A thoroughfare is a primary passage or way as a transit route through regularly trafficked areas, whether by road on dry land or, by extension, via watercraft or aircraft. On land, a thoroughfare may refer to anything from a multi-lane highway ...
s,
parish 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 ...
es,
landmark A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible from long distances. In modern use, the term can also be applied to smaller structures or f ...
s, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to the area (e.g. William Morris Ward in the
London Borough of Waltham Forest The London Borough of Waltham Forest () is a London borough in north-east London, England. Its population is estimated to be 276,983 in 2019. It borders five other London boroughs: Enfield to the north-west, Haringey to the west, Hackney to th ...
, England). It is common in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
for wards to simply be numbered.


Origins

The word “ward”, for an electoral subdivision, appears to have originated in the
Wards of the City of London The City of London (also known simply as "the City") is divided into 25 wards. The city is the historic core of the much wider metropolis of Greater London, with an ancient and ''sui generis'' form of local government, which avoided the many l ...
, where gatherings for each ward known as “wardmotes” have taken place since the 12th century. The word was much later applied to divisions of other cities and towns in
England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...
and
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. In parts of northern
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 b ...
, a ''ward'' was an administrative subdivision of a
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 ...
, very similar to a
hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...
in other parts of England.


Present day

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 ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
,
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
,
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
,
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, 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 North ...
, and the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, wards are an
electoral district An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...
, within a district or
municipality 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 ...
, used in
local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...
elections. In the United States, wards are usually subdivided into precincts for
polling Poll, polled, or polling may refer to: Figurative head counts * Poll, a formal election ** Election verification exit poll, a survey taken to verify election counts ** Polling, voting to make decisions or determine opinions ** Polling places o ...
purposes. In some cities of
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 ...
, such as
Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
and
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
, a
ward 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 pris ...
is an administrative unit of the city region; a city area is divided into Zones, which in turn contain numerous wards. The smallest administrative unit of
Gram Panchayats Gram Panchayat () is a basic village-governing institute in Indian villages. It is a democratic structure at the grass-roots level in India. It is a political institute, acting as cabinet of the village. The Gram Sabha work as the general bod ...
in India is also known as a ward. 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 mos ...
wards are subdivisions of a city or town which administrates under City Corporations and
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 go ...
(''pourashova'') In East Africa, the word ward used in English is translated into Swahili/Kiswahili as Kata. In the case of a municipal
amalgamation Amalgamation is the process of combining or uniting multiple entities into one form. Amalgamation, amalgam, and other derivatives may refer to: Mathematics and science * Amalgam (chemistry), the combination of mercury with another metal **Pan am ...
, the former cities and towns that make up the new metropolis may be referred to as wards.


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 ...
, urban divisions were called ''wards'' and rural ones were called ''district electoral divisions''. Both were renamed as '' electoral divisions'' in 1996. The electoral districts for Irish local authorities are
local electoral area A local electoral area (LEA; ga, Toghlimistéir Áitiúil) is an electoral area for elections to local authorities in Ireland. All elections use the single transferable vote. The Republic of Ireland is divided into 166 LEAs, with an average po ...
s. These are generally defined as combinations of electoral divisions, and in urban areas were formally described as combination of wards.


Similar concepts in other languages

In
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, a ''ku'' (or 区 in
Japanese writing The modern Japanese writing system uses a combination of logographic kanji, which are adopted Chinese characters, and syllabic kana. Kana itself consists of a pair of syllabaries: hiragana, used primarily for native or naturalised Japanese wor ...
) is an administrative unit of one of the larger cities, closely equivalent to the divisions or wards of a London Borough or a New York Borough. In
Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
, a ''phường'' is an administrative subunit of an inner city district, or ''quận''.
Wards and electoral divisions of Nepal A Ward ( ne, वडा) is a smallest unit of Local government in Nepal. The local level body (Gaunpalika and Municipality) which is divided into 753 units, are further divided into 6,743 Wards. These wards were previously either a single VDC or a ...
are political divisions which are grouped into
Gaunpalika A gaunpalika ( ne, गाउँपालिका, lit=rural municipality, translit=Gāum̐pālikā ) is an administrative division in Nepal. The Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development dissolved the existing village development committ ...
(
Rural 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 council ...
) and
Municipality 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 ...
. A rural municipality or municipality has minimum of five and maximum of 33 divisions.


See also

* Wards of Canada **
Wards of the City of Ottawa In the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, a ward is an electoral district within a municipality used in local politics. Wards are named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denomina ...
** Wards of Lake Country municipality *
Wards of Japan A is a subdivision of the cities of Japan that are large enough to have been City designated by government ordinance, designated by government ordinance.Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom The wards and electoral divisions in the United Kingdom are electoral districts at sub-national level, represented by one or more councillors. The ward is the primary unit of English electoral geography for civil parishes and borough and distr ...
**
Wards of the City of London The City of London (also known simply as "the City") is divided into 25 wards. The city is the historic core of the much wider metropolis of Greater London, with an ancient and ''sui generis'' form of local government, which avoided the many l ...
*
Wards of Tanzania The administrative divisions of Tanzania are controlled by Part I, Article 2.2 of the Constitution of Tanzania.Article 2.2 provides: ''For the purpose of the efficient discharge of the functions of the Government of the United Republic or of the ...
*
Ward (United States) In the United States, a ward is an optional division of a city or town for administrative and representative purposes, especially for purposes of an election. Depending upon the state and local laws, the term ''ward'' can mean any of: * an electo ...
** For more controversial/negative practices often associated with ''ward politics'', also see
political machine In the politics of Representative democracy, representative democracies, a political machine is a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives (such as money or political jobs) and that is characterized by a hig ...
. *
Wards of Zimbabwe The Districts of Zimbabwe are divided into 1,200 municipal wards. The wards are listed below, by district: Kenilworth is under Bubi district There is a high school Mangubeni high Where Pretty Ndlovu the last daughter of war veteran Mack Mackie ...


References

{{Terms for types of country subdivisions Types of administrative division no:Bydel