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[edit]
The word borough derives from common Proto-Germanic "*burgz", meaning
"fort": compare with bury, burgh and brough (England), burgh
(Scotland), Burg (Germany), borg (Scandinavia), burcht, burg (Dutch),
boarch (West Frisian), and the Germanic borrowing present in
neighbouring
Indo-European languages
Indo-European languages such as borgo (Italian), bourg
(French), burgo (Spanish and Portuguese), burg (Romanian), purg
(Kajkavian) and durg (दर्ग) (Hindi) and arg (ارگ)
(Persian). The incidence of these words as suffixes to place names
(for example, Aldeburgh, Bamburgh, Tilbury, Tilburg, Strasbourg
(
Strossburi
Strossburi in the local dialect), Luxembourg, Edinburgh,
Grundisburgh, Hamburg, Gothenburg) usually indicates that they were
once fortified settlements.
In the Middle Ages, boroughs were settlements in England that were
granted some self-government; burghs were the Scottish equivalent. In
medieval England, boroughs were also entitled to elect members of
parliament. The use of the word borough probably derives from the
burghal system of Alfred the Great. Alfred set up a system of
defensive strong points (Burhs); in order to maintain these particular
settlements, he granted them a degree of autonomy. After the Norman
Conquest, when certain towns were granted self-governance, the concept
of the burh/borough seems to have been reused to mean a self-governing
settlement.
The concept of the borough has been used repeatedly (and often
differently) throughout the world. Often, a borough is a single town
with its own local government. However, in some cities it is a
subdivision of the city (for example, New York City, London, and
Montreal). In such cases, the borough will normally have either
limited powers delegated to it by the city's local government, or no
powers at all. In other places, such as the
U.S. state
U.S. state of Alaska,
borough designates a whole region; Alaska's largest borough, the North
Slope Borough, is comparable in area to the entire United Kingdom,
although its population is less than that of
Swanage
Swanage on England's
south coast with around 9,600 inhabitants. In Australia, a borough was
once a self-governing small town, but this designation has all but
vanished, except for the only remaining borough in the country, which
is the
Borough of Queenscliffe.
Boroughs as administrative units are to be found in Ireland and the
United Kingdom, more specifically in England and Northern Ireland.
Boroughs also exist in the Canadian province of
Quebec
Quebec and formerly in
Ontario, in some states of the United States, in Israel, formerly in
New Zealand
New Zealand and only one left in Australia.
Contents
1 History
2 Etymology
3 Pronunciation
4 Definitions
4.1 Australia
4.2 Canada
4.3 Colombia
4.4 Republic of Ireland
4.5 Israel
4.6 Mexico
4.7 Netherlands
4.8 New Zealand
4.9 Trinidad and Tobago
4.10 United Kingdom
4.10.1 England and Wales
4.10.1.1 Ancient and municipal boroughs
4.10.1.2 Parliamentary boroughs
4.10.1.3
County
County boroughs
4.10.1.4 Metropolitan boroughs
4.10.1.5 Other current uses
4.10.2 Northern Ireland
4.10.3 Scotland
4.11 United States
5 See also
6 Notes
7 References
8 External links
Etymology[edit]
The word borough derives from the
Old English
Old English word burh, meaning a
fortified settlement. Other English derivatives of burh include bury,
brough and burgh. There are obvious cognates in other Indo-European
languages. For example; burgh in Scots and Middle English; burg in
German and Old English,[1] borg in Scandinavian languages; parcus in
Latin
Latin and pyrgos in Greek, برج (borj) in Persian.
A number of other European languages have cognate words that were
borrowed from the Germanic languages during the Middle Ages, including
brog in Irish, bwr or bwrc, meaning "wall, rampart" in Welsh, bourg in
French, burg in Catalan (in Catalonia there is a town named Burg),
borgo in Italian, and burgo in Spanish (hence the place-name Burgos).
The 'burg' element, which means "castle" or "fortress", is often
confused with 'berg' meaning "hill" or "mountain" (c.f. iceberg,
inselberg). Hence the 'berg' element in
Bergen
Bergen or
Heidelberg
Heidelberg relates
to a hill, rather than a fort. In some cases, the 'berg' element in
place names has converged towards burg/borough; for instance
Farnborough, from fernaberga (fern-hill).
Pronunciation[edit]
In many parts of England, "borough" is pronounced
/ˈbʌrə/ ( listen) as an independent word, and as
/b(ə)rə/ when a suffix of a place-name. As a suffix, it is sometimes
spelled "-brough".
In the United States, "borough" is pronounced /ˈbʌroʊ/. When
appearing as the suffix "-burg(h)" in place-names, it is pronounced
/bɜːrɡ/.
Definitions[edit]
Australia[edit]
In Australia, the term "borough" is an occasionally used term for a
local government area. Currently there is only one borough in
Australia, the
Borough of Queenscliffe
Borough of Queenscliffe in Victoria, although there
have been more in the past. However, in some cases it can be
integrated into the council's name instead of used as an official
title, such as the
Municipality of Kingborough
Municipality of Kingborough in Tasmania.
Canada[edit]
Main article: Municipal government in Canada
In Quebec, the term borough is generally used as the English
translation of arrondissement, referring to an administrative division
of a municipality. Only eight municipalities in
Quebec
Quebec are divided
into boroughs. See List of boroughs in Quebec.
It was previously used in Metropolitan Toronto, Ontario, to denote
suburban municipalities including Scarborough, York, North York,
Etobicoke prior to their conversion into cities. The
Borough of East
York was the last Toronto municipality to hold this status,
relinquishing it upon becoming part of the
City of Toronto
City of Toronto on January
1, 1998.
Colombia[edit]
The Colombian Municipalities are subdivided into boroughs with a local
executive and an administrative board for local government. These
Boroughs are divided in neighborhoods.
Republic of Ireland[edit]
The
Local Government Reform Act 2014 replaced the urban-only
second-tier local government units with new urban and rural units
termed "municipal districts". The abolished units included five which
were termed "boroughs", namely Clonmel, Drogheda, Kilkenny, Sligo, and
Wexford. However, the municipal districts containing four of these are
styled "borough districts"; the exception is Kilkenny, whose district
is the "Municipal
District
District of
Kilkenny
Kilkenny City", because of Kilkenny's
city status.[2]
Earlier Irish boroughs include the 117 parliamentary boroughs of the
Irish House of Commons, of which 80 were disfranchised by the Acts of
Union 1800 and all but 11 abolished under the Municipal Corporations
(Ireland) Act 1840. The six largest of those eleven became county
boroughs under the
Local Government
Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898, of which those
in the Republic were reclassed as "cities" under the Local Government
Act 2001.
Galway
Galway was a borough from 1937 until promoted to county
borough in 1985,[3][4] and Dún Laoghaire was a borough from 1930
until merged into
Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown
Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown county in 1993.[5][6]
Israel[edit]
Under Israeli law, inherited from British Mandate municipal law, the
possibility of creating a municipal borough exists. However, no
borough was actually created under law until 2005–2006, when Neve
Monosson and Maccabim-Re'ut, both communal settlements (Heb: yishuv
kehilati) founded in 1953 and 1984, respectively, were declared to be
autonomous municipal boroughs (Heb: vaad rova ironi), within their
mergers with the towns of
Yehud
Yehud and Modi'in. Similar structures have
been created under different types of legal status over the years in
Israel, notably Kiryat Haim in Haifa,
Jaffa
Jaffa in
Tel Aviv-Yafo
.jpg/560px-Skyline_of_Tel_Aviv_(34324506705).jpg)
Tel Aviv-Yafo and Ramot
and
Gilo
Gilo in Jerusalem. However,
Neve Monosson
Neve Monosson is the first example of
a full municipal borough actually declared under law by the Minister
of the Interior, under a model subsequently adopted in Maccabim-Re'ut
as well.
It is the declared intention of the Interior Ministry to use the
borough mechanism in order to facilitate municipal mergers in Israel,
after a 2003 wide-reaching merger plan, which, in general, ignored the
sensitivities of the communal settlements, and largely failed.
Mexico[edit]
In
Mexico
Mexico as translations from English to Spanish applied to Mexico
City, the word borough has resulted in a delegación (delegation),
referring to the 16 administrative areas within the Mexican Federal
District. Also the municipalities of some states are administratively
subdivided into boroughs, as shown in
Municipality
Municipality of
Mexicali#Boroughs. (see: Boroughs of
Mexico
Mexico and Municipalities of
Mexico
Mexico City)
Netherlands[edit]
In the Netherlands, the municipalities of
Rotterdam
Rotterdam and
Amsterdam
Amsterdam are
divided into administrative boroughs, or deelgemeenten, which have
their own borough council and a borough mayor. Other large cities are
usually divided into districts, or stadsdelen, for census purposes.
New Zealand[edit]
New Zealand
New Zealand formerly used the term borough to designate self-governing
towns of more than 1,000 people, although 19th century census records
show many boroughs with populations as low as 200.[7] A borough of
more than 20,000 people could become a city by proclamation. Boroughs
and cities were collectively known as municipalities, and were
enclaves separate from their surrounding counties. Boroughs
proliferated in the suburban areas of the larger cities: By the 1980s
there were 19 boroughs and three cities in the area that is now the
City
City of Auckland.
In the 1980s, some boroughs and cities began to be merged with their
surrounding counties to form districts with a mixed urban and rural
population. A nationwide reform of local government in 1989 completed
the process. Counties and boroughs were abolished and all boundaries
were redrawn. Under the new system, most territorial authorities cover
both urban and rural land. The more populated councils are classified
as cities, and the more rural councils are classified as districts.
Only
Kawerau
Kawerau District, an enclave within
Whakatane
Whakatane District, continues
to follow the tradition of a small town council that does not include
surrounding rural area.
Trinidad and Tobago[edit]
In Trinidad and Tobago, a
Borough is a unit of Local Government. There
are 3 boroughs in The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago:
Chaguanas
Arima
Point Fortin
United Kingdom[edit]
England and Wales[edit]
Main articles:
History of local government in England
History of local government in England and Borough
status in the United Kingdom
Ancient and municipal boroughs[edit]
Main articles:
Ancient borough
Ancient borough and Municipal borough
During the medieval period many towns were granted self-governance by
the Crown, at which point they became referred to as boroughs. The
formal status of borough came to be conferred by Royal Charter. These
boroughs were generally governed by a self-selecting corporation
(i.e., when a member died or resigned his replacement would be by
co-option). Sometimes boroughs were governed by bailiffs or
headboroughs.
Debates on the Reform Bill (eventually the Reform Act 1832) had
highlighted the variations in systems of governance of towns, and a
Royal Commission was set up to investigate the issue. This resulted in
a regularisation of municipal government (Municipal Corporations Act
1835). 178 of the ancient boroughs were reformed as municipal
boroughs, with all municipal corporations to be elected according to a
standard franchise based on property ownership. The unreformed
boroughs either lapsed in borough status, or were reformed (or
abolished) at a later time. Several new municipal boroughs were formed
in the new industrial cities after the bill enacted, according to the
provisions of the bill.
As part of a large-scale reform of local government in England and
Wales in 1974, municipal boroughs were finally abolished (having
become increasingly irrelevant). However, the civic traditions of many
boroughs were continued by the grant of a charter to their successor
district councils. In smaller boroughs, a town council was formed for
the area of the abolished borough, while charter trustees were formed
in other former boroughs. In each case, the new body was allowed to
use the regalia of the old corporation, and appoint ceremonial office
holders such as sword and mace bearers as provided in their original
charters. The council or trustees may apply for an
Order in Council or
Royal Licence to use the former borough coat of arms.
Parliamentary boroughs[edit]
Further information: Reform Act 1832
From 1265, two burgesses from each borough were summoned to the
Parliament of England, alongside two knights from each county. Thus
parliamentary constituencies were derived from the ancient boroughs.
Representation in the House of Commons was decided by the House
itself, which resulted in boroughs being established in some small
settlements for the purposes of parliamentary representation, despite
their possessing no actual corporation.
After the Reform Act, which disenfranchised many of the rotten
boroughs (boroughs that had declined in importance, had only a small
population, and had only a handful of eligible voters), parliamentary
constituencies began to diverge from the ancient boroughs. While many
ancient boroughs remained as municipal boroughs, they were
disenfranchised by the Reform Act.
County
County boroughs[edit]
Main article:
County
County borough
The
Local Government
Local Government Act 1888 established a new sort of borough –
the county borough. These were designed to be
'counties-to-themselves'; administrative divisions to sit alongside
the new administrative counties. They allowed urban areas to be
administered separately from the more rural areas. They, therefore,
often contained pre-existing municipal boroughs, which thereafter
became part of the second tier of local government, below the
administrative counties and county boroughs.
The county boroughs were, like the municipal boroughs, abolished in
1974, being reabsorbed into their parent counties for administrative
purposes.
Metropolitan boroughs[edit]
Main article: Metropolitan borough
In 1899, as part of a reform of local government in the
County
County of
London, the various parishes in
London
London were reorganised as new
entities, the 'metropolitan boroughs'. These were reorganised further
when Greater
London
London was formed out of Middlesex and the
County
County of
London
London in 1965.
When the new metropolitan counties (Greater Manchester, Merseyside,
South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, West Midlands, and West Yorkshire)
were created in 1974, their sub-divisions also became metropolitan
boroughs; in many cases these metropolitan boroughs recapitulated
abolished county boroughs (for example, Stockport). The metropolitan
boroughs possessed slightly more autonomy from the metropolitan county
councils than the shire county districts did from their county
councils.
With the abolition of the metropolitan county councils in 1986, these
metropolitan boroughs became independent, and continue to be so at
present.
Other current uses[edit]
Elsewhere in England a number of districts and unitary authority areas
are called "borough". Until 1974, this was a status that denoted towns
with a certain type of local government (a municipal corporation).
Since 1974, it has been a purely ceremonial style granted by royal
charter to districts which may consist of a single town or may include
a number of towns or rural areas.
Borough status entitles the council
chairman to bear the title of mayor. Districts may apply to the
British Crown for the grant of borough status upon advice of the Privy
Council of the United Kingdom.
Northern Ireland[edit]
In Northern Ireland, local government was reorganised in 1973. Under
the legislation that created the 26 districts of Northern Ireland, a
district council whose area included an existing municipal borough
could resolve to adopt the charter of the old municipality and thus
continue to enjoy borough status. Districts that do not contain a
former borough can apply for a charter in a similar manner to English
districts.
Scotland[edit]
See: Burgh
United States[edit]
Main article:
Borough (United States)
In the United States, a borough is a unit of local government below
the level of the state. The term is currently used in seven states.
The following states use, or have used, the word with the following
meanings:
Alaska, as a county-equivalent
Connecticut, as an incorporated municipality within, or consolidated
with, a town
Minnesota, formerly applied to one municipality
New Jersey, as a type of independent incorporated municipality – see
Borough (New Jersey)
New York, as one of the five divisions of New York City, each
coextensive with a county – see
Borough (New York City)
Pennsylvania, as a type of municipality comparable to a town – see
Borough (Pennsylvania)
Virginia, as a division of a city under certain circumstances.
Certain names of places, such as Hillsboro, Oregon; Greensboro, North
Carolina; Tyngsborough, Massachusetts; and Maynesborough, New
Hampshire reflect the historical use of "borough" as a geographical
unit in the United States.[8]
See also[edit]
History of local government in England
Borough status in the United Kingdom
Boroughs incorporated in England and Wales 1835–1882 and 1882–1974
Burgh
Burgh and List of burghs in Scotland
County
County borough
Ancient borough
Metropolitan borough
Municipal borough
Boroughs in New York City
Borough-English, a form of inheritance associated with the English
boroughs
Notes[edit]
^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth
Edition (2000)
^ "
Local Government
Local Government Reform Act 2014, Section 19 (insertion of section
22A into the
Local Government
Local Government Act 2001)". Irish Statute Book.
Retrieved 2 August 2014.
^ "
Local Government
Local Government (Galway) Act, 1937". Irish Statute Book. Archived
from the original on 11 August 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
^ "
Local Government
Local Government (Reorganisation) Act, 1985". Irish Statute Book.
Retrieved 5 August 2014.
^ "
Local Government
Local Government (Dublin) Act, 1930". Irish Statute Book. Archived
from the original on 23 July 2015. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
^ "
Local Government
Local Government (Dublin) Act, 1993". Irish Statute Book. Archived
from the original on 11 August 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
^ 1881 census summary
^ Words Ending with Boro Archived 2012-04-26 at the Wayback Machine.
References[edit]
Smith, William Charles (1878), "Borough", in Baynes, T.S.,
Encyclopædia Britannica, 4 (9th ed.), New York: Charles Scribner's
Sons, pp. 62–64
Smith, William Charles; Bateson, Mary (1911), "Borough", in
Chisholm, Hugh, Encyclopædia Britannica, 4 (11th ed.), Cambridge
University Press, pp. 268–273
External links[edit]
Look up borough in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
v
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Designations for types of administrative territorial entities
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Common English terms1
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v
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Second / third-level
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City / township-level
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English translations given are those most commonly used.
v
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v
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Modern
apokentromenes dioikiseis / geniki dioikisis§ / diamerisma§ /
periphereia
nomos§ / periphereiaki enotita
demos / eparchia§ / koinotita§
Historical
archontia/archontaton
bandon
demos
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eparchia
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§ signifies a defunct institution
v
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Historical subdivisions in italics.
v
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Slavic terms for country subdivisions
Current
dzielnica
gmina
krai
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městys
obec
oblast / oblast' / oblasti / oblys / obwód / voblast'
okręg
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osiedle
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raion
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sołectwo
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županija
Historical
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v
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e
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Ecuador
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Historical subdivisions in italics.
v
t
e
Turkish terms for country subdivisions
Modern
il (province)
ilçe (district)
şehir (city)
kasaba (town)
belediye (municipality)
belde (community)
köy (village)
mahalle (neighbourhood/quarter)
Historical
ağalık (feudal district)
bucak (subdistrict)
beylerbeylik (province)
kadılık (subprovince)
kaza (sub-province)
hidivlik (viceroyalty)
mutasarrıflık (subprovince)
nahiye (nahiyah)
paşalık (province)
reya (Romanian principalities)
sancak (prefecture)
vilayet (province)
voyvodalık (Romanian provinces)
1 Used by ten or more countries or having derived terms. Historical
derivations in italics.
See also: Census division, Electoral district, Political division, and
List of administrative di