ALAVA-ARABA_(Municipios-Udalerriak_2017)

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

in the

autonomous community eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comunidá autónoma , alt_name = , map = , category = Autonomous administra ...

of the Basque Country,

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. It is divided into 51

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 ...

. According to the 2011 Spanish Census, the province is the 41st largest by population with inhabitants but is the 48th largest by land area spanning . Each

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 ...

forms part of a

which in turn forms part or the whole of an

. The organisation of the municipalities is governed by a 2 April 1985 law, completed by the 18 April 1986 royal decree. The Statutes of Autonomy of the various autonomous communities also contain provisions concerning the relations between the municipalities and the autonomous governments. In general, municipalities enjoy a large degree of autonomy in their local affairs: many of the functions of the ''comarcas'' and provinces are municipal powers pooled together. Each municipality is a corporation with independent

legal person In law, a legal person is any person or 'thing' (less ambiguously, any legal entity) that can do the things a human person is usually able to do in law – such as enter into contracts, sue and be sued, own property, and so on. The reason for ...

ality: its governing body is called the ''ayuntamiento'' (

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 counc ...

corporation A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and ...

), a term often also used to refer to the municipal offices (city and town halls). The ''ayuntamiento'' is composed of 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 ...

(Spanish: ''alcalde''), the deputy mayors (Spanish: ''tenientes de alcalde'') and the plenary assembly (''pleno'') of councillors (''concejales''). The mayor and the deputy mayors are elected by the plenary assembly, which is itself elected by

universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stan ...

on a list system every four years. The plenary assembly must meet publicly at least every three months at the seat of the ''ayuntamiento''. Many ''ayuntamientos'' also have a governing commission (''comisión de gobierno''), named by the mayor from among the councillors; it is required for municipalities of more than 5,000 inhabitants. The governing commission, whose role is to assist the mayor between meetings of the plenary assembly, may not include more than one third of the councillors.

Towns and villages

* Antoñana * Berganzo * Cicujano * Comunion * Erenchun * Narvaja * Zambrana

References

Place names and populations are taken from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (Spain), Instituto Nacional de Estadística]
(INE)
{{DEFAULTSORT:List of municipalities in Alava Lists of municipalities in Spain, Alava Municipalities in Álava,