Municipio

A municipio (Spanish:) or município (Portuguese:) is an administrative division in several Hispanophone and Lusophone nations, respectively. It is often translated as 'municipality' in English. It comes from mūnicipium (Latin:), meaning 'township'.

In English, a municipality is often defined as relating to a single city or town, but in Spanish, the term municipio may not refer to a single city or town but rather a jurisdiction with several towns and cities such as a township, county, borough or civil parish. The Italian term municipalità (IPA:) refers to a single city or to a group of cities and towns in a township, and the term municipio (IPA:) is used for city subdivisions. On the other hand, usage of município in Portuguese is almost entirely restricted to a cluster of cities or towns such as a county or township. However, in Brazil, a município is an independent city and a public corporation with the status of a federated entity. In the Philippines, a munisipyo (Tagalog:) may refer to a town hall.