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. [1] A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district.
The English word is derived from French municipalité, which in turn derives from the Latin municipalis, [2] based on the word for social contract ( municipium ), referring originally 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.
The territory over which a municipality has jurisdiction may encompass:
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. [4]
Terms cognate with "municipality", mostly referring to territory or political structure,[ clarification needed ] are Spanish municipio (Spain) and municipalidad (Chile), Catalan municipi , Portuguese município.
In many countries, terms cognate with "commune" are used, referring to the community living in the area and the common interest. These include terms:
The same terms "Gemeente" (Dutch) or "Gemeinde" (German) may be used for church congregations or parishes, for example, in the German and Dutch Protestant churches.
In Greece, the word Δήμος (demos) 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 ayuntamiento , referring to a municipality's administration building, is extended via synecdoche to denote the municipality itself. [6] In Moldova and Romania, both municipalities ( municipiu ; urban administrative units) and communes ( comună ; rural units) exist, and a commune may be part of a municipality.[ citation needed ]
In many countries, comparable entities may exist with various names.
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Country | Term | Example | Subdivision of | Quantity | Notes | Further reading |
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Brazil | município | Blumenau, | a state ( estado ), which is part of a region ( região ) | 5,570 | A municipality usually is divided in the urban part, the city (cidade), and the rural part. | List of municipalities of Brazil |
Ireland | bardas, contae or comhairle | Baile Átha Cliath | a province (cúige) or a county (contae) | 31 | A municipality usually has authority of the whole county. In some cases however, authority is reduced to a subdivision of the county for highly populated regions, especially in Dublin (Baile Átha Cliath) | Local governments in the Republic of Ireland |
Italy | comune | Montefiascone | a province ( provincia ) which is part of a region ( regione ). | 7,982 | Solely used for subdivisions of larger comuni, especially in Rome; municipio indicates the city hall; in some case, they are joined in mountain communities (comunità montane) [16] | List of municipalities of Italy |
India | municipality, or nagar palika, or nagar parishad | Darjeeling Municipality, English Bazar Municipality | It is an administrative unit that governs a specific urban area, such as a town or city. Municipalities are established under state legislation and operate under the framework of the relevant state municipal acts. Municipalities have their own elected bodies, which typically include a mayor or chairperson and councilors representing different wards or constituencies within the urban area. | Municipal governance in India | ||
Philippines | bayan , munisipyo or munisipalidad | Janiuay | a province (lalawigan or probinsya, except for Pateros) | 1,488 [17] | A municipality is the official name for a town and is divided into barangays. Municipalities with a larger population and income may become a city through a city charter. [18] | Municipalities of the Philippines |
Portugal | município | Lisbon, | 18 districts and 2 autonomous regions (Azores and Madeira) | 308 | Usually a municipality is named after its largest or historically most important town or city. Municipalities are typically much larger than the city or town after which they are named. | List of municipalities of Portugal |
Puerto Rico | municipio | Arecibo | none | 78 | municipality consists of an urban area (termed a city or town) plus all of its surrounding barrios comprising the municipality. It has a popularly elected administration and a municipal mayor. The seat of the municipal government is located in such urban area and serves the entire municipal jurisdiction. [19] [20] | Municipalities of Puerto Rico |
Sweden | kommun | Stockholm Municipality | a region (region), the 21 self-governing areas consisting of one or more municipalities) a county (län), subdivision of the national state into 21 areas administered by County administrative boards. Regions and counties often follow the same geographical borders. | 290 | According to the Instrument of Government, Swedish democracy is realised through a parliamentary form of government and through local selfgovernment. Municipalities are independent of the regions and counties in which they are located. [21] [22] Before 1971, municipalities were incorporated as either cities ( stad ), market towns ( köping ) or rural municipalities ( landskommun ). The city-label is still used for marketing purposes, but lacks legal status and cannot be used in formal governing documents. For resident and land registration purposes, Sweden is also divided in 2 523 districts (distrikt), based on the historic Church of Sweden parishes of 1999. The districts lack authority, governing body and agency. [23] | Municipalities of Sweden |
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.
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French comté denoting a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count (earl) or a viscount. Literal equivalents in other languages, derived from the equivalent of "count", are now seldom used officially, including comté, contea, contado, comtat, condado, Grafschaft, graafschap, and zhupa in Slavic languages; terms equivalent to 'commune' or 'community' are now often instead used.
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state.
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 as the means by which a mayor is elected or otherwise mandated. Depending on the system chosen, a mayor may be the chief executive officer of the municipal government, may simply chair a multi-member governing body with little or no independent power, or may play a solely ceremonial role. A mayor's duties and responsibilities may be to appoint and oversee municipal managers and employees, provide basic governmental services to constituents, and execute the laws and ordinances passed by a municipal governing body. Options for selection of a mayor include direct election by the public, or selection by an elected governing council or board.
A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions of municipalities, school district, or political district.
An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. There are many unincorporated communities and areas in the United States and Canada. Most other countries have very few or no unincorporated areas.
Barrio is a Spanish word that means "quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city, usually delimited by functional, social, architectural or morphological features. In Spain, several Latin American countries and the Philippines, the term may also be used to officially denote a division of a municipality. Barrio is an arabism.
Ayuntamiento is the general term for the town council, or cabildo, of a municipality or, sometimes, as is often the case in Spain and Latin America, for the municipality itself. Ayuntamiento is mainly used in Spain; in Latin America alcaldía is also for municipal governing bodies, especially the executive ones, where the legislative body and the executive body are two separate entities. In Catalan-speaking parts of Spain, municipalities generally use the Catalan cognate, ajuntament, while Galician ones use the word concello, Astur-Leonese conceyu and Basque udaletxea. Since ayuntamiento is a metonym for the building in which the council meets, it also translates to "city/town hall" in English.
Most U.S. states and territories have at least two tiers of local government: counties and municipalities. Louisiana uses the term parish and Alaska uses the term borough for what the U.S. Census Bureau terms county equivalents in those states. Civil townships or towns are used as subdivisions of a county in 20 states, mostly in the Northeast and Midwest.
Municipalities are the second-level administrative divisions of Mexico, where the first-level administrative division is the state. They should not be confused with cities or towns that may share the same name as they are distinct entities and do not share geographical boundaries. As of January 2021, there are 2,454 municipalities in Mexico, excluding the 16 boroughs of Mexico City. If all 16 boroughs of Mexico City are counted, the total of municipalities will be 2,470.
Municipio and município are country subdivisions in several Hispanophone and Lusophone nations, respectively. They are often translated as "municipality". In the English language, a municipality often is defined as relating to a single city or town; however, in Spanish, the term "municipio" may not mean a single city or town, but rather a jurisdiction housing several towns and cities, like a township, county, borough or civil parish. The Italian term "municipalità" refers either to a single city or a group of cities and towns in a township, and "municipio" is used for city subdivisions, but Portuguese usage of the term is almost entirely restricted to a cluster of cities or towns like in a county, township and so forth. However, in Brazil, a Municipio is an independent city & a public corporation with status of Federated Entity.
A commune is the smallest administrative subdivision in Chile. It may contain cities, towns, villages, hamlets as well as rural areas. In highly populated areas, such as Santiago, Valparaíso and Concepción, a conurbation may be broken into several communes. In sparsely populated areas, conversely, a commune may cover a substantial rural area together with several settled areas which could range from hamlets to towns or cities.
In the United States, the meaning of village varies by geographic area and legal jurisdiction. In many areas, "village" is a term, sometimes informal, for a type of administrative division at the local government level. Since the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the federal government from legislating on local government, the states are free to have political subdivisions called "villages" or not to and to define the word in many ways. Typically, a village is a type of municipality, although it can also be a special district or an unincorporated area. It may or may not be recognized for governmental purposes.
The municipality is one of the two fundamental territorial divisions in Spain, the other being the provinces.
The municipalities or municipios of El Salvador correspond to the second level administrative division in the Republic of El Salvador which divide its departments. El Salvador contains 262 municipalities.
In Mexico, some municipalities and Mexico City are divided into boroughs for administrative purposes. Boroughs are known as delegaciones, or in the case of Mexico City. Boroughs can either be second-level semi-autonomous administrative divisions or third-level non-autonomous administrative divisions. The limits, nature and competencies of boroughs are usually described in the constitutions of the states they are part of, or in the laws enacted by the municipality itself, and may differ from municipality to municipality.
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 outside Italy. The term province has since been adopted by many countries. In some countries with no actual provinces, "the provinces" is a metaphorical term meaning "outside the capital city".
Municipal or local governance refers to the third tier of governance in India, at the level of the municipality or urban local body.
All public power in Sweden proceeds from the people. Swedish democracy is founded on the free formation of opinion and on universal and equal suffrage. It is realised through a representative and parliamentary form of government and through local selfgovernment. Public power is exercised under the law.