 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(December 2017) |
A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to the area (e.g. William Morris Ward in the London Borough of Waltham Forest, England). It is common in the United States for wards to simply be numbered.
The word "ward", for an electoral subdivision, appears to have originated in the Wards of the City of London, where gatherings for each ward known as "wardmotes" have taken place since the 12th century. [1] The word was much later applied to divisions of other cities and towns in England and Wales and Ireland.
In parts of northern England, a ward was an administrative subdivision of a county, very similar to a hundred in other parts of England.
In Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom, and the United States, wards are an electoral district, within a district or municipality, used in local government elections. In the United States, wards are usually subdivided into precincts for polling purposes. In Wisconsin, a 'ward' is what in most other states would be a precinct [2]
In some cities of India, such as Mumbai and Delhi, a ward 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 in India is also known as a ward. [3] [4] In Bangladesh wards are subdivisions of a city or town which administrates under City Corporations and municipalities (pourashova)
In East Africa, the word ward used in English is translated into Swahili/Kiswahili as Kata.
In the case of a municipal amalgamation, the former cities and towns that make up the new metropolis may be referred to as wards.
In the Republic of Ireland, urban divisions were called wards and rural ones were called district electoral divisions. Both were renamed as electoral divisions in 1996. [5] The electoral districts for Irish local authorities are local electoral areas. [6] These are generally defined as combinations of electoral divisions, and in urban areas were formally described as combination of wards.
In Japan, a ku (or 区 in Japanese writing) 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, a phường is an administrative subunit of an inner city district, or quận. Wards and electoral divisions of Nepal are political divisions which are grouped into Gaunpalika (Rural council) and Municipality. A rural municipality or municipality has minimum of five and maximum of 33 divisions.
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 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.
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.
A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national government.
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.
The administrative geography of the United Kingdom is complex, multi-layered and non-uniform. The United Kingdom, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe, consists of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. For local government in the United Kingdom, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales each have their own system of administrative and geographic demarcation. Consequently, there is "no common stratum of administrative unit encompassing the United Kingdom".
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council member elected by voters.
A village is a human settlement or community, usually numbering no more than a few hundred residents.
A civil township is a widely used unit of local government in the United States that is subordinate to a county, most often in the northern and midwestern parts of the country. The term town is used in New England, New York, as well as Wisconsin to refer to the equivalent of the civil township in these states; Minnesota uses "town" officially but often uses it and "township" interchangeably. Specific responsibilities and the degree of autonomy vary in each state. Civil townships are distinct from survey townships, but in states that have both, the boundaries often coincide and may completely geographically subdivide a county. The U.S. Census Bureau classifies civil townships as minor civil divisions. Currently, there are 20 states with civil townships.
Dublin County Council was a local authority for the administrative county of County Dublin in Ireland.
A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries.
A municipal borough was a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1836 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in Scotland from 1833 to 1975 with the reform of royal burghs and creation of police burghs.
Galway City Council is the local authority in the city of Galway, Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and community, roads and transportation, urban planning and development, amenity and culture, and environment. The council has 18 elected members. Elections are held every five years and are by single transferable vote. The head of the council has the title of mayor. The city administration is headed by a Chief Executive, Patricia Philbin. The council meets at City Hall, College Road, Galway.
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.
An electoral division is a legally defined administrative area in the Republic of Ireland, generally comprising multiple townlands, and formerly a subdivision of urban and rural districts. Until 1996, EDs were known as district electoral divisions in the 29 county council areas and wards in the five county boroughs. Until 1972, DEDs also existed in Northern Ireland. The predecessor poor law electoral divisions were introduced throughout the island of Ireland in the 1830s. The divisions were used as local-government electoral areas until 1919 in what is now the Republic and until 1972 in Northern Ireland.
A municipal district is an administrative entity comprising a clearly-defined territory and its population. It can refer to a city, a town, a village, a small grouping of them, or a rural area.
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 district councils, the electoral ward is the unit used by Welsh principal councils, while the electoral division is the unit used by English county councils and some unitary authorities. Each ward/division has an average electorate of about 5,500 people, but ward population counts can vary substantially. As of 2021 there are 8,694 electoral wards/divisions in the UK. An average area of wards in the United Kingdom is 27 km2.
A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a state, province, division, or territory.
Local government in Dublin, the capital city of Ireland, is currently administered through the local authorities of four local government areas. The historical development of these councils dates back to medieval times.