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.
The term is derived from French language municipalité and Latin language municipalis.
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
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only one populated place such as a city, town, or village
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several such places (e.g., early jurisdictions in the U.S. state of New Jersey (1798–1899) as townships governing several villages, municipalities of Mexico, municipalities of Colombia)
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only parts of such places, sometimes boroughs of a city, such as the 34 municipalities of Santiago, Chile.
Political powers
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
Public service through municipally-owned
Public utility.
Terms in various countries
as well as its composite five boroughs are all municipalities.
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Municipality
Terms cognate with "municipality", mostly referring to territory or political structure, are Spanish
municipio (Spain) and
municipalidad (Chile), Catalan
, Portuguese município.
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In Brazil, municipalities are the local governments, established through state legislations. They are the smallest territorial divisions holding administrative and legislative powers in the following decrescent order: Federation > State > Municipality. Colloquially, the local population uses the terms municipality and city interchangeably.
Communes
In many countries, terms cognate with "commune" are used, referring to the community living in the area and the common interest. These include terms:
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in Romance languages, such as French (France, French-speaking areas of Belgium and Switzerland, French-speaking countries of Africa, e.g. Benin), Italian comune, Romanian , and Spanish (Chile);
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in Germanic languages such as German (in political parlance), Swedish , Faroese , Norwegian, Danish kommune]];
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the more remote cognates in Dutch, in Luxembourgish and Gemeinde in German (the official term);
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Finnish kunta.
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Ukrainian hromada.
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and Polish gmina.
The same terms may be used for church congregations or parishes, for example, in the German and Dutch Protestant churches.
Other terms
In Greece, the word italic=no (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. 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.
In many countries, comparable entities may exist with various names.
English-speaking
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In Australia, the term local government area (LGA) is used in place of the generic municipality. Here, the "LGA Structure covers only incorporated areas of Australia. Incorporated areas are legally designated parts of states and territories over which incorporated local governing bodies have responsibility."
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In Canada, municipalities are local governments established through provincial and territorial legislation, usually within general municipal statutes.
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In India, a municipality or Nagar Palika is an urban local body that administers a city of population 100,000 or more. However, there are exceptions to that, as previously municipalities were constituted in urban centers with population over 20,000, so all the urban bodies which were previously classified as municipality were reclassified as municipality even if their population was under 100,000. Under the Panchayati Raj system, it interacts directly with the state government, though it is administratively part of the district it is located in. Generally, smaller district cities and bigger towns have a municipality. Municipalities are also a form of local self-government entrusted with some duties and responsibilities, as enshrined in the Constitutional (74th Amendment) Act,1992.
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In the United Kingdom, the term was used until the Local Government Act 1972 came into effect in 1974 in England and Wales, and until 1975 in Scotland and 1976 in Northern Ireland, "both for a city or town which is organized for self-government under a municipal corporation, and also for the governing body itself. Such a corporation in Great Britain consists of a head as a mayor or provost, and of superior members, as aldermen and councillors".
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In Jersey, a municipality refers to the honorary officials elected to run each of the 12 parishes into which it is subdivided. This is the highest level of regional government in this jurisdiction.
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In Trinidad and Tobago, "municipality" is usually understood as a city, town, or other local government unit, formed by municipal charter from the state as a municipal corporation. A town may be awarded borough status and, later on, may be upgraded to city status. Chaguanas, San Fernando, Port of Spain, Arima and Point Fortin are the 5 current municipalities in Trinidad and Tobago.
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In the United States, "municipality" is usually understood as a city, town, village, or other local government unit, formed by municipal charter from the state as a municipal corporation.
Chinese-speaking
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In the China, a direct-administered municipality (直辖市 in pinyin: zhíxiáshì) is a municipality with equal status to a province: Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, and Tianjin (see also: Direct-administered municipalities of China).
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In the Taiwan, a special municipality (直轄市 in pinyin: zhíxiáshì) is a municipality with equal status to a province: Kaohsiung, New Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, Taipei, and Taoyuan (see also: Special municipality (Taiwan)).
Municipalities by country
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| Brazil | Municipio | Blumenau,
Cuiabá,
Maceió,
Porto Alegre | 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 |
| Italy | comune | | 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)[The law provides for the possibility of overlapping of the office of President of the mountain community with that of mayor of one of the municipalities of the community: ] | List of municipalities of Italy |
| Philippines | bayan, Municipio or Municipalidad | Janiuay | a province ( lalawigan or probinsya, except for Pateros) | 1,488 | A municipality is the official name for a town and is divided into . Municipalities with a larger population and income may become a city through a city charter. | Municipalities of the Philippines |
| Portugal | município | Lisbon,
Sintra,
Vila Nova de Gaia | 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 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.[ Ayuda: Divulgación de Resultados de la Comisión Estatal de Elecciones – Municipio. Comision Estatal de Elecciones. Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 2004. Retrieved 6 December 2011.][ Autonomous Municipalities Law. Retrieved 24 October 2011.] | Municipalities of Puerto Rico |
| Sweden | kommun | Stockholm Municipality
Gothenburg Municipality
Malmö Municipality
Ale Municipality | County Councils of Sweden (Swedish: landsting) self-governing local authority, covering 21 counties, each comprising one or more of the municipalities. | 290 | is self-governing according to the Swedish constitution and constitutes local government. Before 1971, a municipality could be called a town ( stad), a köping or a rural municipality ( landskommun); present municipalities which used to be towns are still commonly called towns. Sweden is also divided in 2 523 districts (Swedish: distrikt) since 1 January 2016.[ SFS 2015:493 , Svensk författningssamling: Förordning om distrikt.] | Municipalities of Sweden |
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In Portuguese language usage, there are two words to distinguish the territory and the administrative organ. When referring to the territory, the word concelho is used, when referring to the organ of State, the word município is used. This differentiation is in use in Portugal and some of its former overseas provinces, but it's no longer in use in Brazil, where município refers to the territorial boundaries and prefeitura is its administrative organ.
See also
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Council of European Municipalities and Regions
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Council–manager government
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Creature of statute
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Lists of municipalities
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Mayor–council government
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Municipal corporation
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Municipal government
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External links
