A municipality or "general-purpose district" (compare with: "special-purpose district") is an administrative local area generally composed of a clearly defined territory and commonly referring to a city, town, or villagegovernment.
Municipalities are not necessarily the same as townships.
In most countries, this is the smallest administrative subdivision that has its own democraticallyelectedrepresentative leadership. In several European countries, municipalities as second level entities are referred to as communes.
Municipalities as second level entities
In Australia, a municipality is a city, or shire and is a subdivision of a state
In Austria, a municipality (Gemeinde) is part of a district (Bezirk), which is in turn part of a state (Bundesland).
In Brazil, a municipality (município) is part of a state (estado)
In Canada, a municipality is a city, town, township, county, or regional municipality which has been incorporated by statute by the legislatures of the Provinces and territories of Canada. It is also a specific designation for certain municipalities in Quebec.
In Chile, a municipality (comuna) is part of a province (provincia)
In Croatia, a municipality (općina) is part of a county (županija)
Every part of mainland New Zealand is part of either a "city" (mostly urban) or a "district" (mostly rural). The term "municipality" has become rare in New Zealand since about 1979 and has no legal status.
In the United States, the entities that have status as a municipality vary from state to state. Cities, towns, boroughs, or villages are common terms for municipalities. Townships, counties, and parishes are not generally considered to be municipalities, although there are exceptions. In some states, towns have a non-municipal status similar to townships.
First level entities and other forms of municipalities
In Portugal, a municipality (município/concelho) is the primary local administrative unit. Although it is a part of a district (distrito) for certain national administrative purposes, the municipality is not subordinate to the district and decentralization is doing away with the districts. A municipality contains one or more freguesias.
In Puerto Rico, there are no first order administrative divisions, and the municipalities (municipio) serves as second-order, but first level, administrative divisions.
In Montenegro, a municipality (opština) is the topmost regional division
In Spain, a municipality (município ) is the primary local administrative unit. It is a part of a province(provincia) for all national administrative purposes. A municipality contains one or more parroquias . In the Galiza region, the municipalities are called concellos .
