Albania Since
its Declaration of Independence from the
Ottoman Empire in 1912,
Albania has reformed
its internal divisions 21 times. Before the implementation of the
1998 Constitution, the primary division was into about 36
districts (), whose number, size, and importance varied over time. Following their abolishment in the year 2000, the
counties were divided into
urban () and
rural municipalities () until the
2015 elections, when they were replaced by the current system. Presently, Albania has 34 levels of local government : • 12
counties (), sometimes known as
prefectures () or administrative divisions • 61
municipalities () • 373
administrative units (), sometimes known as
communes (), which also oversee about 3,000
villages () The prefects who oversee each county are appointed by the
central government, but the mayors of the municipalities and the local government councils are
elected democratically.
Andorra Andorra is formed by seven
parishes (, singular - );
Andorra la Vella,
Canillo,
Encamp,
La Massana,
Escaldes-Engordany,
Ordino,
Sant Julià de Lòria. Some parishes have a further territorial subdivision. Ordino, La Massana and Sant Julià de Lòria are subdivided into
quarts (quarters), while Canillo is subdivided into 10
veïnats (neighborhoods). Those mostly coincide with villages, which are found in all parishes. Each parish has its own elected mayor who is the nominal head of the local government known as a
comú in Catalan.
Belarus At the top level of administration,
Belarus is divided into six
regions and the city of
Minsk, which has a special status being the capital of Belarus. Minsk is also the capital of
Minsk Region. At the second level, the regions are divided into
raions ("districts").
Bulgaria Since the 1880s, the number of territorial management units in
Bulgaria has varied from seven to 26. Between 1987 and 1999 the administrative structure consisted of nine provinces (
oblasti, singular
oblast). A new administrative structure was adopted in parallel with the decentralisation of the economic system. It includes 27 provinces and a metropolitan capital province (Sofia-Grad). All areas take their names from their respective capital cities. The provinces subdivide into 264
municipalities. Municipalities are run by mayors, who are elected to four-year terms, and by directly elected municipal councils. Bulgaria is a highly
centralised state, where the national Council of Ministers directly appoints regional governors and all provinces and municipalities are heavily dependent on it for funding.
Czech Republic The highest tier of local government in the
Czech Republic are the
thirteen regions (Czech:
kraje, singular kraj) and the capital city of
Prague. Each region has its own elected Regional Assembly (
krajské zastupitelstvo) and
hejtman (usually translated as
hetman or
governor). In Prague, their powers are executed by the city council and the mayor. The regions are divided into seventy-six
districts (
okresy, singular
okres) including three "statutory cities" (without Prague, which had special status). The districts lost most of their importance in 1999 in an administrative reform; they remain as territorial divisions and seats of various branches of state administration. A further reform in effect since January 2003 created 204 Municipalities with Extended Competence (obce s rozšířenou působností); also obce III. stupně – third-level municipalities, unofficially also called "little districts" (Czech: 'malé okresy') which took over most of the administration of the former district authorities. Some of these are further divided between Municipalities with Commissioned Local Authority (obce s pověřeným obecním úřadem, shortened to pověřená obec, pl. pověřené obce; "second-level municipalities"). In 2007 the borders of the districts were slightly adjusted, and 119 municipalities are now within different districts.
Denmark For local government purposes,
Denmark is divided into five
regions (), with their most important area of responsibility being the public health service. They are also responsible for employment policies, while some regions are responsible for public mass transit. Regions are not financial independent as they rely entirely on central state funding (around 70%) and funding coming from the municipalities (around 30%). Regions are led by directly elected councils (
regionsråd) consisting of 41 members each. The regions are further divided into 98
municipalities (
kommuner). Elections for the municipalities are held on the third Tuesday of November every four years.
Estonia Estonia is divided into 79
municipalities (
omavalitsus), and each municipality is a unit of self-government with its representative and executive bodies. Furthermore, the country is also divided into fifteen
counties (), each of which were used to be led by a county
governor (
maavanem), who represents the national government at the regional level. This although changed with 2017
administrative reform.
Finland ,
Sastamala, Finland The most important administrative layer of local government in
Finland are the 311
municipalities, which may also call themselves towns or cities. They account for half of public spending. Spending is financed by municipal income tax,
property tax, state subsidies, and other revenue. In addition to municipalities, there are two intermediate levels of local government. Municipalities co-operate in seventy-four
sub-regions and nineteen
regions. These are governed by the member municipalities and have only limited powers. However, the autonomous province of
Åland has a directly elected regional council, and the
Sami people have a semi-autonomous
Sami Domicile Area in
Lapland for issues on language and culture.
France According to its
Constitution of 1958,
France has 3 levels of local government: • 13
Régions (including
Corsica) and 5 ''Régions d'outre-mer'' (
Réunion,
Martinique,
Mayotte,
Guadeloupe and
French Guiana). Corsica is not referred to as a "région" but simply as a "collectivité territoriale", that merely means "local government area". • 96
départements and 5 ''
départements d'outre-mer'' (Réunion, Guadeloupe, Martinique,
Mayotte and French Guiana).
Paris is both a commune and a département. • There are 36,679
municipalities (in French:
Communes). However, in addition to the constitutional clauses of 1958, there now exist specificities: • Intercommunalities are now a level of government between municipalities and departments. • There exist 2 "pays d'outre-mer":
French Polynesia and
New Caledonia. The expression "pays d'outre-mer" is convenient as it can be understood in French as both "overseas country" and "overseas county/traditional area" (as evidenced by
Pays de la Loire that is a home région, not a home "country"). French Polynesia works as an autonomous
région, whereas New Caledonia has a
sui generis local government status with specific institutions and even more autonomy. In spite of enormous differences in populations, each of the communes of the French Republic possesses a
mayor () and a
municipal council (), which manage the
commune from the
mairie (
city hall), with exactly the same powers no matter the size of the commune and council. This uniformity of status is a clear legacy of the French Revolution, which wanted to do away with the local idiosyncrasies and tremendous differences of status that existed in the kingdom of France. The size of a commune still matters, however, in two domains: French law determines the size of the municipal council according to the population of the commune; and the size of the population determines which voting process is used for the election of the municipal council.
Germany Greece Since 1 January 2011,
Greece consists of thirteen
regions subdivided into a total of 325
municipalities and communities. The regions have their own elected governors and regional councils, however there are seven decentralized administrations, which group from one to three regions under a government-appointed general secretary. There is also one
autonomous area,
Mount Athos.
Hungary For local government,
Hungary is divided into 19
counties. In addition, the
capital (
főváros),
Budapest and the 25
Cities with county rights (
megyei jogú városok) is independent of any county government. But all the county capitals are cities with county rights, except
Pest county where Budapest is the capital of the county. The local authorities of these cities have extended powers, but they belong to the territory of the respective county instead of being independent territorial units. The counties are further subdivided into 198
districts (
járások), and Budapest is its own
23 districts (
kerületek).
Iceland The
Municipalities of Iceland are local administrative areas in Iceland that provide a number of services to their inhabitants such as
kindergartens,
elementary schools,
waste management,
social services,
public housing,
public transportation, services to
senior citizens and
handicapped people. They also govern
zoning and can voluntarily take on additional functions if they have the budget for it. The autonomy of municipalities over their own matters is guaranteed by the
constitution of Iceland. The municipalities are governed by municipal councils which are directly elected every four years. The sizes of these councils vary from five members in the smallest municipalities to fifteen in the largest one. Most municipalities except for the very small ones hire an executive manager who may or may not be a member of the municipal council. These managers are usually referred to as
mayors (
bæjarstjóri / borgarstjóri) in the mostly urban municipalities but "commune manager" (
sveitarstjóri) in the rural or mixed municipalities.
Ireland The
Republic of Ireland's local government is laid out by the
Local Government Reform Act 2014. With a few exceptions, local government is two-tier. At the lowest level are the municipal, metropolitan or borough councils, which are elected during local elections. These councillors from the relevant county then together form the council, termed either County or City and County Councils. For example, the 4 municipal districts in Westmeath County each elect their own councils, who together form
Westmeath County Council. Many functions are performed by the Chief Executive, who is appointed by the Minister for Local Government. The exceptions to the above is the county of Dublin and the cities of Cork and Galway, the later two's councils are directly elected with no lower council. Dublin county is made up of four local area authorities, each elected directly. There are thirty-one local authorities. The main sources of funding for local government in Ireland are local property and motor tax revenues, payments from the Exchequer, charges for goods and services, and state grants.
Italy The
Constitution of Italy defines three levels of local government: •
Regions: they were first acknowledged after the
birth of the Italian republic in 1948. Numbering 20, they acquired a significant degree of autonomy after a constitutional reform was passed in 2001. Furthermore, 5 of them (namely Valle d'Aosta, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Trentino-Alto Adige, Sardinia and Sicily) have a special status and are given even more power than the 15 others. •
Provinces: they were the only local bodies in effect during the
Kingdom of Italy (from the
unification of Italy in 1861 to the birth of the Republic in 1948). Consequently, they used to serve many functions, but these were reduced as Regions absorbed more and more competences. Nowadays they number 107 and mostly care to roads, school buildings, and local zoning and planning. Finally, from 2015 onwards, 14 provinces officially became
metropolitan cities. •
Communes: The Mayor and staff, caring for the needs of a single town or of a village and neighbouring minor towns or villages. Major cities also have an extra tier of local government named
Circoscrizione di Decentramento Comunale or, in some cities (e.g. Rome)
Municipio.
Latvia Latvia is a unitary state, currently divided into 110 municipalities () and 9 republican cities () with their own council.
Liechtenstein Liechtenstein is divided into eleven
municipalities (
Gemeinden singular
Gemeinde), most consisting of only a single town.
Lithuania Lithuania has a three-tier division of local government: the country is divided into
10 counties (Lithuanian: singular –
apskritis, plural –
apskritys) that are further subdivided into
60 municipalities (Lithuanian: singular –
savivaldybė, plural –
savivaldybės) which consist of over 500
elderships (Lithuanian: singular –
seniūnija, plural –
seniūnijos). The counties are ruled by
county governors (Lithuanian:
apskrities viršininkas) appointed by the central government, and effectively oversee the two lower tiers of local government. Municipalities are the most important administrative unit of local government. Each municipality has its own government and council, with elections taking place every four years. The mayor, who is a member of the council, is elected directly by the residents in a majority vote. The council appoints
elders to govern the elderships. Elderships, numbering over 500, are the smallest units of local government. They provide public services such as registering births and deaths and identifying individuals or families in need of welfare.
Malta Malta is a
unitary state divided into 68 municipalities (
local councils), according to Chapter XA of the
Constitution of Malta and the Local Councils Act.
Moldova The Municipal Council in
Moldova is the governing body in five municipalities:
Chișinău, It is composed of a legally determined number of counsellors (for example 35 in Bălți) elected every four years, representing political parties and independent counsellors. Once elected, counsellors may form fractions inside of the Municipal Council., plus three in the
Dutch Caribbean. The municipal council (
gemeenteraad) is the highest authority in the municipality. Its members are elected every four years. The role of the municipal council is comparable to that of the board of an organisation or institution. Its main job is to decide the municipality's broad policies and to oversee their implementation. The day-to-day administration of the municipality is in the hands of the municipal executive (
college van burgemeester en wethouders, abbr. to
(college van) B&W), made up of the mayor (
burgemeester) and the aldermen (
wethouder, pl.
wethouders). The executive implements national legislation on matters such as social assistance, unemployment benefits and environmental management. It also bears primary responsibility for the financial affairs of the municipality and for its personnel policies. Aldermen are appointed by the council. Councillors can be chosen to act as aldermen, resulting in their council seats being taken over by other representatives of the same political parties. Non-councillors can also be appointed. Unlike councillors and aldermen, mayors are not elected (not even indirectly), but are appointed by the Crown. Mayors chair both the municipal council and the executive. They have a number of statutory powers and responsibilities of their own. They are responsible for maintaining public order and safety within the municipality and frequently manage the municipality's public relations. As Crown appointees, mayors also have some responsibility for overseeing the work of the municipality, its policies and relations with other government bodies. Although they are obliged to carry out the decisions of the municipal council and executive, they may recommend that the Minister of the Interior quash any decision that they believe to be contrary to the law or against the public interest. Mayors are invariably appointed for a period of six years. They can be dismissed only by the Crown and not by the municipal council.
Water boards Water boards (
waterschap and
hoogheemraadschap, pl.
waterschappen and
hoogheemraadschappen) are among the oldest government authorities in the Netherlands. They literally form the foundation of the whole Dutch system of local government; from time immemorial they have shouldered the responsibility for water management for the residents of their area. In polders this mainly involves regulating the water level. It has always been in the common interest to keep water out and polder residents have always had to work together. That is what led to the creation of water boards. The structure of the water boards varies, but they all have a general administrative body and an executive board (''
) consisting of a chairperson (dijkgraaf) and other members ((hoog)heemraad, pl. (hoog)heemraden''). The chairperson also presides the general administrative body. This body consists of people representing the various categories of stakeholders: landholders, leaseholders, owners of buildings, companies and, since recently, all the residents as well. Importance and financial contribution decide how many representatives each category may delegate. Certain stakeholders (e.g. environmental organisations) may be given the power to appoint members. The general administrative body elects the executive board from among its members. The government appoints the chairperson for a period of six years. The general administrative body is elected for a period of four years. They are elected as party representatives (before 2009, they were elected on an individual basis).
Norway Norway had 357 municipalities of varying size in 2024, each administered by an elected municipal council. They are grouped into 15 counties (fylker), each governed by an elected county council. Each county has a governor appointed by the central government, responsible for ensuring legality in their administration. The municipal sector is a provider of vital services to the Norwegian public, accounting for about 20% of Norwegian GNP and 24% of total employment. They have the right to tax and to use their resources to support education, libraries, social security, and public works such as streetcar lines, gas and electricity works, roads, and town planning, but they are usually aided in these activities by state funds. Oslo is the only urban center that alone constitutes a county; the remaining 14 counties consist of both urban and rural areas. County and municipal councils are popularly elected every four years. The municipal council (; ) is the highest governing body of the
municipality in
Norway. Municipalities are the only unit of local government in Norway (in addition to the regional "county" level and the national level). The municipal council sets the scope of municipal activity, takes major decisions, and delegates responsibility. The council is led by a
mayor, or , and is divided into an executive council () and a number of committees, each responsible for a subsection of tasks. It is not uncommon for some members of the council to sit in the
county councils too, but very rare that they also hold national office in the
Storting or
Government without taking a
leave of absence from the municipal council. The municipal council in Norway dates back the
Formannskapsdistrikt law that went into effect on 1 January 1838. Historically, the council was known as a or in rural municipalities and in urban/city municipalities. During the 1960s, the distinction between rural and urban municipalities was eliminated, however, many Norwegian cities still refer to their municipal council as a city council (
bystyre). passed by the former Spanish Prime Minister
Felipe González Márquez (socialist), lays down the procedure of the Local Government. Every city in Spain used this Law until 2003. This year, the former Spanish Prime Minister
José María Aznar (conservative), passed a Law (57/2003) to modernize organic rules of those cities which had more than 250,000 inhabitants, and other important cities (like capital cities of provinces with at least 175,000 inhabitants). Also, it exists two other important Laws for specifically Madrid (Law 22/2006) and Barcelona (Law 1/2006). The main governing body in most municipalities is called Ayuntamiento (in the less populated municipalities an alternative local organization system called open council, "
concejo abierto", is used). The Ayuntamiento in turn is formed by the Plenary (
el Pleno, the collective formed by the city councillors) and the Mayor. The number of members that compose The Plenary varies depending on city's population (for example, since 2007 Valencia has 33 members and Pamplona has 27). The name given to the members of the Plenary is councillor (
concejal). Those councillors are elected between city's inhabitants every four years by direct vote. After being elected, councillors meet in a special Plenary session to determine who will be elected, between them, as city's Mayor. In the next days after the election, the mayor chooses some councillors to set up the executive governing body (
Junta de Gobierno or
Comisión de Gobierno). After that, and for the next four years, city's mayor and the
Junta de Gobierno will govern over the city according to their competences (urbanism, some taxes, local police, licenses for specific activities, cleaning services, etc.). Meanwhile, councillors in the Plenary but not part of the
Junta de Gobierno (the opposition) will oversee Mayor's rule. The autonomous community of Catalonia is divided in 4 provinces and more than 900 municipalities. Between these two tiers, there are 41
comarques (singular,
comarca), roughly equivalent to 'district' or 'county'. The
comarca is a commonwealth, or union, of municipalities with competences in several fields (Law 6/1987 of the Parliament of Catalonia).
Sweden Every fourth year general elections are held in Sweden to elect members of the national parliament, 20 county council assemblies and 290 municipal assemblies. As the parliament elects the national government, the local assemblies elect their executive committees and their boards. Members in local committees and boards are elected proportionally by the political parties in the assemblies, giving all the major parties representation. The parties usually cooperate well on the local levels. The county councils (
landsting) are responsible for health care and usually provide transportation. The municipalities (
kommuner) are responsible for: • social services, childcare, preschool,
elderly care • primary and secondary education • planning and building • health protection, water, sewerage, refuse, emergency services On a voluntary basis, the municipalities provide sports, culture, housing, energy as well as commercial service. The activities are financed by income taxes. Swedes pay around 20% of their taxable income to the municipality and around 11% to the county council. (The national government is financed by VAT and payroll taxes and fees.)
Switzerland Ukraine In
Ukraine, almost all cities have their City Council, and the mayors (usually elected by people) are the chairmen of them (e.g.:
Kyiv City Council,
Kharkiv City Council,
Odesa City Council,
Lviv City Council,
Chernihiv City Council).
United Kingdom and dependencies The system of local government is different in each of the four home nations of the UK. In total there are 426 local authorities in the UK. 346 of these are in England, 11 in Northern Ireland, 32 in Scotland and 22 are in Wales. Apart from Britain and Northern Ireland, the United Kingdom has dependent territories classed as either
British Overseas Territories (of which there are 14) or
Crown Dependencies (of which there are 3, with Isle of Man outlined below). These are not classed as local government entities, are legally not part of the United Kingdom, and are legally self-governing territories with their own systems of local government. In England and Wales, the
Local Government Association (LGA) is the national membership body for local authorities. Its core membership is made up of 317 English councils and the 22 Welsh councils through the
Welsh Local Government Association. Scotland and Northern Ireland also have analogues, outlined below. Across the UK, the
Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) also works to assist local authorities to improve their frontline services. APSE works with more than 250 local authorities "to advise and share information and expertise on a broad range of frontline public services".
England The most complex system is in England, the result of numerous reforms and reorganisation over the centuries. The top-level of sub-national administration within England until the end of March 2012 consisted of the nine
regions. The regions were used by central government for various statistical purposes, and
Government Offices for the English Regions and assorted other institutions including
Regional Development Agencies. Regional Government Offices, Regional Development Agencies and Regional Ministers were all abolished by the
Cameron ministry in 2010. Only the London region which is a sub-region compared to the other regions of England has a directly elected government. Only one regional referendum has been held to date to seek consent for the introduction of direct elections elsewhere — by
John Prescott in the northeast of England — and this was initially rejected by the people of the
North East in 2004. The layers of elected local government vary. In different areas the highest tier of elected local government may be: •
counties, which may be • single-tier
unitary authorities, or • divided into
districts (also known as boroughs in some areas) •
districts, which are separate
unitary authorities in some areas •
metropolitan districts (also called metropolitan boroughs) in some areas which are similar to unitary authorities, but have
joint boards with other districts in the same
metropolitan county •
Greater London, which is divided into 32
London boroughs and the
City of London In most areas there is a lower tier of government,
civil parishes, with unlimited functions and powers under the
2011 Localism Act. Most civil parishes are in rural areas, but if the parish is a town the
parish council may be called a
town council. In a few cases the parish is a
city, and the parish council is called a
city council. Metropolitan counties, and a few
non-metropolitan counties, no longer have elected councils or administrative functions, and their former functions are performed by districts. Such counties remain
ceremonial counties.
Isle of Man Local government on the
Isle of Man, a Crown Dependency, is partly based on the ancient parishes. There are four types of local authorities: a borough corporation, town commissioners, village commissioners, and parish commissioners.
Northern Ireland Since 1 April 2015 Northern Ireland is divided into 11 districts. Local government in Northern Ireland does not carry out the same range of functions as those in the rest of the United Kingdom. The Northern Ireland Local Government Association exists to represent the interests of local government in Northern Ireland and has had a specific role in representing local government to the
Northern Ireland Executive and the
Northern Ireland Assembly. Its members are the 11
local authorities in Northern Ireland.
Wales Wales has a uniform system of 22 unitary authorities, variously styled as county, county borough, city or city and county local authorities. There are also
communities, equivalent to parishes. ==North America==