(Redirected from County municipality)
A 'county' is generally a sub-unit of regional self-government within a sovereign jurisdiction. Originally, in continental Europe, a county was the land under the jurisdiction of a
count. Counts are called ''
earls'' in post-Celtic
Britain and
Ireland—the term is from
Old Norse ''jarl'' and was introduced by the
Vikings—but there is no correlation between counties and
earldoms. Rather, ''county'', from
French ''
comté'', was simply used by the
Normans after
1066 to replace the native English term ''scir'' ()—
Modern English ''shire'', as the Anglo-Saxon system of Shires was unique and thus hard for the Norman invaders to comprehend so they resorted to calling them Counties. A shire was an administrative division of an Anglo-Saxon kingdom (
Wessex,
Mercia,
East Anglia, etc.), usually named after its administrative centre: for example,
Gloucester, in
Gloucestershire;
Worcester, in
Worcestershire; etc.
[1] Thus, whereas the word ''comté'' denoted a sovereign jurisdiction in the original French, the English ''county'' denotes a subdivision of a sovereign jurisdiction.
Overview
'
★ ' The ''32'' refers to the counties of the
Republic of Ireland and
Northern Ireland combined. For more information, see the sections on
Ireland and
United Kingdom below.
Australia
Main articles: Cadastral divisions of Australia
The eastern Australian states, and parts of the western states were divided into counties, mostly in the nineteenth century. These were further subdivided into parishes in New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and Queensland; and
hundreds in South Australia. The counties currently have no political function, and became dead letters for most purposes other than the registration of land ownership, and are unknown by most of the population today.
Local Government Areas including shires, municipalities and others are instead used in Australia as the second level subdivision.
Canada
Five of Canada's ten provinces are divided into counties.
''Main article:
Census divisions of Canada''
In
Ontario and
Nova Scotia, these are local government units, whereas in
New Brunswick,
Quebec and
Prince Edward Island they are now only geographical divisions. Most counties consist of several municipalities, however there are a few that consist of a single large city. In sparsely populated northern Ontario and Quebec, these units are called ''districts'' not counties, and in densely populated areas of south-central Ontario new ''regional municipalities'' are used for local government instead of counties.
See also:
★
List of New Brunswick counties
★
List of Nova Scotia counties
★
Counties of Prince Edward Island
★
List of Ontario counties
★
List of Quebec counties
★
List of Quebec county regional municipalities
Divisions of the other provinces:
★ In
Saskatchewan,
Manitoba, and
Newfoundland and Labrador, instead of counties, ''divisions'' are used.
★ Alberta has several types of
municipalities with varying degrees of local autonomy. While some rural municipalities are known as "counties", this no longer has any substantive meaning; Alberta counties were once rural municipalities which combined the local government and school board in one body.
★ In
British Columbia, ''regional districts'' are used. (see
List of British Columbia Regional Districts) British Columbia is also divided into 8 counties, but these serve only as judicial districts. (see
Supreme Court of British Columbia).
★ The
Yukon Territory is one district in itself
★ The
Northwest Territories and
Nunavut are divided into districts.
Statistics
★
Census division statistics of Canada
China
''Main article:
County of China''
The word "county" is used to translate the
Chinese term ''xiàn'' (县 or 縣). On
Mainland China under the
People's Republic of China, counties are the
third level of local government, coming under both the
province level and the
prefecture level.
The number of counties in
China proper numbers about 2,000, and has remained more or less constant since the
Han Dynasty (
206 BC -
AD 220). The county remains one of the oldest levels of government in China and significantly predates the establishment of provinces in the
Yuan Dynasty (
1279 -
1368). The county government was particularly important in imperial China because this was the lowest layer at which the imperial government functioned. The head of a county during imperial times was the
magistrate.
In older context, "prefecture" and "district" are alternative terms to refer to ''xiàn'' before the establishment of the
Republic of China. The English nomenclature "county" was adopted following the establishment of the ROC.
See also:
Political divisions of China
Denmark
Denmark was divided into counties from
1662 to
2006. On
January 1,
2007, the counties were replaced by five
Regions. At the same time, the number of municipalities was slashed from 270 to 98.
The counties were first introduced in
1662, replacing the 49 fiefs (''len'') in
Denmark-Norway with the same number of counties. This number does not include the subdivisions of the
Duchy of Schleswig, which was only under partial Danish control. The number of counties in Denmark (excluding Norway) had dropped to c. 20 by 1793. Following the reunification of
South Jutland with Denmark in 1920, four counties replaced the
Prussian ''
Kreise''.
Aabenraa and
Sønderborg County merged in 1932 and
Skanderborg and
Aarhus were separated in 1942. From 1942 to 1970, the number stayed at 22.
[1] The number was further decreased by the 1970 Danish municipal reform, leaving 14 counties plus two cities unconnected to the county structure;
Copenhagen and
Frederiksberg.
In 2003,
Bornholm County merged with the local four municipalities, forming the
Bornholm Regional Municipality. The remaining 13 counties were abolished on effective
January 1,
2007 where they were replaced by five new
regions. In the same reform, the number of municipalities was slashed from 270 to 98 and all municipalities now belong to a region.
See also:
Counties of Denmark
Hungary
The administrative unit of
Hungary is called ''megye'', (historically, they were also called
comitatus in
Latin), which can be translated with the word ''county''. It is the highest level of the administrative subdivisions of the country, although counties are grouped into seven statistical regions. Counties are subdivided to ''kistérség''s, which literally means "little area", though translating this as a ''
commune'' is more proper. Communes have statistical and organizational functions only, whilst they have there own "capital cities". Presently Hungary is subdivided into 19 "proper" counties, 22 urban counties (cities with the same rights as a whole county) and 1 capital,
Budapest. See the list of
counties of Hungary.
The comitatus was also the historic administrative unit in the
Kingdom of Hungary, which included areas of present-day neighbouring countries of Hungary. See the
list of historic counties of Hungary.
India
The administrative unit in India immediately next to the state is called a ''Zila'' in Hindi and ''
district'' (never County) in English.
Ireland
The island of
Ireland was historically divided into
32 counties, of which 26 later formed the
Republic of Ireland and 6 made up
Northern Ireland.
These counties are traditionally grouped into
4 provinces -
Leinster (12),
Munster (6)
Connacht (5) and
Ulster (9). Historically, the counties of Meath ,West Meath and small parts of surrounding counties constituted the province of
Meath was one of the "Five Fifths" of Ireland , In the
Irish language the word province means a fifth ; but these have long since become the three northernmost counties of Leinster province. In the Republic each county is administered by an elected "
county council", and the old provincial divisions are merely traditional names with no political significance.
The number and boundaries of administrative counties in the Republic of Ireland were reformed in the 1990s. For example
County Dublin was broken into three:
Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown,
Fingal, and
South Dublin - the
City of Dublin had existed for centuries before. In addition "
County Tipperary" is actually two administrative counties, called
North Tipperary and
South Tipperary while the major urban centres
Cork,
Galway,
Limerick, and
Waterford have been separated from the town and rural areas of their counties. Thus, the Republic of Ireland now has thirty-four 'county-level' authorities, although the borders of the original twenty-six counties are still officially in place
[2].
In Northern Ireland, the six county councils and the smaller town councils were abolished in 1973 and replaced by a single tier of local government. However, in the north as well as in the south, the traditional 32 counties and 4 provinces remain in common usage for many sporting, cultural and other purposes. County identity is heavily reinforced in the local culture by allegiances to county teams in
Hurling and
Gaelic football. Each
GAA county has its own flag/colours (and often a nickname too), and county allegiances are taken quite seriously. See the
counties of Ireland and the
Gaelic Athletic Association.
Japan
"County" is one of the translations of ''gun'' (郡), which is a subdivision of
prefecture. It is also translated as
rural district,
rural area or
district. The translation "district" is not preferred, because it comes into conflict with the usual translation of "district", ''chome''. In this encyclopedia, 'district' is used for ''gun''. See .
Presently, "counties" have no political power or administrative function. The division is mainly significant in
postal services.
Liberia
Liberia has 15 counties, each of which elects two senators to the Liberian Senate.
Lithuania
''Apskritis'' (pl. ''apskritys'') is the Lithuanian word for county. Since 1994
Lithuania has 10 counties; before 1950 it had 20. The only purpose with the county is an office of a state governor who shall conduct law and order in the county. See
counties of Lithuania.
New Zealand
Main articles: Counties in New Zealand
After
New Zealand abolished its
provinces in 1876, a system of counties similar to other countries' systems was instituted, lasting until 1989.
They had chairmen, not mayors as
boroughs and cities had; many legislative provisions (such as
burial and
land subdivision control) were different for the counties.
During the second half of the
20th century, many counties received overflow population from nearby cities. The result was often a merger of the two into a "district" (eg
Rotorua) or a change of name to "district' (eg Waimairi) or "
city" (eg
Manukau).
The Local Government Act 1974 began the process of bringing urban, mixed, and rural councils into the same legislative framework. Substantial reorganisations under that Act resulted in the 1989 shake-up, which covered the country in (non-overlapping) cities and districts and abolished all the counties except for the
Chatham Islands County, which survived under that name for a further 6 years but then became a "Territory" under the "Chatham Islands Council".
Norway
Norway is divided into 19
counties (sing. ''fylke'', plur. ''fylke/fylker'', literally "folk") as of 1972. Up to this year
Bergen was a separate county, but is today a
municipality in the county of
Hordaland. All counties are divided into
municipalities, (sing. ''kommune'', plur. ''kommunar/kommuner''), the ones with incorporated cities being called city municipalities (sing. ''bykommune'', plur. ''bykommunar/bykommuner''). The county of
Oslo is equivalent to the municipality of Oslo.
Each county has its own assembly (''fylkesting'') whose representatives are elected every 4 years together with representatives to the municipality councils. The counties handle matters as high schools and local roads, and until recently hospitals as well. This responsibility is now transferred to the state, and there is a debate on the future of the county as an administrative entity. Some people, and parties, such as the
Conservative Party of Norway, call for the abolishment of the counties once and for all, while others merely want to merger some of them into larger regions.
Pakistan
The administrative unit in
Pakistan immediately next to the state is called a Zilla in Urdu and district (never County) in English.
Poland
Polish second-level administration unit ''
powiat'' is usually translated into
English as ''county'' or ''district''. See
List of counties in Poland
Romania
The administrative subdivisions of
Romania are called ''judeţ'' (plural: ''judeţe''), name derived from ''jude'', a mayor and judge of a city (akin to English ''judge''; both are derived from Latin) Presently Romania is subdivided into 41 counties and the capital,
Bucharest having a separate status. See the list of
counties of Romania.
Russia
Russian subdivisions is usually called ''municipality rayon'' (
Russian: Муниципальный район) or ''okrug'' (
Russian: округ). ''Rayons'' are named as ''Ulus''(Улус) in
Sakha Republic.
''Rayon'', ''Okrug'' and
Ulus maybe translated into English as county or district.
Serbia and Montenegro
Subdivisions of Serbia (''
okrug'') are sometimes translated as counties, though more often as districts. See
District#Serbia and Montenegro
Sweden
The Swedish division into
counties was established in 1634, and was based on an earlier division into
Provinces.
Sweden is today divided into 21 counties, and each county is further divided into
municipalities. At the county level there is a
county administrative board led by a governor appointed by the central
government of Sweden, as well as an elected
county council that handles a separate set of issues, notably
hospitals and
public transportation.
The Swedish term used is ''
län'', which literally means "
fief."
United Kingdom
Main articles: Counties of the United Kingdom
The
United Kingdom is divided into a number of
metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties. There are also
ceremonial counties which group small non-metropolitan counties into geographic areas broadly based on the
historic counties of England. The metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties had replaced in 1974 a system of
administrative counties and
county boroughs which were introduced in 1889.
Most non-metropolitan counties in England are run by
county councils and divided into
non-metropolitan districts, each with its own council. Local authorities in the UK are usually responsible for running education, emergency services, planning, transport, social services, and a number of other functions.
In
England, in the
Anglo-Saxon period, ''Shires'' were established as areas used for the raising of
taxes, and usually had a fortified town at their centre. These became known as the ''shire town'' or later the
county town. In most cases, the shires were named after their shire town (for example Bedford''shire'') however exceptions to this rule exist, such as
Wiltshire. In several other cases, such as
Devon, the shire has a county town different from that which it is named after. The name 'county' was introduced by the
Normans, and was derived from a Norman term for an area administered by a
Count (lord). These Norman 'counties' were geographically based upon the Saxon shires, and kept their Saxon names. Several traditional counties, including
Essex,
Sussex and
Kent, predate the unification of England by
Alfred the Great, and originally existed as independent kingdoms.
The thirteen
historic counties of Wales were fixed by Statute in 1539 (although counties such as
Pembrokeshire date from 1138) and most of those of Scotland are of at least this age.
The county boundaries of England have changed over time. In the
mediæval period, a number of important cities were granted the status of counties in their own right, such as
London,
Bristol and
Coventry, and numerous small
exclaves such as
Islandshire were created. The next major change occurred in 1844, when many of these exclaves were re-merged with their surrounding counties (for example Coventry was re-merged with
Warwickshire).
In 1965 and 1974 a major re-organisation of local government created several new administrative counties such as
Hereford and Worcester and also created several new
metropolitan counties which served large urban areas as a single administrative unit. Modern local government in
Scotland,
Wales, Northern Ireland and a large part of England is based on the concept of smaller unitary authorities, a system similar to that proposed for most of Britain in the 1960s.
United States
''Main article:
County (United States)''
Map of the United States with county outlines.
The term ''county'' is used in 48 of the 50
states of the
United States for a tier of organization immediately below the statewide tier and above (where created) the municipal or
civil township tier.
Louisiana has entities similar to counties but calls them
''parishes''.
Alaska is divided into
''boroughs'', which typically provide fewer local services than most counties, as the state government provides more services directly. Some of Alaska's boroughs have merged geographical boundaries and administrative functions with their principal (and sometimes only) cities; these are known as ''unified city-boroughs'' and result in some of Alaska's cities ranking among the geographically largest "cities" in the world. However, Alaska officially considers such entities to be boroughs, not cities. Alaska is also unique in that over half the geographic area of the state is in the "
Unorganized Borough", a legal entity where the state government also functions as the local government.
In two states and parts of a third, county government has been abolished, and ''county'' refers to geographic governmental regions or districts.
In
Connecticut,
[2]
Rhode Island[3]
and parts of
Massachusetts[4][5]
counties exist only to designate boundaries for such state-level functions as park districts (Connecticut) or judicial offices (Massachusetts). In states where county government is weak or nonexistent,
town government may provide some or all of the local government services.
When possessing a functioning government, each county will have a
county seat (a center of county administration), usually in an incorporated municipality.
Independent cities and census districts are termed ''county equivalents'' when they function as the first jurisdiction below state level but are not part of any county.
References
1. Etymology of the word ''county''.
2. National Association of Counties (U.S.A.): Connecticut Counties
3. National Association of Counties (U.S.A.): Rhode Island Counties
4. National Association of Counties (U.S.A.): Massachusetts Counties
5. Massachusetts Leage of Women Voters: Massachusetts Government: County Government
★
County Square Web Site
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