Municipality

A municipality or general-purpose district (see also: special-purpose district) is an administrative region generally composed of a clearly defined area and commonly referring to a city, town, or village government. Municipalities are not necessarily the same as townships. In most countries, this is the smallest administrative subdivision that has its own democratically elected representative leadership.

In the People's Republic of China, a municipality (直辖市 in pinyin: zhíxiéshì) is a city with equal status to a province: Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing (see Municipality of China)
In Belgium, a municipality (gemeente/commune) is part of a province (provincie/province)
In Brazil, a municipality (município) is part of a state (estado)
In Denmark, a municipality (kommune) is part of a county (amt)
In Finland, a municipality (kunta/kommun) is part of a province (lääni/län)
In France, a municipality (commune) is part of a department (département)
In Germany, a municipality (Gemeinde) is part of a district (Kreis). Larger entities of the same level are named city (Stadt).
In Italy, a municipality (comune) is part of a province (provincia) which is part of a region (regione).
In the Netherlands, a municipality (gemeente) is part of a province (provincie).
In Japan, any government other than the Japanese national government is called a municipality.
In Mexico, a municipality (municipio) is subdivision of a state (estado).
In Norway, a municipality (kommune) is part of a county (fylke)
In the Philippines, a municipality (bayan) is part of a province (lalawigan) and is composed of barangays.
In Portugal, a municipality (município) is part of a district (distrito).
In Puerto Rico, a municipality (municipio) serves as a second-order administrative division.
In Serbia and Montenegro, a municipality (opština) is the topmost regional division in Montenegro but part of a county (okrug) in Serbia.
In Sweden, a municipality (kommun) is part of a county (län).
In Switzerland, a municipality (commune/Gemeinde/comune) is part of a canton (canton/Kanton/cantone) and defined by cantonal law.
In the Republic of China on Taiwan, a municipality (直轄市 in Wade-Giles: chi-hsia-shih) is a city with equal status to a province: Taipei and Kaohsiung. (see Municipality of China)