Municipality

A municipality is an administrative division with its own legal identity and the authority to govern itself, as defined by the national or regional laws that oversee it. The term can also refer to the governing body itself. Unlike a special-purpose district, a municipality is a general-purpose administrative unit. The word comes from the French municipalité, which traces back to the Latin municipalis and municipium—a term for a social contract.

Originally, it described Latin communities that provided troops to Rome in exchange for incorporation into the Roman state, which granted their inhabitants Roman citizenship while allowing them to keep their own local governments with limited autonomy. A municipality can be any political jurisdiction, from a sovereign state like Monaco to a tiny village like West Hampton Dunes, New York. Its territory may cover a single populated place (a city, town, or village), multiple such places (as in early New Jersey townships or municipalities in Mexico and Colombia), or only parts of places, such as the boroughs that make up the 34 municipalities of Santiago, Chile. Municipalities range from nearly full autonomy to complete subordination to the state.

Political powers

They may have the power to tax individuals and corporations through income, property, and corporate taxes, but they can also receive substantial state funding. In some European countries, like Germany, municipalities have a constitutional right to supply public services via municipally owned utility companies. Cognates of "municipality" include Spanish municipio (Spain) and municipalidad (Chile), Catalan municipi, and Portuguese município.

Commune

In Brazil, a município is the smallest territorial division with executive and legislative powers, recognized by the federal constitution and established through state constitutions. Since 1988, all municípios are federation members. Locals often use "municipality" and "city" interchangeably, though the constitution defines "city" as the seat of the municipality. Many countries use terms cognate with "commune," referring to the community and its common interests.