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Urban & Government Area Geographical Concepts
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| PRIMARY GOVERNMENT AREAS |
| Nation |
A self governing area. All land on Earth, except for
Antarctica is under the jurisdiction of a nation. |
| SECONDARY GOVERNMENT AREAS |
| Secondary
Government Area |
A secondary level of government and primary division of a
Nation, which may or may not be a division of national
government (a federal or unitary nation, respectively).
Normally, all of the territory of a nation is allocated to
Provinces. |
| Province |
See Secondary Government Area |
| State |
See Secondary Government Area (for example, United
States, Australia, India Mexico or Brazil) |
| Lander |
As used in Germany, a secondary level of government |
| Territory |
See Secondary Government Area (for example, Canada,
India or Australia). Sometimes a Territory is extra-territorial. |
| Prefecture |
See Secondary Government Area (Japan) |
| Republic |
As used in the Russian Federation, see Secondary
Government Area |
| Region |
In France, a secondary level of government. |
| County: UK
Definition |
As used in the United Kingdom and Sweden, a secondary
level of government. See Province. |
| TERTIARY GOVERNMENT AREAS |
| Tertiary Government
Area |
A government area between a Municipality and a
Secondary Government Area. Usually the entire area of
the Secondary Government Area is divided between
Tertiery Government Areas, or between Tertiary
Government Areas and Municipalities with the essential
status of Tertiary Government Areas. In most cases, a
county includes one or more Municipalities. |
| County: US
Definition |
As used in the United States, China and Canada, a
tertiary level of government, between a Municipality and a
Province. Usually the entire area of the Province is
divided between Counties, or between Counties and
Municipalities with the essential status of counties (as in
the state of Virginia). In most cases, a county includes
one or more Municipalities. |
| Department |
France: A tertiary level of government |
| MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT AREAS |
| Municipality |
A geographical local unit of government that is largely
urban, such as the cities of New York, Paris, Mumbai or
Munich. In some cases, municipalities contain large
expanses of non-urban land (rural land), such as
Chongquing, Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin. Most
Municipalities exist within secondary or tertiary
government areas. However, some Municipalities
essentially serve effectively the function secondary
governments (such as the Chinese municipalities above
and Washington, DC). Others serve the essential
unctions of tertiary governments (state of Virginia). |
| City |
See Municipality |
| Vile |
See Municipality |
| SUB-MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT AREAS |
| Municipal District |
A division of a municipality. May correspond to the area
represented by a one or more members of a municipal
council (legislative assembly) and may have its own area
government (as in Paris, Seoul, New York and London). |
| Ward |
See Municipal District |
| Arrondissement |
France: Municipal District |
| District |
See Municipal District |
| Ku |
Japanese term for Municipal District, as in Osaka,
Nagoya, Kobe and Kyoto. As used in Tokyo, a division of
the 1932 defined city of Tokyo, whose government has
been combined with the government of the Prefecture of
Tokyo. |
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| Borough |
As used in New York, a Municipal District corresponding
to sub-Municipal county boundaries. As used in London, a
Municipal District. |
| Gu |
South Korea: Municipal District |
| AGGLOMERATIONS (METROPOLITAN AREAS & URBANIZED AREAS) |
| Metropolitan Area |
A broadly defined area of urban development, normally
defined by major government jurisdictional boundaries,
and usually including comparatively large expanses of
rural land. Because of the differences in the percentage
of rural land in metropolitan areas, measures of
population density are of little value and can be
misleading. For example:
(1) In the United States,
metropolitan areas are defined by county boundaries in
44 states. In the 6 New England states (Connecticut,
Mained, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island
and Vermont) and in Puerto Rico, metropolitan areas are
defined by muncipal boundaries and contain relatively
little rural land. An alternative definition of metropolitan
areas is also used in New England, based upon county
areas, which contain large expanses of rural land. (2) In
Canada, metropolitan areas are defined by muncipal
boundaries, many of which are regional municipalities
with large expanses of rural land. (3) In Japan, some
metropolitan areas are defined by prefecture boundaries
and contain large expanses of rural land. |
| Urbanized Area |
An area of urban development, also refered to as a
Developed Area or Built-Up Area. Urbanized areas
exclude non-urban (rural) land. As used by Demographia,
an urbanized area is an expanse of contiguously
developed land. This is also the general definition of the
US Census Bureau, which requires such development to
be at a density of 1,000 persons per square mile or more.
Canadian and Australian census authorities have begun
to use a density definition of 400 persons per square
kilometer, which is approximately equal to the US
definition. Kenworthy and Laube use a broader definition,
including all areas of urban development within a
particular metropolitan area, so that urbanized areas so
defined include areas that are not contiguous. Urbanized
Areas are normally smaller than Municipalities. However,
the large Chinese Municipalities contain large expanses
of rural land and area larger than their urbanized areas
(Beijing, Chongquing, Shanghai and Tianjin). |
| Developed Area |
See Urbanized Area |
| Built-Up Area |
See Urbanized Area |
