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A burg in the Beowulf Beowulf - burg.jpg
A burg in the Beowulf





The word borough derives from the Old English word burg, burh, meaning a fortified settlement; the word appears as modern English bury, -brough, Scots burgh, [1] borg in Scandinavian languages, Burg in German.

A number of other European languages have cognate words that were borrowed from the Germanic languages during the Middle Ages, including brog in Irish, bwr or bwrc, meaning "wall, rampart" in Welsh, bourg in French, burg in Catalan (in Catalonia there is a town named Burg), borgo in Italian, burgo in Portuguese and Castilian (hence the place-name Burgos), the -bork of Lębork and Malbork in Polish and the -bor of Maribor in Slovenian.

The 'burg' element, which means "castle" or "fortress", is often confused with 'berg' meaning "hill" or "mountain" (c.f. iceberg, inselberg). Hence the 'berg' element in Bergen or Heidelberg relates to a hill, rather than a fort. In some cases, the 'berg' element in place names has converged towards burg/borough; for instance Farnborough, from fernaberga (fern-hill).


In many parts of England, "borough" is pronounced /ˈbʌrə/ ( Loudspeaker.svg listen ) as an independent word, and as /bərə/ when a suffix of a place-name. As a suffix, it is sometimes spelled "-brough".

In the United States, "borough" is pronounced /ˈbʌr/ . When appearing as the suffix "-burg(h)" in place-names, it is pronounced /bɜːrɡ/ .



In Australia, the term "borough" is an occasionally used term for a local government area. Currently there is only one borough in Australia, the Borough of Queenscliffe in Victoria, although there have been more in the past. However, in some cases it can be integrated into the council's name instead of used as an official title, such as the Municipality of Kingborough in Tasmania.


In Quebec, the term borough is generally used as the English translation of arrondissement , referring to an administrative division of a municipality, or a district. Eight municipalities are divided into boroughs: See List of boroughs in Quebec.

In Ontario, it was previously used to denote suburban municipalities in Metropolitan Toronto, including Scarborough, York, North York and Etobicoke prior to their conversions to cities. The Borough of East York was the last Toronto municipality to hold this status, relinquishing it upon becoming part of the City of Toronto government on January 1, 1998.

The Colombian Municipalities are subdivided into boroughs (English translation of the Spanish term localidades) with a local executive and an administrative board for local government. These Boroughs are divided in neighborhoods.

Also, the principal cities had localidades with the same features as the European or American cities, including Soacha in Bogotá, Bello, La Estrella, Sabaneta, Envigado and Itagüí on Medellín.


There are four borough districts designated by the Local Government Reform Act 2014: Clonmel, Drogheda, Sligo, and Wexford. A local boundary review reporting in 2018 proposed granting borough status to any district containing a census town with a population over 30,000; this would have included the towns of Dundalk, Bray, and Navan. [2] This requires an amendment to the 2014 act, promised for 2019 by minister John Paul Phelan. [3]

Historically, there were 117 parliamentary boroughs in the Irish House of Commons, of which 80 were disfranchised by the Acts of Union 1800 and all but 11 abolished under the Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840. Under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898, six of these became county boroughs: Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Derry, Limerick and Waterford. From 1921, Belfast and Derry were part of Northern Ireland and stayed within the United Kingdom on the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. Galway was a borough from 1937 until upgraded to a county borough in 1985. [4] [5] The county boroughs in the Republic of Ireland were redesignated as "cities" under the Local Government Act 2001.

Dún Laoghaire was a borough from 1930 until merged into Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown county in 1994. [6] [7]

There were five borough councils in place at the time of the Local Government Reform Act 2014 which abolished all second-tier local government units of borough and town councils. Each local government authority outside of Dublin, Cork City and Galway City was divided into areas termed municipal districts. In four of the areas which had previously been contained borough councils, as listed above, these were instead termed Borough Districts. Kilkenny had previously had a borough council, but its district was to be called the Municipal District of Kilkenny City, in recognition of its historic city status. [8]





In Mexico as translations from English to Spanish applied to Mexico City, the word borough has resulted in a delegación (delegation), referring to the 16 administrative areas within the Mexico City, now called Alcaldías. (see: Boroughs of Mexico and Boroughs of Mexico City).


In the Netherlands, the municipalities of Rotterdam and Amsterdam were divided into administrative boroughs, or deelgemeenten, which had their own borough council and a borough mayor. Other large cities are usually divided into districts, or stadsdelen, for census purposes. The deelgemeenten were abolished in 2014.

New Zealand



Trinidad and Tobago

In Trinidad and Tobago, a Borough is a unit of Local Government. There are 3 boroughs in The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago:

United Kingdom

England and Wales

Ancient and municipal boroughs


Debates on the Reform Bill (eventually the Reform Act 1832) lamented the diversity of polity of such town corporations, and a Royal Commission was set up to investigate this. This resulted in a regularisation of municipal government by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. 178 of the ancient boroughs were re-formed as municipal boroughs, with all municipal corporations to be elected according to a standard franchise based on property ownership. The unreformed boroughs lapsed in borough status, or were reformed (or abolished) later. Several new municipal boroughs were formed in the new industrial cities after the bill enacted, per its provisions.

As part of a large-scale reform of local government in England and Wales in 1974, municipal boroughs were finally abolished (having become increasingly irrelevant). However, the civic traditions of many were continued by the grant of a charter to their successor district councils. As to smallest boroughs, a town council was formed for an alike zone, while charter trustees were formed for a few others. A successor body is allowed to use the regalia of the old corporation, and appoint ceremonial office holders such as sword and mace bearers as provided in their original charters. The council, or trustees, may apply for an Order in Council or Royal Licence to use the coat of arms.

Parliamentary boroughs



County boroughs



Metropolitan boroughs

In 1899, as part of a reform of local government in the County of London, the various parishes in London were reorganised as new entities, the 'metropolitan boroughs'. These were reorganised further when Greater London was formed out of Middlesex, parts of Surrey, Kent, Essex, Hertfordshire and the County of London in 1965. These council areas are now referred to as "London boroughs" rather than "metropolitan boroughs".

When the new metropolitan counties (Greater Manchester, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, West Midlands, and West Yorkshire) were created in 1974, their sub-divisions also became metropolitan boroughs in many, but not all, cases; in many cases these metropolitan boroughs recapitulated abolished county boroughs (for example, Stockport). The metropolitan boroughs possessed slightly more autonomy from the metropolitan county councils than the shire county districts did from their county councils.


Other current uses


Northern Ireland



United States



See also

Related Research Articles



County Geographical and administrative region in some countries

A county is a geographical region of a country used for administrative or other purposes in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French conté or cunté denoting a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count (earl) or a viscount. Literal equivalents in other languages, derived from the equivalent of "count", are now seldom used officially, including comté, contea, contado, comtat, condado, Grafschaft, graafschap, and zhupa in Slavic languages; terms equivalent to English language administrative terms such as municipality, district, circuit and commune/community are now often instead used.

City status in the United Kingdom Status granted by royal charter to settlements in the United Kingdom

City status in the United Kingdom is granted by the monarch of the United Kingdom to a select group of communities: as of 2014, there are 69 cities in the United Kingdom – 51 in England, six in Wales, seven in Scotland and five in Northern Ireland. Although it carries no special rights, the status of city can be a marker of prestige and confer local pride.

Metropolitan borough Type of local government district in England

A metropolitan borough is a type of local government district in England, and is a subdivision of a metropolitan county. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts. However, all of them have been granted or regranted royal charters to give them borough status. Metropolitan boroughs have been effectively unitary authority areas since the abolition of metropolitan county councils by the Local Government Act 1985. However, metropolitan boroughs pool much of their authority in joint boards and other arrangements that cover whole metropolitan counties, such as city regions or combined authorities.


Burgh Former autonomous corporate entity in Scotland and Northern England


In England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected urban district council (UDC), which shared local government responsibilities with a county council.

A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities.



Local government in the Republic of Ireland Tier of administration in Ireland

Local government in the Republic of Ireland's functions are mostly exercised by thirty-one local authorities, termed County, City, or City and County Councils. The principal decision-making body in each of the thirty-one local authorities is composed of the members of the council, elected by universal franchise in local elections every five years from multi-seat local electoral areas using the single transferable vote. Local authorities are the closest and most accessible form of Government to people in their local community. Many of the authorities' statutory functions are, however, the responsibility of ministerially appointed career officials termed Chief executives. The competencies of the city and county councils include planning, transport infrastructure, sanitary services, public safety and the provision of public libraries.

Non-metropolitan district Type of local government district in England

Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties in a two-tier arrangement. Non-metropolitan districts with borough status are known as boroughs, able to appoint a mayor and refer to itself as a borough council.

A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. The term can also be used to describe municipally owned corporations.

County Borough of Leeds Administrative division of Yorkshire, England until 1974

The County Borough of Leeds, and its predecessor, the Municipal Borough of Leeds, was a local government district in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, from 1835 to 1974. Its origin was the ancient borough of Leeds, which was reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. In 1889, when West Riding County Council was formed, Leeds became a county borough outside the administrative county of the West Riding; and in 1893 the borough gained city status. The borough was extended a number of times, expanding from 21,593 acres (8,738 ha) in 1911 to 40,612 acres (16,435 ha) in 1961; adding in stages the former area of Roundhay, Seacroft, Shadwell and Middleton parishes and gaining other parts of adjacent districts. In 1971 Leeds was the fifth largest county borough by population in England. The county borough was abolished in 1974 and replaced with the larger City of Leeds, a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire.

Borough status is granted by royal charter to local government districts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The status is purely honorary, and does not give any additional powers to the council or inhabitants of the district. In Scotland, similarly chartered communities were known as royal burghs, although the status is no longer granted.

A municipal district is an administrative entity comprising a clearly-defined territory and its population. It can refer to a city, a town, a village, a small grouping of them, or a rural area.

History of local government in England Aspect of history



City status in Ireland




  1. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition (2000)
  2. Local Electoral Area Boundary Committee No. 1 (13 June 2018). "4. Application of the Terms of Reference; Term of Reference 7". Report (PDF). Ireland: Government Publications Office. p. 18. ISBN   978-1-4064-2990-9 . Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  3. "Other Questions: Local Electoral Area Boundary Committee Report". Dáil debates. 15 January 2019.
  4. "Local Government (Galway) Act, 1937". Irish Statute Book . Archived from the original on 11 August 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  5. "Local Government (Reorganisation) Act, 1985". Irish Statute Book . Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  6. "Local Government (Dublin) Act, 1930". Irish Statute Book . Archived from the original on 23 July 2015. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  7. "Local Government (Dublin) Act, 1993". Irish Statute Book . Archived from the original on 11 August 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  8. "Local Government Reform Act 2014, Section 19 (insertion of section 22A into the Local Government Act 2001)". Irish Statute Book . Retrieved 2 August 2014.
  9. 1881 census summary Archived 2009-01-15 at the Wayback Machine
  10. Lien, Cathryn (July 14, 2017). "City of Mackinac Island Reaches 200th Anniversary". Mackinac Island Town Crier. Archived from the original on February 8, 2018. Retrieved February 7, 2018.