Local government area

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The term is particularly common in Australia where it is synonymous with the term municipality. Local government authorities across the country have similar functions and powers, but have different official designations in different states, and according to whether they are urban or rural. Most urban municipalities in all states are cities. Many in Western Australia are officially towns, even within the Perth metropolitan area. Many rural areas in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia are shires, while rural areas in South Australia have district councils, and those in Tasmania officially use the title municipality. It is largely for this reason that the term local government area, or simply LGA, is favoured over the term municipality, the use of which could easily lead to confusion. In recent years changes to the structures of local government have given rise to new official designations, while other terms have fallen out of favour. In the mid-1990s the state government of Victoria amalgamated almost all municipalities, abolishing many cities and shires, all towns and all but one borough. Queenscliff, south of Melbourne, is now the only place in Australia that is officially a borough. Meanwhile, many 'rural cities' were formed in largely rural areas where the core town is large enough, in terms of population, to be considered a city. In many such cases that town had previously been governed by a now defunct city council. Restructuring of local government in New South Wales and Queensland in the following decade gave rise to the municipal designations of 'region' and 'area', for example the Sunshine Coast of Queensland was formerly divided into several shires, but is now governed by a single Sunshine Coast Regional Council.

Local government area is an official designation in The Gambia, and Nigeria.

List of countries where "local government area" is an official designation


See also

de:Local Government Area fr:Local Government Area it:Local Government Area ru:Районы местного управления