City status in the United Kingdom council areas and have their own city councils. The cities of Perth, Stirling and Inverness are part of council areas which do not have city status, and have no city councils. Stirling Council's application for city status was specifically for the urban area of the (now former) Royal Burgh of Stirling and included proposed city boundaries which are much smaller than Stirling council area. Cardiff, Newport and Swansea are principal areas and have city councils. The city councils of Bangor, St Asaph and St Davids are community councils with limited powers. Belfast City Council is a local government district council.
City status in Ireland originally to the jurisdiction of a capital town, typically the territory of a single conquered tribe. Later it came to mean the capital town itself. When Christianity was organised in Gaul, each diocese was the territory of a tribe, and each bishop resided in the "civitas". Thus "civitas" came to mean the site of a cathedral. This usage carried over generally to Anglo-Norman "cité" and English "city" in England. William Blackstone's "Commentaries on the Laws of England" of 1765 cites Edward Coke's "Institutes of the Lawes of England" of 1634: A city is a town incorporated, which is or hath