States of Germany and North Rhine-Westphalia are divided into governmental districts, or "Regierungsbezirke". In Rhineland-Palatinate, these districts were abolished on January 1, 2000, in Saxony-Anhalt on January 1, 2004, and in Lower Saxony on January 1, 2005. From 1990 until 2012, Saxony was divided into three districts (called "Direktionsbezirke" since 2008). In 2012, these districts' authorities were merged into one central authority, the "". The Districts of Germany "(Kreise)" are administrative districts, and every state except the city-states of Berlin and Hamburg and the state of Bremen consists of "rural districts" "(Landkreise)," District-free Towns/Cities ("Kreisfreie Städte", in Baden-Württemberg also called "urban districts", or
States of Germany are not covered by the normal administrative structure of the respective states. In 2010 only three "Kommunalverbände besonderer Art" exist. Ämter ("offices" or "bureaus"): In some states there is an administrative unit between the districts and the municipalities, called "Ämter" (singular "Amt"), "Amtsgemeinden", "Gemeindeverwaltungsverbände", "Landgemeinden", "Verbandsgemeinden", "Verwaltungsgemeinschaften", or "Kirchspiellandgemeinden". Municipalities ("Gemeinden"): Every rural district and every "Amt" is subdivided into municipalities, while every urban district is a municipality in its own right. There are () 12,141 municipalities, which are the smallest administrative units in Germany. Cities and towns are municipalities as well, also having city rights or town rights ("Stadtrechte").