civil township
A subdivision of a US county that has a government, used where townships rather than municipalities cover the land.
A civil township is a unit of local government below the county in about twenty US states. It covers territory rather than a settlement, so its boundary can enclose farmland, several villages and part of a city.
This is the distinction that most often goes wrong. A township and a city can occupy the same ground and both be real: the US Census gives a township a county subdivision code and a city a place code, and one settlement can therefore hold both. Ypsilanti in Michigan is a city and a township with separate boundaries and separate governments.
Do not use this type for a survey township, the six-mile square of the public land survey, which has no government and is not a region.
Michigan distinguishes a charter township, which has additional powers; that is a separate type here.