municipality

A municipality is a legally constituted territorial unit governed by municipal authorities.

It commonly covers a settlement together with land assigned to its local government. Its institutions, powers, size, and position are set by the law of the country, so municipal status cannot be inferred from population or built form.

A neighborhood or community can be a recognized place without an independent municipal government. Some countries also call province-level cities municipalities; their higher position does not remove their municipal legal identity.