Gemeindeverband (German: [ɡəˈmaɪ̯ndəfɛɐ̯ˌbant] ) is a union of at least two municipalities (German: Gemeinde) in Germany to form a Körperschaft des öffentlichen Rechts (statutory corporation) with the purpose to exercise the powers of self-government at a larger scale, while maintaining autonomy of its members.
The word is mentioned multiple times in the German constitution (German: Grundgesetz), but without an exact definition.
Kitatama (北多摩郡, Kita-Tama-gun, North Tama) was a district located in the Japanese Prefecture of Kanagawa from 1878 to 1893 and then in the Prefecture of Tokyo until 1970.
In 1878, the Meiji government made the first step to introduce modern administrative divisions on the municipal level: The districts (gun) were created from the pre-modern districts (gun or kōri) with their towns and villages. The old Tama District of Musashi Province was divided into four parts: Eastern Tama (Higashitama) became part of Tokyo Prefecture and the three other districts of Northern Tama (Kitatama), Southern Tama (Minamitama) and Western Tama (Nishitama) part of Kanagawa Prefecture.