A parish is an administrative division used by several countries. To distinguish it from an ecclesiastical parish, the term civil parish is used in some jurisdictions, as noted below.
The table below lists countries which use this administrative division:
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A municipio (Spanish: [muniˈθipjo, muniˈsipjo]) or município (Portuguese: [muniˈsipju, muniˈsipiu]) is an administrative division in several Hispanophone and Lusophone nations, respectively. It is often translated as 'municipality' in English. It comes from mūnicipium (Latin: [muːnɪˈkɪpiʊ̃ˑ]), meaning 'township'.
In English, a municipality often is defined as relating to a single city or town, but in Spanish, the term municipio may mean not a single city or town but rather a jurisdiction with several towns and cities such as a township, county, borough or civil parish. The Italian term municipalità (IPA: [muniˌt͡ʃipaliˈta]) refers to a single city or to a group of cities and towns in a township, and the term municipio (IPA: [muniˈt͡ʃiːpjo]) is used for city subdivisions. On the other hand, usage of município in Portuguese is almost entirely restricted to a cluster of cities or towns such as a county or township. However, in Brazil, a município is an independent city and a public corporation with the status of a federated entity. In the Philippines, a munisipyo (Tagalog: [mʊnɪˈsipjo]) may refer to a town hall.
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in six countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. An equivalent term, shire town, is used in the U.S. state of Vermont and in several other English-speaking jurisdictions.
A local museum or local history museum is a type of museum that shows the historical development of a place/region (local history) using exhibits. These museums usually maintain a collection of historic three-dimensional objects which are exhibited in displays. Such museums are often small in nature and generally have a low budget for their running costs. As such, many of the collections are compiled, cataloged, and interpreted by amateur historians as well as professionals.
These museums can cover a governmental defined unit such as a town, city, county, or parish or they can cover an area defined within the museum's mission. In the United States while some museums may be part of the local government or receive funding from them in some way. However, most local history museums are usually self-funded. These museums can also run as independent organizations or they can managed by an accompanying local historical society which also will maintain an archive of local records in addition to the museum's three-dimensional object collection.
This list ranks the top 150 U.S. cities (incorporated places) by 2025 land area. Total areas including water are also given, but when ranked by total area, a number of coastal cities appear disproportionately larger. San Francisco is an extreme example: water makes up nearly 80% of its total area of 232 square miles (601 km).
In many cases an incorporated place is geographically large because its municipal government has merged with the government of the surrounding county. In some cases the county no longer exists, while in others the arrangement has formed a consolidated city-county (or city-borough in Alaska, or city-parish in Louisiana); these are shown in bold. Some consolidated city-counties, however, include multiple incorporated places. In such cases, this list presents only that portion (or “balance”) of such consolidated city-counties that are not a part of another incorporated place; these are indicated with asterisks (*). Cities that are not consolidated with or part of any county are independent cities, indicated with two asterisks (**).
The U.S. state of Louisiana is divided into 64 parishes (French: paroisses), making it the only state besides Alaska to call its primary subdivisions something other than "counties". Louisiana's usage of the term "parish" for a geographic region or local government dates back to the French colonial era and is connected to ecclesiastical parishes.
Thirty-eight parishes are governed by a council called a police jury. The remaining 26 have various other forms of government, including: council-president, council-manager, parish commission, and consolidated parish/city.
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, which for centuries were the principal unit of secular and religious administration in most of England and Wales. Civil and religious parishes were formally split into two types in the 19th century and are now entirely separate. Civil parishes in their modern form came into being through the Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73), which established elected parish councils to take on the secular functions of the parish vestry.
A civil parish can range in size from a sparsely populated rural area with fewer than a hundred inhabitants, to a large town with a population in excess of 100,000. This scope is similar to that of municipalities in continental Europe, such as the communes of France. However, unlike their continental European counterparts, parish councils are not principal authorities, and in most cases have a relatively minor role in local government.
A municipal seat (Spanish: cabecera municipal; ) is the administrative center and seat of government of a municipality or civil parish, with other villages or towns subordinated. The term is used in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Guatemala and Venezuela.