A local government area (LGA) is an

administrative division Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...

of a country that a

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loc ...

is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

, division, or

territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

. The phrase is used as a generalised description in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

to refer to a variety of political divisions such as

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

unitary authorities A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governme ...

and

cities A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

, all of which have a council or similar body exercising a degree of self-government. Each of the United Kingdom's four constituent countries has its own structure of local government, for example Northern Ireland has local districts; many parts of England have non-metropolitan counties consisting of rural districts; London and many other urban areas have boroughs; there are three islands councils off the coast of Scotland; while the rest of Scotland and all of Wales are divided into unitary authority counties, some of which are officially designated as cities. As such the term local government area is a convenient generic label referring to all of these authorities and the areas within their control. The term is particularly common in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

where it is synonymous with "municipality". Local government authorities across the country have similar functions and powers, but have different official designations in different states, and according to whether they are urban or rural. Most urban municipalities in all states are "cities". Many in Western Australia are officially "towns", even within the Perth metropolitan area. Many rural areas in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia are "shires", while rural areas in South Australia have "district councils", and those in Tasmania officially use the title "municipality". Due to the Australian Capital Territory's small size it has no local government and is instead overseen by the

ACT Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory (known in short as the ACT Legislative Assembly) is the unicameral legislature of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It sits in the Legislative Assembly Building on Civic S ...

. It is largely for this reason that the term "local government area", or simply "LGA", is favoured over the term "municipality", the use of which could easily lead to confusion. In recent years changes to the structures of local government have given rise to new official designations, while other terms have fallen out of favour. In the mid-1990s the state government of Victoria amalgamated almost all municipalities, abolishing many cities and shires, all towns and all but one borough. Queenscliff, south of Melbourne, is now the only place in Australia that is officially a borough. Meanwhile, many "rural cities" were formed in largely rural areas where the core town is large enough, in terms of population, to be considered a city. In many such cases that town had previously been governed by a now defunct city council. Restructuring of local government in New South Wales and Queensland in the following decade gave rise to the municipal designations of "region" and "area", for example the Sunshine Coast of Queensland was formerly divided into several shires, but is now governed by a single Sunshine Coast Regional Council. "Local government area" is also an official designation in

The Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

and

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

Countries

List of countries where "local government area" is an official designation *

Local government in Australia Local government is the third level of government in Australia, administered with limited autonomy under the states and territories, and in turn beneath the federal government. Local government is not mentioned in the Constitution of Austral ...

Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

: Local government areas of the Gambia *

: Local government areas of Nigeria

References

{{Terms for types of country subdivisions Types of administrative division Local government

Countries

See also

References