Obec is the Czech and Slovak word for a municipality. The literal meaning of the word is "commune" or "community". It is the smallest administrative unit that is governed by elected representatives. Cities and towns are also municipalities.
Signs showing the border of two municipalities
An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. There are many unincorporated communities and areas in the United States and Canada.
Sign at Contra Costa Centre Transit Village, an unincorporated community in Contra Costa County, California, north of the city of Walnut Creek
Sign prohibiting entry to the Boletice Military Training Area
Nutbush, an unincorporated area in Haywood County, Tennessee
Rosslyn, one of many high-rise neighborhoods in Arlington County, Virginia. The county has no cities within its borders, and five times the population density of the state's most populous city, Virginia Beach.