1.
Local government
–
Local government is a form of public administration which, in a majority of contexts, exists as the lowest tier of administration within a given state. Local governments generally act within powers delegated to them by legislation or directives of the level of government. The question of autonomy is a key question of public administration. The institutions of government vary greatly between countries, and even where similar arrangements exist, the terminology often varies. Local government traditionally had limited power in Egypts highly centralized state, under the central government were twenty-six governorates. These were subdivided into districts and villages or towns, at each level, there was a governing structure that combined representative councils and government-appointed executive organs headed by governors, district officers, and mayors, respectively. Governors were appointed by the president, and they, in turn, the coercive backbone of the state apparatus ran downward from the Ministry of Interior through the governors executive organs to the district police station and the village headman. The extension of officials into the countryside permitted the regime to bring development, State penetration did not retreat under Sadat and Mubarak. The earlier effort to mobilize peasants and deliver services disappeared as the party and cooperative withered. The local power of the old families and the headmen revived, the district police station balanced the notables, and the system of local government integrated them into the regime. Sadat took several measures to decentralize power to the provinces and towns, governors acquired more authority under Law Number 43 of 1979, which reduced the administrative and budgetary controls of the central government over the provinces. The elected councils acquired, at least formally, the right to approve or disapprove the local budget, in an effort to reduce local demands on the central treasury, local government was given wider powers to raise local taxes. But local representative councils became vehicles of pressure for government spending, under Mubarak decentralization and local autonomy became more of a reality, and local policies often reflected special local conditions. Thus, officials in Upper Egypt often bowed to the powerful Islamic movement there, in recent years, Mali has undertaken an ambitious decentralization program, which involves the capital district of Bamako, seven regions subdivided into 46 cercles, and 682 rural community districts. The state retains a role in administrative and fiscal matters, and it provides technical support, coordination. Opportunities for direct participation, and increased local responsibility for development have been improved. In August–September 1998, elections were held for urban council members, in May/June 1999, citizens of the communes elected their communal council members for the first time. Female voter turnout was about 70% of the total, and observers considered the process open, eventually, the cercles will be reinstituted with a legal and financial basis of their own
Local government
–
Taipei City Government
2.
Town
–
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size definition for what constitutes a town varies considerably in different parts of the world, the word town shares an origin with the German word Zaun, the Dutch word tuin, and the Old Norse tun. The German word Zaun comes closest to the meaning of the word. An early borrowing from Celtic *dunom, in English and Dutch, the meaning of the word took on the sense of the space which these fences enclosed. In England, a town was a community that could not afford or was not allowed to build walls or other larger fortifications. In the Netherlands, this space was a garden, more specifically those of the wealthy, in Old Norse tun means a place between farmhouses, and is still used in a similar meaning in modern Norwegian. If there was any distinction between toun and burgh as claimed by some, it did not last in practice as burghs, for example, Edina Burgh or Edinburgh was built around a fort and eventually came to have a defensive wall. In some cases, town is a name for city or village. Sometimes, the town is short for township. A places population size is not a determinant of urban character. In many areas of the world, as in India at least until recent times, in the United Kingdom, there are historical cities that are far smaller than the larger towns. Some forms of settlement, such as temporary mining locations, may be clearly non-rural. Towns often exist as governmental units, with legally defined borders. In the United States these are referred to as incorporated towns, in other cases the town lacks its own governance and is said to be unincorporated. Note that the existence of a town may be legally set forth through other means. In the case of planned communities, the town exists legally in the form of covenants on the properties within the town. Australian geographer Thomas Griffith Taylor proposed a classification of towns based on their age, although there is no official use of the term for any settlement. In Albanian qytezë means small city or new city, while in ancient times small residential center within the walls of a castle
Town
–
Çeşme,
Turkey a coastal Turkish town with houses in regional style and an Ottoman Castle.
Town
–
The alpine town of
Davos in the
Swiss Alps.
Town
–
Reading,
England, is a large town which has unsuccessfully tried to
become a city.
Town
–
The historical town of
Skalica in
Slovakia.
3.
City
–
A city is a large and permanent human settlement. Cities generally have complex systems for sanitation, utilities, land usage, housing, a big city or metropolis usually has associated suburbs and exurbs. Such cities are associated with metropolitan areas and urban areas. Once a city expands far enough to another city, this region can be deemed a conurbation or megalopolis. Damascus is arguably the oldest city in the world, in terms of population, the largest city proper is Shanghai, while the fastest-growing is Dubai. There is not enough evidence to assert what conditions gave rise to the first cities, some theorists have speculated on what they consider suitable pre-conditions and basic mechanisms that might have been important driving forces. The conventional view holds that cities first formed after the Neolithic revolution, the Neolithic revolution brought agriculture, which made denser human populations possible, thereby supporting city development. The advent of farming encouraged hunter-gatherers to abandon nomadic lifestyles and to settle near others who lived by agricultural production, the increased population density encouraged by farming and the increased output of food per unit of land created conditions that seem more suitable for city-like activities. In his book, Cities and Economic Development, Paul Bairoch takes up position in his argument that agricultural activity appears necessary before true cities can form. According to Vere Gordon Childe, for a settlement to qualify as a city, it must have enough surplus of raw materials to support trade and a relatively large population. To illustrate this point, Bairoch offers an example, Western Europe during the pre-Neolithic, when the cost of transport is taken into account, the figure rises to 200,000 square kilometres. Bairoch noted that this is roughly the size of Great Britain, the urban theorist Jane Jacobs suggests that city formation preceded the birth of agriculture, but this view is not widely accepted. In his book City Economics, Brendan OFlaherty asserts Cities could persist—as they have for thousands of years—only if their advantages offset the disadvantages, OFlaherty illustrates two similar attracting advantages known as increasing returns to scale and economies of scale, which are concepts usually associated with businesses. Their applications are seen in more basic economic systems as well, increasing returns to scale occurs when doubling all inputs more than doubles the output an activity has economies of scale if doubling output less than doubles cost. To offer an example of these concepts, OFlaherty makes use of one of the oldest reasons why cities were built, in this example, the inputs are anything that would be used for protection and the output is the area protected and everything of value contained in it. OFlaherty then asks that we suppose the protected area is square, the advantage is expressed as, O = s 2, where O is the output and s stands for the length of a side. This equation shows that output is proportional to the square of the length of a side, the inputs depend on the length of the perimeter, I =4 s, where I stands for the quantity of inputs. So there are increasing returns to scale, O = I2 /16 and this equation shows that with twice the inputs, you produce quadruple the output
City
–
1908 map of
Piraeus, the port of
Athens, showing the grid plan of the city
City
–
Ancient
Ur of
Sumer in present-day Tell el-Mukayyar in
Iraq, one of the world's earliest cities
City
–
Mohenjo-daro, a
World Heritage site that was part of the
Indus Valley Civilization
City
–
A map dating 1669 showing the location of
Multan, Pakistan
4.
County
–
A county is a geographical region of a country used for administrative or other purposes, in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French conté or cunté denoting a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count or a viscount. The modern French is comté, and its equivalents in other languages are contea, contado, comtat, condado, Grafschaft, graafschap, Gau, when the Normans conquered England, they brought the term with them. The Saxons had already established the districts became the historic counties of England. The Vikings introduced the term earl to the British Isles, thus, the Anglo-Saxons earl and earldom were taken as equivalent to the continental use of count and county under the conquering Normans, and over time the two blended and became equivalent terms. Further, the term became a synonym for the native English word scir or, in Modern English. Since a shire was a division of the kingdom, the term county evolved to designate an administrative division of states or of a national government in most other modern uses. A county may be subdivided into districts, hundreds, townships or other administrative jurisdictions within the county. A county usually, but not always, contains cities, towns, townships, villages, or other municipal corporations, Provinces in Argentina are divided into departments, except in the Buenos Aires Province, where they are called partidos. The Autonomous City of Buenos Aires is divided into communes, in the eastern states of Australia, counties are used in the administration of land titles. They do not generally correspond to a level of government, but are used in the identification of parcels of land, canadas five oldest provinces – New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec and Prince Edward Island – are divided into counties. In addition to counties, Ontario is also subdivided into districts, district municipalities, metropolitan municipalities. British Columbia, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Saskatchewan, the word county is used to translate the Chinese term xiàn. In Mainland China, governed by the Peoples Republic of China, counties are the level of local government. There are 1,464 counties in the PRC out of a total of 2,862 county-level divisions, the number of counties has remained more or less constant since the Han dynasty. The county remains one of the oldest levels of government in China, the county government was particularly important in imperial China because this was the lowest layer at which the imperial government functioned. The head of a county during imperial times was the magistrate, in older context, prefecture and district are alternative terms to refer to xiàn before the establishment of the Republic of China. The English nomenclature county was adopted following the establishment of the ROC, contrary to the typical rural location of a county in Western countries, a city in China may enclose several counties
County
–
Counties of Iran
5.
Alberta
–
Alberta is a western province of Canada. With an estimated population of 4,196,457 as of July 1,2015, it is Canadas fourth-most populous province and its area is about 660,000 square kilometres. Alberta and its neighbour Saskatchewan were districts of the Northwest Territories until they were established as provinces on September 1,1905, the premier has been Rachel Notley since May 2015. Alberta is bounded by the provinces of British Columbia to the west and Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Territories to the north, and the U. S. state of Montana to the south. Alberta is one of three Canadian provinces and territories to only a single U. S. state and one of only two landlocked provinces. About 290 km south of the capital is Calgary, the largest city in Alberta, Calgary and Edmonton centre Albertas two census metropolitan areas, both of which have populations exceeding one million, while the province has 16 census agglomerations. Tourist destinations in the province include Banff, Canmore, Drumheller, Jasper, Alberta is named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, the fourth daughter of Victoria, Queen of Canada, and Albert, Prince Consort. Princess Louise was the wife of John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne, Lake Louise and Mount Alberta were also named in her honour. Alberta, with an area of 661,848 km2, is the fourth largest province after Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia. To the south, the borders on the 49th parallel north, separating it from the US state of Montana. The province extends 1,223 km north to south and 660 km east to west at its maximum width, with the exception of the semi-arid steppe of the south-eastern section, the province has adequate water resources. There are numerous rivers and lakes used for swimming, fishing, there are three large lakes, Lake Claire in Wood Buffalo National Park, Lesser Slave Lake, and Lake Athabasca which lies in both Alberta and Saskatchewan. The longest river in the province is the Athabasca River which travels 1,538 km from the Columbia Icefield in the Rocky Mountains to Lake Athabasca, the largest river is the Peace River with an average flow of 2161 m3/s. The Peace River originates in the Rocky Mountains of northern British Columbia and flows through northern Alberta and into the Slave River, Albertas capital city, Edmonton, is located approximately in the geographic centre of the province. It is the most northerly city in Canada, and serves as a gateway. The region, with its proximity to Canadas largest oil fields, has most of western Canadas oil refinery capacity, Calgary is located approximately 280 km south of Edmonton and 240 km north of Montana, surrounded by extensive ranching country. Almost 75% of the population lives in the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor. The land grant policy to the served as a means to populate the province in its early years
Alberta
–
Welcome to Alberta sign traveling from east to west
Alberta
–
Flag
Alberta
–
Topographic map of Alberta
Alberta
–
Moraine Lake in
Banff National Park
6.
Nova Scotia
–
Nova Scotia is one of Canadas three Maritime provinces, and one of the four provinces which form Atlantic Canada. Nova Scotia is Canadas second-smallest province, with an area of 55,284 square kilometres, including Cape Breton, as of 2016, the population was 923,598. Nova Scotia is the second most-densely populated province in Canada with 17.4 inhabitants per square kilometre, Nova Scotia means New Scotland in Latin and is the recognized English language name for the province. In Scottish Gaelic, the province is called Alba Nuadh, which simply means New Scotland. Nova Scotia is Canadas second-smallest province in area after Prince Edward Island, the provinces mainland is the Nova Scotia peninsula surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, including numerous bays and estuaries. Nowhere in Nova Scotia is more than 67 km from the ocean, Nova Scotia has many ancient fossil-bearing rock formations. These formations are rich on the Bay of Fundys shores. Blue Beach near Hantsport, Joggins Fossil Cliffs, on the Bay of Fundys shores, has yielded an abundance of Carboniferous age fossils, wassons Bluff, near the town of Parrsboro, has yielded both Triassic and Jurassic age fossils. Nova Scotia lies in the mid-temperate zone, since the province is almost surrounded by the sea, the climate is closer to maritime than to continental climate. The winter and summer temperature extremes of the climate are moderated by the ocean. However, winters are cold enough to be classified as continental – still being nearer the freezing point than inland areas to the west. The Nova Scotia climate is in ways similar to the central Baltic Sea coast in Northern Europe. This is in spite of Nova Scotia being some fifteen parallels south, areas not on the Atlantic coast experience warmer summers more typical of inland areas, and winter lows a little colder. The province includes regions of the Mikmaq nation of Mikmaki, the Mikmaq people inhabited Nova Scotia at the time the first European colonists arrived. In 1605, French colonists established the first permanent European settlement in the future Canada at Port Royal, the British conquest of Acadia took place in 1710. The Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 formally recognized this and returned Cape Breton Island to the French, present-day New Brunswick then still formed a part of the French colony of Acadia. The British changed the name of the capital from Port Royal to Annapolis Royal, in 1749, the capital of Nova Scotia moved from Annapolis Royal to the newly established Halifax. In 1755 the vast majority of the French population were removed in the Expulsion of the Acadians
Nova Scotia
–
Fort Edward – The oldest
blockhouse in North America (1750).
Nova Scotia
–
Flag
Nova Scotia
–
Sambro Island Lighthouse – oldest lighthouse in
North America (1758)
Nova Scotia
–
Statue of
Joseph Howe,
Province House, created by famed Quebec sculptor
Louis-Philippe Hébert
7.
British Columbia
–
British Columbia is the westernmost province of Canada, with a population of more than four million people located between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. British Columbia is also a component of the Pacific Northwest and the Cascadia bioregion, along with the U. S. states of Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Alaska. The first British settlement in the area was Fort Victoria, established in 1843, subsequently, on the mainland, the Colony of British Columbia was founded by Richard Clement Moody and the Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment, in response to the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush. Port Moody is named after him, in 1866, Vancouver Island became part of the colony of British Columbia, and Victoria became the united colonys capital. In 1871, British Columbia became the province of Canada. Its Latin motto is Splendor sine occasu, the capital of British Columbia remains Victoria, the fifteenth-largest metropolitan region in Canada, named for the Queen who created the original European colonies. The largest city is Vancouver, the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada, the largest in Western Canada, in October 2013, British Columbia had an estimated population of 4,606,371. British Columbia evolved from British possessions that were established in what is now British Columbia by 1871, First Nations, the original inhabitants of the land, have a history of at least 10,000 years in the area. Today there are few treaties and the question of Aboriginal Title, notably, the Tsilhqotin Nation has established Aboriginal title to a portion of their territory, as a result of the recent Supreme Court of Canada decision. BCs economy is diverse, with service producing industries accounting for the largest portion of the provinces GDP and it is the endpoint of transcontinental railways, and the site of major Pacific ports that enable international trade. Though less than 5% of its vast 944,735 km2 land is arable and its climate encourages outdoor recreation and tourism, though its economic mainstay has long been resource extraction, principally logging, farming, and mining. Vancouver, the provinces largest city and metropolitan area, also serves as the headquarters of many western-based natural resource companies and it also benefits from a strong housing market and a per capita income well above the national average. The Northern Interior region has a climate with very cold winters. The climate of Vancouver is by far the mildest winter climate of the major Canadian cities, the provinces name was chosen by Queen Victoria, when the Colony of British Columbia, i. e. the Mainland, became a British colony in 1858. The current southern border of British Columbia was established by the 1846 Oregon Treaty, British Columbias land area is 944,735 square kilometres. British Columbias rugged coastline stretches for more than 27,000 kilometres and it is the only province in Canada that borders the Pacific Ocean. British Columbias capital is Victoria, located at the tip of Vancouver Island. Only a narrow strip of the Island, from Campbell River to Victoria, is significantly populated, much of the western part of Vancouver Island and the rest of the coast is covered by thick, tall and sometimes impenetrable temperate rainforest
British Columbia
–
Strait of Georgia, near
Vancouver.
British Columbia
–
Flag
British Columbia
–
The Okanagan region has a climate suitable to vineyards.
British Columbia
–
Mount Robson,
Canadian Rockies, BC
8.
Northern Rockies Regional Municipality
–
Although portrayed as a regional municipality in its official name, it is actually classified as a district municipality. The NRRM’s offices are located in Fort Nelson, formerly a town that amalgamated with the NRRD on February 6,2009 to form the NRRM. With the Peace River Regional District as the part, it was the northern part of the Peace River-Liard Regional District. The NRRM lies on the east slope of the Rocky Mountains and its southern boundary is the 58th parallel of latitude and is bisected by the Alaska Highway from its southeast to its northwest. The Northern Rockies Regional Municipality is primarily made up of heavily forested areas, the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality is the first of its kind in British Columbia in which an entire former regional district is governed and headed by a single municipal government. Its council comprises a mayor and six councillors, bill Streeper has been the NRRMs mayor since it was formed. With a 2011 population of 3,902, Fort Nelson is the largest community in the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality, all of the NRRMs offices and officials are based out of Fort Nelson. Fort Nelson First Nation is a band situated directly outside of the town of Fort Nelson. The reserve is home to about 700 residents, making Fort Nelson First Nation one of the largest reservations in northern British Columbia, dene and Cree are the most prevalent Aboriginal Canadian backgrounds found on the Fort Nelson First Nation reserve. The band operates Echo-Dene and the Liard Hot Springs lodge, as well as Chalo School, liz Logan is the Chief Councilor of the Fort Nelson First Nation, reelected in August 2014. The FNFN Band Council consists of seven councilors, an increase from six, the chosen councilors then decided amongst themselves the Chief Councilor. The Prophet River First Nation is the southernmost community in the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality, Prophet River’s main industries revolve around commercial services and provisions to the local and nearby oil and gas industry. Lynette Tsakoza is currently the chief of Prophet River First Nation which is a member of the Treaty 8 Tribal Association, tetsa River is a small community based on the Alaska Highway that is known for its eco-tourism and camping. Fishing, rafting, hunting, and other related activities are commonly practiced recreational attractants to the region. Tetsa River offers a fishing derby every August, in which residents from all over the region compete. Toad River is the largest regional community north of Fort Nelson in terms of population, the community is home to a highway maintenance camp, a small school accredited by the regions school district, a community hall, two campgrounds, and two lodges. Toad River’s economy relies primarily on tourism, and is a destination for travellers on the Alaska Highway. Muncho Lake is a community that is situated on the Muncho Lake Provincial Park, the park is known for its blue-coloured lake which attracts tourists to the area every year
Northern Rockies Regional Municipality
–
Northern Rockies
9.
Ontario
–
Ontario, one of the 13 provinces and territories of Canada, is located in east-central Canada. It is Canadas most populous province by a margin, accounting for nearly 40 percent of all Canadians. Ontario is fourth-largest in total area when the territories of the Northwest Territories and it is home to the nations capital city, Ottawa, and the nations most populous city, Toronto. There is only about 1 km of land made up of portages including Height of Land Portage on the Minnesota border. Ontario is sometimes divided into two regions, Northern Ontario and Southern Ontario. The great majority of Ontarios population and arable land is located in the south, in contrast, the larger, northern part of Ontario is sparsely populated with cold winters and is heavily forested. The province is named after Lake Ontario, a thought to be derived from Ontarí, io, a Huron word meaning great lake, or possibly skanadario. Ontario has about 250,000 freshwater lakes, the province consists of three main geographical regions, The thinly populated Canadian Shield in the northwestern and central portions, which comprises over half the land area of Ontario. Although this area mostly does not support agriculture, it is rich in minerals and in part covered by the Central and Midwestern Canadian Shield forests, studded with lakes, Northern Ontario is subdivided into two sub-regions, Northwestern Ontario and Northeastern Ontario. The virtually unpopulated Hudson Bay Lowlands in the north and northeast, mainly swampy. Southern Ontario which is further sub-divided into four regions, Central Ontario, Eastern Ontario, Golden Horseshoe, the highest point is Ishpatina Ridge at 693 metres above sea level located in Temagami, Northeastern Ontario. In the south, elevations of over 500 m are surpassed near Collingwood, above the Blue Mountains in the Dundalk Highlands, the Carolinian forest zone covers most of the southwestern region of the province. A well-known geographic feature is Niagara Falls, part of the Niagara Escarpment, the Saint Lawrence Seaway allows navigation to and from the Atlantic Ocean as far inland as Thunder Bay in Northwestern Ontario. Northern Ontario occupies roughly 87 percent of the area of the province. Point Pelee is a peninsula of Lake Erie in southwestern Ontario that is the southernmost extent of Canadas mainland, Pelee Island and Middle Island in Lake Erie extend slightly farther. All are south of 42°N – slightly farther south than the border of California. The climate of Ontario varies by season and location, the effects of these major air masses on temperature and precipitation depend mainly on latitude, proximity to major bodies of water and to a small extent, terrain relief. In general, most of Ontarios climate is classified as humid continental, Ontario has three main climatic regions
Ontario
–
Algonquin Provincial Park, Cache Lake
Ontario
–
Flag
Ontario
–
Summer at
Sandbanks Provincial Park on Lake Ontario.
Ontario
–
The
Niagara Escarpment on the
Bruce Peninsula.
10.
List of Ontario census divisions
–
The census divisions of Ontario are used by Statistics Canada to aggregate census data. With two exceptions, they correspond to Ontarios first-level administrative divisions, of which there are three types, single-tier municipalities, upper-tier municipalities, and districts. These differ primarily in the services that they provide to their residents and they may comprise smaller municipalities or other types of administrative divisions, which are generally treated as census subdivisions by Statistics Canada. In some cases, a census division may retain its name even if it changes government type. For instance, Oxford County, Haldimand County, Norfolk County and Prince Edward County are no counties, Oxford is a regional municipality. Several census divisions in Ontario have significantly changed their borders or been discontinued entirely, the following is a list of census divisions of Ontario and their population counts from the 2011 census conducted by Statistics Canada. A single-tier municipality is a division which is governed by one municipal administration, with neither a county nor regional government above it. A single-tier municipality is either a regional municipality or a former county. With the exception of Greater Sudbury, single-tier municipalities are found only in Southern Ontario, a single-tier municipality which is predominantly urban in nature may also be informally referred to as a megacity. Single-tier municipalities of this type were created where a regional municipality consisted of a single dominant urban centre. Regions are typically more urbanized than counties, Regional municipalities are found only in Southern Ontario. Current regional municipalities in Ontario, with regional seats listed in brackets, although Oxford County and the District Municipality of Muskoka are not called regions, they are defined as regional municipalities under Part 1, Section 1 of the Ontario Municipal Act,2001. Between 1998 and 2001, four municipalities that were dominated by a single city were amalgamated and are now single-tier municipalities. In 1998, the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto became the amalgamated City of Toronto, at the same time, the Regional Municipality of Haldimand-Norfolk was split into Haldimand County and Norfolk County. Counties have fewer responsibilities than regions, as the municipalities within the counties typically provide the majority of municipal services to their residents. The responsibilities of county governments are limited to the following, maintenance and construction of rural arterial roads, health and social services. Counties are only found in Southern Ontario, counties may also include separated municipalities, communities that are considered part of the county for census purposes but are not administratively connected to the county. Some districts may have District Social Service Administration Boards, which are designed to certain social services
List of Ontario census divisions
–
Ontario's 49
census divisions by type
11.
Kreisfreie Stadt
–
A German district is an administrative subdivision known as Landkreis, except in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein where it is known simply as Kreis. Most major cities in Germany are not part of a rural district, in this context, those cities are referred to as Kreisfreie Stadt or Stadtkreis. Rural districts are at a level of administration between the German states and the municipal governments. They correspond to level 3 administrative units of the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics, previously, the similar title Reichskreis was given to groups of states in the Holy Roman Empire. The related term Landeskommissariat was used for administrative divisions in some German territories until the 19th century. The majority of German districts are rural districts of which there are 295, cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants do not usually belong to a district, but take over district responsibilities themselves, similar to the concept of independent cities. These are known as urban districts —cities which constitute a district in their own there are currently 107 of them. As of 2011, approximately 25 million people live in these 107 urban districts, in North Rhine-Westphalia, there are some cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants which are not urban districts, for example Recklinghausen, Siegen, Paderborn, Bergisch Gladbach, Neuss and Moers. Nevertheless, these cities take over many district responsibilities themselves, although they are part of a larger rural district. Midsize towns can perform particular administrative functions of the district as well, the classification as midsize town is usually based on a towns registered population, but varies from state to state. Aachen, Hanover and Göttingen retain certain rights of an urban district, urban districts have these responsibilities and also those of the municipalities. The district council is the highest institution of a district and is responsible for all fundamental guidelines of regional self-administration. This council is elected every five years, except in Bavaria where it is elected every six years. Usually the administrative seat of a district is located in one of its largest towns. However, district council and administrative seat of rural districts are not situated within the district proper. Most of those districts are named after this central city as well. Moers is the biggest city in Germany that is neither an urban district, in parts of northern Germany, Landrat is also the name of the entire district administration, which in southern Germany is known as Kreisverwaltung or Landratsamt. In urban districts similar administrative functions are performed by a mayor, rural districts in some German states have an additional administrative commission called Kreisausschuss
Kreisfreie Stadt
–
Germany
12.
Districts of Germany
–
A German district is an administrative subdivision known as Landkreis, except in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein where it is known simply as Kreis. Most major cities in Germany are not part of a rural district, in this context, those cities are referred to as Kreisfreie Stadt or Stadtkreis. Rural districts are at a level of administration between the German states and the municipal governments. They correspond to level 3 administrative units of the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics, previously, the similar title Reichskreis was given to groups of states in the Holy Roman Empire. The related term Landeskommissariat was used for administrative divisions in some German territories until the 19th century. The majority of German districts are rural districts of which there are 295, cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants do not usually belong to a district, but take over district responsibilities themselves, similar to the concept of independent cities. These are known as urban districts —cities which constitute a district in their own there are currently 107 of them. As of 2011, approximately 25 million people live in these 107 urban districts, in North Rhine-Westphalia, there are some cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants which are not urban districts, for example Recklinghausen, Siegen, Paderborn, Bergisch Gladbach, Neuss and Moers. Nevertheless, these cities take over many district responsibilities themselves, although they are part of a larger rural district. Midsize towns can perform particular administrative functions of the district as well, the classification as midsize town is usually based on a towns registered population, but varies from state to state. Aachen, Hanover and Göttingen retain certain rights of an urban district, urban districts have these responsibilities and also those of the municipalities. The district council is the highest institution of a district and is responsible for all fundamental guidelines of regional self-administration. This council is elected every five years, except in Bavaria where it is elected every six years. Usually the administrative seat of a district is located in one of its largest towns. However, district council and administrative seat of rural districts are not situated within the district proper. Most of those districts are named after this central city as well. Moers is the biggest city in Germany that is neither an urban district, in parts of northern Germany, Landrat is also the name of the entire district administration, which in southern Germany is known as Kreisverwaltung or Landratsamt. In urban districts similar administrative functions are performed by a mayor, rural districts in some German states have an additional administrative commission called Kreisausschuss
Districts of Germany
–
Administrative divisions of Germany
13.
Statutory city (Czech Republic)
–
In Czech politics, a statutory city is a municipal corporation which has been granted city status by Act of Parliament. It is more prestigious than the simple title město, which can be awarded by the cabinet, statutory city status is partially ceremonial, the mayor is called primátor, rather than the starosta of other municipalities. Statutory cities are allowed to subdivide into self-governing boroughs with their own elected councils, as of 2016 only seven of total 25 statutory cities have done so. Also the capital of Prague, while not being de iure statutory city, is subdivided into similar self-governing boroughs, as the prestige associated with statutory city status grew,12 additional statutory cities were created by the Act on Municipalities in 2000 and its three later amendments. Since 2012, there are 25 statutory cities, comprising all Czech cities over 40 thousand inhabitants
Statutory city (Czech Republic)
–
Prague, Capital of the
Czech Republic
Statutory city (Czech Republic)
–
Brno
Statutory city (Czech Republic)
–
Ostrava
Statutory city (Czech Republic)
–
Plzeň
14.
Copenhagen Municipality
–
Their combined population stands at 763,908. The Municipality of Copenhagen is the most populous in the country with a population of 602,481 inhabitants, the municipal seat of government is the Copenhagen City Hall. The Lord Mayor of Copenhagen is Frank Jensen, since 2010, the relationship between Copenhagen Municipality and the wider city of Copenhagen is one of an administrative unit within a significantly larger city, cf. the City of London or the City of Brussels. In the Middle Ages, Copenhagen was defined as the area enclosed within the city walls, the city centre lies in the area originally defined by the old ramparts, which are still referred to as the Fortification Ring and kept as a partial green band around it. In 1856 the ramparts were pulled down allowing for growth and expansion, in 1901 the city expanded to include Amager and Valby, while Frederiksberg became an enclave within the municipality. The Finger Plan in the half of the 20th century led to expansion outside of the municipal boundary. Copenhagen Municipality was one of the three last Danish municipalities not belonging to a county, the others being Frederiksberg Municipality and Bornholm, on 1 January 2007, the municipality lost its county privileges and became part of Region Hovedstaden. Copenhagen Municipality is a division covering the central city and certain additional areas. It encloses Frederiksberg Municipality and stretches east to the waterfront, neighboring municipalities are Gentofte, Gladsaxe and Herlev to the north, Rødovre and Hvidovre to the west, and Tårnby to the south. The City Hall Square is the old centre of the city, from which an old shopping street leads northeast to Kongens Nytorv, christiansborg Palace, which houses the Danish parliament, is located on the islet of Slotsholmen. The municipality is divided into ten administrative, statistical and tax districts, the suffix -bro in the names Østerbro, Nørrebro, Vesterbro and Amagerbro should not be confused with the Danish word for bridge, which is also bro. The term is thought to be an abbreviation or short form of the Danish word brolagt meaning paved, the two figures for 1 February 1901 are before and after the municipality annexed some nearby parishes. The apparent decline since the mid-1900s are due to the figures not including the suburban and urban areas - notably Frederiksberg - outside Copenhagen municipality, Copenhagen Municipality is distinct from the wider Copenhagen urban area. The seat of Copenhagens municipal council is the Copenhagen City Hall, the council is chaired by the Lord Mayor—currently Frank Jensen—who oversees the civic duties of the fifty-five representatives of the council. The council usually meets every week at 17,30 on a Thursday. All members of the council are elected every four years, in the municipal elections in November 2013, the Social Democrats remained in first place with 27. 8% of the vote, while the Red-Green Alliance was in second place with 19. 5%. The Social Democrats have claimed the office of mayor for the past 110 years and it has six political committees and a finance committee. The annual budget for the city is proposed in August and finalized in October, the accounting firm Deloitte is responsible for auditing the City of Copenhagens accounts
Copenhagen Municipality
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Copenhagen Skyline
Copenhagen Municipality
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Districts of Copenhagen municipality
15.
Frederiksberg Municipality
–
Frederiksberg Kommune is a municipality on the island of Zealand in Denmark. Part of Copenhagen, it is surrounded by Copenhagen Municipality and its mayor is Jørgen Glenthøj from the Conservative Peoples Party. The city of Frederiksberg is the town in the municipality. Frederiksberg is located as an enclave within the municipality of Copenhagen, the municipality was originally situated west of Copenhagen, but after a number of smaller municipalities were merged with Copenhagen in 1901, it became completely surrounded by Copenhagen. Frederiksberg was one of the three last Danish municipalities not belonging to a County—the others being Copenhagen and Bornholm, on 1 January 2007, the municipality lost its county privileges and became part of Region Hovedstaden. Frederiksberg municipality was not merged with other municipalities as the result of nationwide Kommunalreformen
Frederiksberg Municipality
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Frederiksberg Municipality (Frederiksberg Kommune)
Frederiksberg Municipality
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Frederiksberg Palace
16.
Bornholm Regional Municipality
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Bornholm is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of Denmark, south of Sweden, northeast of Germany and north of the westernmost part of Poland. The main industries on the island include fishing, dairy farming, tourism is important during the summer. There is a large number of Denmarks round churches on the island. The total area according to www. noegletal. dk was 588.36 square kilometres, the island is called solskinsøen because of its weather and klippeøen because of its geology, which consists of granite, except along the southern coast. The heat from the summer is stored in the rock formations, as a result of the climate, a local variety of the common fig, known as Bornholms Diamond, can grow locally on the island. The islands topography consists of rock formations in the north sloping down towards pine and deciduous forests, farmland in the middle. Strategically located in the Baltic Sea, Bornholm has been fought over for centuries and it has usually been ruled by Denmark, but also by Lübeck and Sweden. The ruin of Hammershus, at the tip of the island, is the largest medieval fortress in northern Europe. Bornholm Regional Municipality, established January 2003 by the merger of Bornholm County with 5 municipalities, Bornholm was one of the three last Danish municipalities not belonging to a county — the others were Copenhagen and Frederiksberg. On 1 January 2007, the municipality lost its county status. The island is situated between 54/59/11 and 55/17/30 northern latitude and 14/45 and 15/11 eastern longitude and it typically takes 3 hours for passengers and freight to travel between Rønne and Copenhagen via Ystad in Sweden. There is a ferry departure mostly reserved for freight of goods between Rønne and Køge, if there is capacity on a departure, normal passengers can come aboard. There are also routes to Sassnitz and Świnoujście. Between Bornholm Airport and Copenhagen Airport by airplane it is 25 minutes, the Ertholmene archipelago is located 18 kilometres to the northeast of Bornholm. These islands, which do not belong to a municipality or region, are administered by the Danish Ministry of Defence, many inhabitants speak the Bornholmsk dialect, which is officially a dialect of Danish. Bornholmsk retains three grammatical genders, like Icelandic and most dialects of Norwegian, but unlike standard Danish and its phonology includes archaisms and innovations. This makes the difficult to understand for some Danish speakers. However, Swedish speakers often consider Bornholmian to be easier to understand than standard Danish, the intonation resembles the Scanian dialect spoken in nearby Scania, the southernmost province of Sweden
Bornholm Regional Municipality
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Bornholm's coastline
Bornholm Regional Municipality
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Hammershus Ruin.
Bornholm Regional Municipality
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Windmill in Gudhjem, Bornholm
Bornholm Regional Municipality
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An 1877 windmill at
Årsdale
17.
Counties of Denmark
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The Counties of Denmark were former subdivisions of metropolitan Denmark, used primarily for administrative regions, with each county having its own council with substantial powers. Originally there had been twenty-four counties, but the number was reduced to fourteen in 1970 - the number fluctuated slightly over the next three decades. In 2006 there were thirteen traditional counties as well as three municipalities with county status, on January 1,2007, the counties were abolished and replaced by five larger regions. On January 1,2007, these two municipalities lost their special status, greenland and the Faroe Islands are also part of the Danish Realm, but both enjoy internal autonomy. Both are largely self-governing, and each community sends two members to the Danish Parliament, the Faroe Islands obtained self-government in 1948, from 1816 to 1948 the islands had the status of a Danish county. The proposal also required the municipalities to merge reducing them from 271 to 98, with a minimum of 20,000 inhabitants in each municipality, although some exceptions were made to this rule. From 200725 municipalities have fewer than 30,000 inhabitants each, only the United Kingdom and Ireland have more populous entities at the lowest political administrative level. The reform was confirmed by the Danish Parliament on February 24,2005, the fourteen counties + the three first-level municipalities, Note, Ringkjøbing County officially used a different spelling from its capital city, Ringkøbing. Ertholmene east of Bornholm are not and have never been a part of a municipality or county or region, statistics Denmark calls them Christiansø and Frederiksø, named after the two inhabited islets. They are included in numbers for Denmark. Land area of Denmark, around 42394 square kilometers
Counties of Denmark
18.
Territorial authorities of New Zealand
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Territorial authorities are the second tier of local government in New Zealand, below regional councils. There are 67 territorial authorities,12 city councils,53 district councils, Auckland Council, six territorial authorities also perform the functions of a regional council and thus are unitary authorities. A unitary authority may also have local boards, currently only Auckland Council has them, territorial authority districts are not subdivisions of regions, and some of them fall within more than one region. Taupo District has the distinction of straddling the boundaries of four different regions, Regional council areas are based on water catchment areas, whereas territorial authorities are based on community of interest and road access. Some activities are delegated to council-controlled organisations, the boundaries of councils tended to follow the edge of the built-up area, so little distinction was made between the urban area and the local government area. Regional councils were reduced in number from 20 to 13, territorial authorities from 200 to 75, the new district and city councils were generally much larger and most covered substantial areas of both urban and rural land. Many places that once had a city council were now being administered by a district council, as a result, the term city began to take on two meanings. The word city came to be used in a formal sense to describe major urban areas independent of local body boundaries. This informal usage is jealously guarded, gisborne, for example, adamantly described itself as the first city in the world to see the new millennium. Gisborne is administered by a council, but its status as a city is not generally disputed. Under the current law the minimum population for a new city is 50,000, since the 1989 reorganisations, there have been few major reorganisations or status changes in local government. Incomplete list,1991, Invercargill re-proclaimed a city,1992, Nelson-Marlborough Regional Council abolished by a Local Government Amendment Act. Of its territorial authorities, Kaikoura District was transferred to the Canterbury Region,2004, Tauranga became a city again on 1 March. 2006, Banks Peninsula District merged into Christchurch City as a result of 2005 referendum,2010, Auckland Council, a unitary authority, replaced seven local councils and the regional council. Reports on completed reorganisation proposals since 1999 are available on the Local Government Commissions site, the split areas as well as the current North Shore City would form a Waitemata local council. Waitakere local council would consist of the current Waitakere City as well as the Avondale area, tamaki Makaurau would consist of the current Auckland City and Otahuhu Manukau local council would consist of the urban parts of the current Manukau City and of the Papakura District. Hunua local council would consist of the entire Franklin District, much of which is currently in the Waikato Region, along with areas of the current Papakura District. The entire Papakura District would be dissolved between urban and rural councils, the National-led Government responded within about a week
Territorial authorities of New Zealand
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New Zealand
19.
Regions of New Zealand
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New Zealand is divided into sixteen regions for devolved local government. Eleven are administered by councils, and five are administered by unitary authorities. The Chatham Islands Council is similar to an authority, authorised under its own legislation. The regional councils are listed in Part 1 of Schedule 2 of the Local Government Act 2002, the Act requires regional councils to promote sustainable development – the social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being of their communities. The current regions and most of their councils came into being through a government reform in 1989 that took place under the Local Government Act 1974. In addition they took over roles that had previously been performed by county councils. Auckland Regional Council, formed in 1989, was replaced by Auckland Council, the boundaries of the regions are based largely on drainage basins. This anticipated the responsibilities of the Resource Management Act 1991, most regional boundaries conform with territorial authority boundaries but there are a number of exceptions. An example is Taupo District, split between four regions, although most of its area is in the Waikato region, property rates are used to fund both regional and territorial government activities. There is often a degree of co-operation between regional and territorial councils as they have complementary roles. Regional councils have these specific functions under the Resource Management Act 1991, notes, These regions have unitary authorities. The Gisborne Region is still widely but unofficially known by its name or as East Coast. Some outlying islands are not included within regional boundaries, the Chatham Islands is not in a region, although its council has some of the powers of a regional council under the Resource Management Act. Councils may use a first past the post or single transferable vote system, the chairperson is selected by the elected council members. The Auckland Regional Council was preceded by the Auckland Regional Authority, the Wellington Regional Council was first formed in 1980 from a merger of the Wellington Regional Planning Authority and the Wellington Regional Water Board. In 1978, legislation was passed enabling the formation of regions with united councils, twenty regions were designated, excluding the Auckland and Wellington areas. For most of the country this was the first regional level of government since the abolition of provinces in 1876, councillors were not elected directly – they were appointed from the various territorial local authorities within the region. For example, in a number of cases the united council took responsibility for the allocation of revenue from regional petrol taxes, the united councils were based in the facilities of the largest TLA in the region and largely dependent on the TLAs for resources
Regions of New Zealand
20.
Gisborne District Council
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The Gisborne District or Gisborne Region is an area of northeastern New Zealand governed by the Gisborne District Council. It is named after its largest settlement, the city of Gisborne, the region is also sometimes referred to as the East Cape, although that also refers specifically to the promontory at the northeastern extremity. More recently, it has been called Eastland, although that can also include Opotiki in the eastern Bay of Plenty to the northwest, and Wairoa to the south. Its Māori name, Te Tai Rāwhiti, means the Coast of the Sunrise, the district is located in the northeastern corner of the North Island. It ranges from the Wharerata Hills in the south, which divide it from the Wairoa district in the Hawkes Bay region, the western boundary runs along the Raukumara Range, which separates it from the Opotiki district. In the southwest, its boundary runs along the edge of Te Urewera National Park. It is sparsely inhabited and isolated, with small settlements mainly clinging to small bays along the shore including Tokomaru Bay. Three-quarters of the population –36,100 – lives in the city of Gisborne, no other settlement has a population of over 1000. The largest other settlements are the towns of Tolaga Bay and Ruatoria, inland, the land is rough, predominantly forested, hill country. A spine of rough ridges dominates the centre of the region and this mountain is the fifth highest mountain in the North Island, and the highest that is not a volcano. Regarded as sacred by the Māori, there is some justification to the claims that this is the first mountain to see the sun in summer. The regions population has higher than the average proportion of Māori - over 50% in some areas -. The predominant iwi are Ngāti Porou, Rongowhakaata, Ngai Tamanuhiri, Gisborne District Council is a unitary territorial authority, which means that it performs the functions of a regional council as well as those of a territorial authority. It includes a mayor,13 elected councillors, a chief executive officer,4 department managers. Its headquarters are in the city of Gisborne, the area it governs is constituted as both the Gisborne District and the Gisborne Region. Gisborne District Council was created as part of a major reform of local government in 1989. It was the unitary authority in New Zealand until three others were created in 1992. The sub-national GDP of the Gisborne region was estimated at US$1.031 billion in 2003, the region is sheltered by high country to the west and has a dry, sunny climate
Gisborne District Council
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Gisborne District Te Tai Rāwhiti
21.
Tasman District Council
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Tasman District Council is the unitary local authority for the Tasman District of New Zealand. The current mayor of Tasman is Richard Kempthorne, who served as a Richmond councillor for two terms before being elected Mayor in October 2007. Tasman elects its councillors from five different wards which make up the entire district, the wards are, Motueka, Moutere/Waimea, Richmond, Murchison and Golden Bay. In total there are 13 councillors, three from Motueka, three from Moutere/Waimea, four from Richmond, one from Murchison and two from Golden Bay, Tasman District Council Top of the South Maps from Tasman District Council and Nelson City Council
Tasman District Council
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Contents
22.
Marlborough District Council
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The Marlborough Region, commonly known simply as Marlborough, is one of the regions of New Zealand, located in the northeast of the South Island. Marlborough is an authority, both a region and a district, and its council is located at Blenheim. It has a population of 45,500, Marlborough is known for its dry climate, the picturesque Marlborough Sounds, and Sauvignon blanc wine. It takes its name from the earlier Marlborough Province, which was named after John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, Marlboroughs geography can be roughly divided into four sections. Two of these sections, in the south and the west, are mountainous and this is particularly true of the southern section, which rises to the peaks of the Kaikoura Ranges. These two mountainous regions are the final vestiges of the ranges that make up the Southern Alps. Between these two areas is the long valley of the Wairau River. This broadens to wide plains at its end, in the centre of which stands the town of Blenheim. This region has fertile soil and temperate weather, enabling it to become the centre of the New Zealand wine industry, the fourth geographic zone lies along its north coast. Here the drowned valleys of the Marlborough Sounds make for a convoluted, the town of Picton is located at the southern end of one of the larger sounds, Queen Charlotte Sound. The town of Havelock is located at the end of the Pelorus Sound. Blenheim is the capital and largest town, with 30,500 residents. The major towns are, Wairau Valley Marlborough is administered by a unitary authority, between 1859 and 1876 Marlborough had its own provincial government, and was known as the Marlborough Province, which ended when the Abolition of the Provinces Act came into force on 1 Nov 1876. Much of the population is found around the coastal plains around and to the south of the mouth of the Wairau. Apart from the urban areas of Blenheim and Picton, Marlboroughs towns include Havelock, Renwick, Ward. Marlboroughs world-famous former residents include rocket scientist William Pickering and Nobel Prize-winning physicist Ernest Rutherford, the sub-national GDP of the Marlborough region was estimated at US$1.193 billion in 2003, 1% of New Zealands national GDP. Marlborough can lay claim to starting the modern New Zealand wine industry, here in the late 1970s, Marlborough produced Sauvignon blanc, among other varietals, which led to confidence that New Zealand could produce interesting wine. Today, the Marlborough wine region represents 77% of total area in the country
Marlborough District Council
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The Marlborough Sounds seen from the Wellington–Picton ferry
Marlborough District Council
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Marlborough in relation to New Zealand Marlborough in relation to upper South Island
Marlborough District Council
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Blenheim
Marlborough District Council
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Green-lipped mussel farm beside
Havelock
23.
Auckland Council
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The Auckland Council is the local government council for the Auckland Region in New Zealand. The governing body consists of a mayor and 20 councillors, elected from 13 wards, There are also 149 members of 21 local boards who make decisions on matters local to their communities. It is the largest council in Australasia, with a $3 billion annual budget, $29 billion of ratepayer equity, and 9,870 full time staff as of 30 June 2016. The council began operating on 1 November 2010, combining the functions of the regional council. The Council was established by a number of Acts of Parliament, both the means by which the Council was established and its structure came under repeated criticism from a broad spectrum during the establishment period. The initial Council elections in October 2010 returned a mostly centre-left council with Len Brown as mayor, Brown was re-elected in October 2013, again with a largely supportive council. The 2016 mayoral election was won by Labour MP Phil Goff, the Auckland Regional Council was formed in 1989, replacing the Auckland Regional Authority. Until 2010, the Auckland Region had seven City/District authorities, plus one Regional authority, in 2007, the government set up a Royal Commission on Auckland Governance to report on what restructuring should be done. Some recommendations of the Royal Commission which have not been adopted or implemented, 6B The Mayor of Aucklands annual State of the Region address should describe progress towards the attainment of the vision. 19C, Leadership support and development programmes for elected councillors should be strengthened, 21D, Auckland Council CCOs and their statements of intent should be subject to performance review by the proposed Auckland Services Performance Auditor. 21A 22A Two Māori members should be elected to the Auckland Council by voters who are on the parliamentary Māori Electoral Roll, 22B There should be a Mana Whenua Forum, the members of which will be appointed by mana whenua from the district of the Auckland Council. Where appropriate, current structures and/or memoranda of understanding should be transferred to local councils, 24F Auckland Council should consider creating an Urban Development Agency, to operate at the direction of the Auckland Council, with compulsory acquisition powers. The Auckland Council should determine the extent to which responsibilities for the delivery of services are shared between local councils and Watercare Services Limited. 26I Watercare Services Limited should be required by legislation to demand management. 26M Watercare Services Limited should be required to prepare an action plan. 27D The Auckland Council should prepare an e-government strategy as an part of its proposed unified service delivery. B) require Auckland Council CCOs providing council services to adopt the councils ICT infrastructure standards, the role of the Performance Auditor will include a) reviewing the adequacy and relevance of CCO performance targets. B) protecting the interests and advocating for them in respect of the reliability and affordability of council services
Auckland Council
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Logo
Auckland Council
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The
Auckland Region (population density) as of early 2010
Auckland Council
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Len Brown, the current
Mayor of Auckland
24.
Chatham Islands
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The Chatham Islands form an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about 650 kilometres east of mainland New Zealand. It consists of ten islands within a 40-kilometre radius, the largest of which are Chatham Island. The archipelago is called Rēkohu in the indigenous Moriori language, Moriori are the indigenous people of the Chatham Islands, and members of the Māori Ngāti Mutunga tribe have also settled on the island. It has officially been part of New Zealand since 1842 and includes the countrys easternmost point, the islands are at about 43°53′S 176°31′W, roughly 840 kilometres east of Christchurch, New Zealand. The nearest mainland New Zealand point to the Chatham Islands is Cape Turnagain, in the North Island at a distance of 650 kilometres, the nearest mainland city to the islands is Hastings, New Zealand, located 697 kilometres to the North-West. The two largest islands, Chatham Island and Pitt Island, constitute most of the area of 966 square kilometres. The islands sit on the Chatham Rise, a large, relatively shallowly submerged part of the Zealandia continent that stretches east from near the South Island. The Chatham Islands, which emerged only within the last four years, are the only part of the Chatham Rise showing above sea level. The islands are hilly with coasts being a mixture including cliffs and dunes, beaches. Chatham has a number of streams, including Te Awainanga and Tuku, Chatham and Pitt are the only inhabited islands, with the remaining smaller islands being conservation reserves with restricted or prohibited access. The livelihoods of the inhabitants depend on agriculture, with the island being an exporter of coldwater crayfish, the names of the main islands, in the order of occupation are, Chatham Islands have a maritime climate characterised by a narrow temperature range and relatively frequent rainfall. Its isolated position far from any sizeable landmass renders the record temperature for main settlement Waitangi to be just 23.8 °C. The climate is cool, wet and windy, with high temperatures between 15 and 20 °C in summer, and between 5 and 10 °C in July, the Southern Hemisphere winter. Snow is extremely rare, having being recorded near sea level in July 2015 after several decades, the International Date Line lies to the east of the Chathams, even though the islands lie east of 180° longitude. Of interest are the trees, with branches trailing almost horizontally in the lee of the wind. The ferns in the forest understory include Blechnum discolor, the islands are a breeding ground for huge flocks of seabirds and are home to a number of endemic birds, some of which are seabirds and others which live on the islands. The best known species are the magenta petrel and the black robin, Other endemic species are the Chatham oystercatcher, the Chatham gerygone, Chatham pigeon, Forbes parakeet, the Chatham snipe and the shore plover. The endemic Chatham shag, Pitt shag and the Chatham albatross are at risk of capture by a variety of fishing gear, including fishing lines, trawls, gillnets, for accounts and notes on seabird species seen in the Chathams between 1960 and 1993 online
Chatham Islands
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The Chatham Islands from space.
Chatham Island is the largest,
Pitt Island is the second largest, and
South East Island is the small island to the right of Pitt.
Chatham Islands
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Topographical map of the Chatham Islands
Chatham Islands
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Massive
phytoplankton bloom around the islands.
Chatham Islands
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Chatham Islands Forget-me-not (
Myosotidium hortensia)
25.
South Island
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The South Island or Te Waipounamu is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, the South Island covers 150,437 square kilometres and has a temperate climate. In the early stages of European settlement of the country, the South Island had the majority of the European population, in prose, the two main islands of New Zealand are called the North Island and the South Island, with the definite article. Charcoal drawings can be found on rock shelters in the centre of the South Island. The drawings are estimated to be between 500 and 800 years old, and portray animals, people and fantastic creatures, possibly stylised reptiles, some of the birds pictured are long extinct, including moa and Haasts eagles. They were drawn by early Māori, but by the time Europeans arrived, early inhabitants of the South Island were the Waitaha. They were largely absorbed via marriage and conquest by the Kāti Mamoe in the 16th century, Kāti Mamoe were in turn largely absorbed via marriage and conquest by the Kāi Tahu who migrated south in the 17th century. While today there is no distinct Kāti Mamoe organisation, many Kāi Tahu have Kāti Mamoe links in their whakapapa and, a notable feature of the Moriori culture, an emphasis on pacifism, proved disadvantageous when Māori warriors arrived in the 1830s aboard a chartered European ship. In the early 18th century, Kāi Tahu, a Māori tribe who originated on the east coast of the North Island, There they and Kāti Mamoe fought Ngāi Tara and Rangitāne in the Wairau Valley. Ngāti Māmoe then ceded the east coast regions north of the Clarence River to Kāi Tahu, Kāi Tahu continued to push south, conquering Kaikoura. By the 1730s, Kāi Tahu had settled in Canterbury, including Banks Peninsula, from there they spread further south and into the West Coast. In 1827-1828 Ngāti Toa under the leadership of Te Rauparaha successfully attacked Kāi Tahu at Kaikoura, Ngāti Toa then visited Kaiapoi, ostensibly to trade. When they attacked their hosts, the well-prepared Kāi Tahu killed all the leading Ngāti Toa chiefs except Te Rauparaha, Te Rauparaha returned to his Kapiti Island stronghold. After destroying Te Maiharanuis village they took their captives to Kapiti, John Stewart, though arrested and sent to trial in Sydney as an accomplice to murder, nevertheless escaped conviction. In the summer of 1831–32 Te Rauparaha attacked the Kaiapoi pā, Kaiapoi was engaged in a three-month siege by Te Rauparaha, during which his men successfully sapped the pā. They then attacked Kāi Tahu on Banks Peninsula and took the pā at Onawe, in 1832-33 Kāi Tahu retaliated under the leadership of Tūhawaiki and others, attacking Ngāti Toa at Lake Grassmere. Kāi Tahu prevailed, and killed many Ngāti Toa, although Te Rauparaha again escaped, fighting continued for a year or so, with Kāi Tahu maintaining the upper hand. Ngāti Toa never again made an incursion into Kāi Tahu territory
South Island
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Satellite view of the South Island
South Island
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Charcoal rock drawing at Carters rockpool on the Opihi River
South Island
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First European impression of Māori, at
Murderers' Bay, 1642.
South Island
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Ships in what is likely to be
Akaroa Harbour some time in the early 19th century.
26.
Poland
–
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe, situated between the Baltic Sea in the north and two mountain ranges in the south. Bordered by Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, the total area of Poland is 312,679 square kilometres, making it the 69th largest country in the world and the 9th largest in Europe. With a population of over 38.5 million people, Poland is the 34th most populous country in the world, the 8th most populous country in Europe, Poland is a unitary state divided into 16 administrative subdivisions, and its capital and largest city is Warsaw. Other metropolises include Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań, Gdańsk and Szczecin, the establishment of a Polish state can be traced back to 966, when Mieszko I, ruler of a territory roughly coextensive with that of present-day Poland, converted to Christianity. The Kingdom of Poland was founded in 1025, and in 1569 it cemented a political association with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by signing the Union of Lublin. This union formed the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th and 17th century Europe, Poland regained its independence in 1918 at the end of World War I, reconstituting much of its historical territory as the Second Polish Republic. In September 1939, World War II started with the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, followed thereafter by invasion by the Soviet Union. More than six million Polish citizens died in the war, after the war, Polands borders were shifted westwards under the terms of the Potsdam Conference. With the backing of the Soviet Union, a communist puppet government was formed, and after a referendum in 1946. During the Revolutions of 1989 Polands Communist government was overthrown and Poland adopted a new constitution establishing itself as a democracy, informally called the Third Polish Republic. Since the early 1990s, when the transition to a primarily market-based economy began, Poland has achieved a high ranking on the Human Development Index. Poland is a country, which was categorised by the World Bank as having a high-income economy. Furthermore, it is visited by approximately 16 million tourists every year, Poland is the eighth largest economy in the European Union and was the 6th fastest growing economy on the continent between 2010 and 2015. According to the Global Peace Index for 2014, Poland is ranked 19th in the list of the safest countries in the world to live in. The origin of the name Poland derives from a West Slavic tribe of Polans that inhabited the Warta River basin of the historic Greater Poland region in the 8th century, the origin of the name Polanie itself derives from the western Slavic word pole. In some foreign languages such as Hungarian, Lithuanian, Persian and Turkish the exonym for Poland is Lechites, historians have postulated that throughout Late Antiquity, many distinct ethnic groups populated the regions of what is now Poland. The most famous archaeological find from the prehistory and protohistory of Poland is the Biskupin fortified settlement, dating from the Lusatian culture of the early Iron Age, the Slavic groups who would form Poland migrated to these areas in the second half of the 5th century AD. With the Baptism of Poland the Polish rulers accepted Christianity and the authority of the Roman Church
Poland
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Reconstruction of a
Bronze Age,
Lusatian culture settlement in
Biskupin, c. 700 BC
Poland
–
Flag
Poland
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Earliest known contemporary depiction of a Polish ruler; King
Mieszko II Lambert of Poland being presented with a
Liturgical book by
Matilda of Swabia, 1025–1031
Poland
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Drawing of the
Battle of Grunwald, which was fought against the
German Order of Teutonic Knights, 15 July 1410
27.
Powiat
–
A powiat is the second-level unit of local government and administration in Poland, equivalent to a county, district or prefecture in other countries. The term powiat is most often translated into English as county, a powiat is part of a larger unit, the voivodeship or province. A powiat is usually subdivided into gminas, major towns and cities, however, function as separate counties in their own right, without subdivision into gminas. They are termed city counties and have roughly the same status as county boroughs in the UK. The other type of powiats are termed land counties, as of 2008, there were 379 powiat-level entities,314 land counties, and 65 city counties. For a complete listing, see List of Polish counties. For tables of counties by voivodeship, see the articles on the individual voivodeships, the history of Polish powiats goes back to the second half of the 14th century. They remained the basic unit of organization in Poland, then in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. After Poland regained independence in 1918, the powiats were again the territorial units. Powiats were abolished in 1975 in favor of a number of voivodeships. This reform also created 16 larger voivodeships, legislative power within a powiat is vested in an elected council, while local executive power is vested in the starosta, who is elected by that council. The administrative offices headed by the starosta are called the starostwo, however, in city counties these institutions do not exist separately – their powers and functions are exercised by the city council, the directly elected mayor, and the city offices. In some cases a powiat has its seat outside its own territory, for example, Poznań County has its offices in Poznań, although Poznań is itself a city county, and is therefore not part of Poznań County. Powiats have relatively limited powers, since many local and regional matters are dealt with either at gmina or voivodeship level, the Polish the name of an county, in the administrative sense, consists of the word powiat followed by a masculine-gender adjective. In most cases, this is the formed from the name of the town or city where the county has its seat. Thus the county with its seat at the town of Kutno is named powiat kutnowski, if the name of the seat comprises a noun followed by an adjective, as in Maków Mazowiecki, the adjective will generally be formed from the noun only. There are also a few counties whose names are derived from the names of two towns, from the name of a city and an adjective, or a mountain range. There is more one way to render such names into English
Powiat
–
Division of Poland into powiats (counties)
28.
Bournemouth
–
Bournemouth /ˈbɔːrnməθ/ is a large coastal resort town on the south coast of England directly to the east of the Jurassic Coast, a 96-mile World Heritage Site. According to the 2011 census, the town has a population of 183,491 making it the largest settlement in Dorset. With Poole to the west and Christchurch in the east, Bournemouth forms the South East Dorset conurbation, before it was founded in 1810 by Lewis Tregonwell, the area was a deserted heathland occasionally visited by fishermen and smugglers. Initially marketed as a resort, the town received a boost when it appeared in Dr Granvilles book. Bournemouths growth really accelerated with the arrival of the railway and it became a town in 1870. Historically part of Hampshire, it joined Dorset with the reorganisation of government in 1974. Since 1997, the town has been administered by a unitary authority, the local council is Bournemouth Borough Council. The town centre has notable Victorian architecture and the 202-foot spire of St Peters Church, Bournemouths location has made it a popular destination for tourists, attracting over five million visitors annually with its beaches and popular nightlife. The town is also a centre of business, home of the Bournemouth International Centre or BIC. The word bourne, meaning a stream, is a derivative of burna. A travel guide published in 1831 calls the place Bourne Cliffe or Tregonwells Bourne after its founder, the Spas of England, published ten years later, calls it simply Bourne as does an 1838 edition of the Hampshire Advertiser. In the late 19th century Bournemouth became predominant, although its two-word form appears to have remained in use up until at least the early 20th century, in the 12th century the region around the mouth of the River Bourne was part of the Hundred of Holdenhurst. Although the Dorset and Hampshire region surrounding it had been the site of settlement for thousands of years, Westover was largely a remote. In 1574 the Earl of Southampton noted that the area was Devoid of all habitation, on this barren and uncultivated heath there was not a human to direct us. Bronze Age burials near Moordown, and the discovery of Iron Age pottery on the East Cliff in 1969, Hengistbury Head, added to the borough in 1932, was the site of a much older Palaeolithic encampment. No-one lived at the mouth of the Bourne river and the regular visitors to the area before the 19th century were a few fishermen, turf cutters. Prior to the Christchurch Inclosures Act 1802, more than 70% of the Westover area was common land, in 1809 the Tapps Arms public house appeared on the heath. A few years later, in 1812, the first official residents, retired army officer Lewis Tregonwell and his wife, the area was well known to Tregonwell who, during the Napoleonic wars, spent much of his time searching the heath and coastline for French invaders and smugglers
Bournemouth
–
The Square, Bournemouth
Bournemouth
–
Section of a 1759 map of Hampshire by Isaac Taylor, showing the Manor of Christchurch and the area around the Bourne chine.
Bournemouth
–
Photochrom of Invalids' Walk, 1890s
Bournemouth
–
Photochrom of the entrance to the pier, 1890s
29.
Dorset County Council
–
Dorset County Council is the county council of Dorset in England. It provides the upper tier of government, below which are district councils. The county council has 45 elected councillors and is based at County Hall in Dorchester, when councillors are elected they represent one of Englands major political parties or are independent. The Conservative Party currently have the highest number of councillors in the chamber, as such, the leader of the cabinet also represents the Conservative Party and can choose the cabinet members from the Conservative Party as well. The Liberal Democrats have the second highest number of councillors and the councillor is an independent. Following the 2013 Local Elections, the Conservatives hold 27 seats, Liberal Democrats 12, Labour 4, Dorset County Councils responsibilities include schools, social care for the elderly and vulnerable, road maintenance, libraries and trading standards. The county councils area is administered by six smaller authorities that have their own district or borough councils. The responsibilities of these councils include planning, council housing, refuse collection, sports and leisure facilities. The district areas are divided into civil parishes, which have parish councils or town councils. Typical activities undertaken by a parish council include maintaining allotments, footpaths, playing fields, on some matters, the county council share responsibilities with the district and parish councils. These include economic development and regeneration, emergency planning, tourism promotion, list of articles about local government in the United Kingdom United Kingdom local elections,2009 Dorset County Council
Dorset County Council
–
Coat of arms
Dorset County Council
30.
United Kingdom
–
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
United Kingdom
–
Stonehenge, in
Wiltshire, was erected around 2500 BC.
United Kingdom
–
Flag
United Kingdom
–
The
Bayeux Tapestry depicts the
Battle of Hastings, 1066, and the events leading to it.
United Kingdom
–
The
Treaty of Union led to a single united kingdom encompassing all Great Britain.
31.
Local Government Act 1992
–
The Local Government Commission for England was the body responsible for reviewing the structure of local government in England from 1992 to 2002. It was established under the Local Government Act 1992, replacing the Local Government Boundary Commission for England, the Commission, chaired by John Banham, conducted a review of all the non-metropolitan counties of England from 1993 to 1994, making various recommendations on their future. Reforms in the rest of Great Britain followed a different course, following the structural review, the Commission then reviewed electoral arrangements in English local authorities, re-warding based on population changes. It was replaced by the Boundary Committee for England in 2002, Local government was at the time organised under the Local Government Act 1972, which had been passed during Edward Heaths Conservative administration. The 1972 Act abolished county boroughs, making them districts in two-tier counties, heseltine was an enthusiast for unitary local government, and was also an early proponent of the idea of directly elected mayors, to be taken up by Tony Blairs government in the 2000s. A wide range of opinion had always favoured in principle the establishment of unitary authorities. We favour the creation in England and Wales of unitary authorities, heseltine was replaced by Michael Howard in April 1992 after the 1992 general election. The Commission, chaired by John Banham, started the reviews in July 1992, the process took longer than expected, with the Commission unable to recruit enough staff until November 1992. The first tranche, covering Avon, Cleveland, Derbyshire, County Durham, Gloucestershire, Banham had said that the Commission was expecting early wins in Cleveland, Humberside and Avon. The first recommendation, published in 1993, was the quite uncontroversial one to make Isle of Wight a unitary authority, the island had been split between South Wight and Medina boroughs, with an Isle of Wight County Council, since 1974. Three more final reports, for Cleveland, Derbyshire and Durham, were published in November 1993, in both Derbyshire and Durham, unitary authorities would be created covering the large urban areas, but the rest of the county would remain two-tier in structure. A new Secretary of State, John Selwyn Gummer, had taken over in May, Gummer sped-up the work plan and directed that all remaining reviews should start in December and be complete by the end of 1994. Gummer also issued new guidance, making it clear that wholly unitary solutions should be preferred, particularly ones smaller than existing counties and he further announced that Derbyshire and Durham would be referred back to the Commission for consideration under the new guidance. Gummer accepted the Commissions proposal to abolish Cleveland, but asked the Commission to consider Durham, the Labour Party, while remaining broadly in favour of unitary authorities, attacked the Commission for inconsistency. The revised guidance included wording as follows, In some areas the commission may wish to recommend a continuation of the existing two-tier structure. But the government expects that to be the exception, and that the result will be an increase in the number of unitary authorities in both urban and rural areas. Lancashire and Derbyshire County Councils, fearing their abolition under the new guidance, took a case to the High Court, the commission recommended that Avon and Humberside should be abolished and broken up into four unitary authorities each. It also recommended that the rump Somerset be broken up into three unitary authorities and it suggested that North Yorkshire be split into three unitary authorities – one for York, and two others to be called West Riding of Yorkshire and North Riding of Yorkshire
Local Government Act 1992
–
Map showing counties and unitary authorities from 1998. Pink (non-metropolitan) and green (metropolitan and London) areas were left unchanged. Yellow areas are unitary authorities created as a result of the review, whilst blue areas are remaining two-tier counties reduced by the creation of unitary authorities.
32.
Local Government Act 1972
–
The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. In Wales, too, the Act established a pattern of counties and districts. Elections were held to the new authorities in 1973, and they acted as shadow authorities until the handover date, elections to county councils were held on 12 April, for metropolitan and Welsh districts on 10 May, and for non-metropolitan district councils on 7 June. Elected county councils had established in England and Wales for the first time in 1888. Some large towns, known as county boroughs, were independent from the counties in which they were physically situated. The county areas were two-tier, with many municipal borough, urban district and rural districts within them, however, most of the Commissions recommendations, such as its proposals to abolish Rutland or to reorganise Tyneside, were ignored in favour of the status quo. It was generally agreed that there were significant problems with the structure of local government, the Local Government Commission was wound up in 1966, and replaced with a Royal Commission. The new government made Peter Walker and Graham Page the ministers and they invited comments from interested parties regarding the previous governments proposals. The Association of Municipal Corporations put forward a scheme with 13 provincial councils and 132 main councils, the incoming governments proposals for England were presented in a White Paper published in February 1971. The White Paper substantially trimmed the metropolitan areas, and proposed a structure for the rest of the country. Many of the new boundaries proposed by the Redcliffe-Maud report were retained in the White Paper, the proposals were in large part based on ideas of the County Councils Association, the Urban District Councils Association and the Rural District Councils Association. The White Paper set out the division of functions between districts and counties, and also suggested a minimum population of 40,000 for districts. The government aimed to introduce a Bill in the 1971/72 session of Parliament for elections in 1973, the White Paper made no commitments on regional or provincial government, since the Conservative government preferred to wait for the Crowther Commission to report. The proposals were substantially changed with the introduction of the Bill into Parliament in November 1971, Area 4 would have had a border with area 2, seaham and Easington were to be part of the Sunderland district. Humberside did not exist in the White Paper, the East Riding was split between area 5 and an area 8. Area 33 to include Brackley and Brackley Rural District from Northamptonshire, Area 39 to include Henley-on-Thames and Henley Rural District from Oxfordshire Area 40 to include Aldershot, Farnborough, Fleet and area from Hampshire. The latter was removed from the Bill before it became law, proposals from Plymouth for a Tamarside county were rejected. The Bill also provided names for the new counties for the first time, on 6 July 1972, a government amendment added Lymington to Dorset, which would have had the effect of having the entire Bournemouth conurbation in one county
Local Government Act 1972
33.
County council
–
A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has different meanings in different countries. County councils were formed in the late 19th century, in the various constituent countries of the United Kingdom councils had different powers and different memberships. Following local government reforms in the 1970s, county councils no longer exist in Scotland or Northern Ireland, in England they generally form the top level in a two-tier system of administration, in Wales they are unitary authorities. In England county councils were introduced in 1889, and reformed in 1974, since the mid-1990s a series of local government reorganisations has reduced the number of county councils as unitary authorities have been established in a number of areas. Until the 1990s they also ran colleges of education and the careers services. That decade also saw the privatisation of some services, such as highway maintenance, cleaning. County councils were created by the Local Government Act 1888, largely taking over the functions of the unelected county courts of quarter sessions. County councils consisted of councillors, directly elected by the electorate, there was one county alderman for every three councillors. The first elections to the councils were held at various dates in January 1889, and they served as provisional or shadow councils until 1 April, elections of all councillors and half of the aldermen took place every three years thereafter. The areas over which the councils had authority were designated as administrative counties, the writ of the county councils did not extend everywhere, large towns and some historic counties corporate were constituted county boroughs by the same act. County borough councils were independent of the council for the county in which they were geographically situated, the new system was a major modernisation, which reflected the increasing range of functions carried out by local government in late Victorian Britain. A major accretion of powers took place when education was added to county council responsibilities in 1902, County councils were responsible for more strategic services in a region, with smaller urban district councils and rural district councils responsible for other activities. The Local Government Act 1929 considerably increased the powers of county councils, in 1965 there was a reduction in the number of county councils. The London Government Act 1963 abolished those of London and Middlesex, Greater London was declared to be an area and not to lie in any county. The Local Government Act 1972 completely reorganised local authorities in England, County boroughs were abolished and the whole of England was placed in a two-tier arrangement with county councils and district councils. In the six largest conurbations metropolitan county councils, with increased powers, were created, the post of county alderman was abolished, and the entire council was thereafter directly elected every four years. In 1986 the six county councils were abolished, with their functions transferred to the metropolitan boroughs
County council
–
Changhua County Council building
34.
Non-metropolitan district
–
Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially shire districts, are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties in a two-tier arrangement, in the 1990s, several non-metropolitan counties were created that are unitary authorities and also have non-metropolitan district status. A third category is the districts of Berkshire, which are districts that are unitary authorities. Non-metropolitan districts are subdivisions of English non-metropolitan counties which have a structure of local government. Most non-metropolitan counties have a county council, and also have several districts, many districts have borough status, which means the local council is called a Borough Council instead of District Council and gives them the right to appoint a Mayor. Borough status is granted by charter and, in many cases, continues a style enjoyed by a predecessor authority. Some districts such as Oxford or Exeter have city status, granted by letters patent, by 1899, England had been divided at district level into rural districts, urban districts, municipal boroughs, county boroughs and metropolitan boroughs. This system was abolished by the London Government Act 1963 and the Local Government Act 1972, non-metropolitan districts were created by this act in 1974 when England outside of Greater London was divided into metropolitan counties and non-metropolitan counties. Metropolitan counties were sub-divided into metropolitan districts and the counties were sub-divided into non-metropolitan districts. The metropolitan districts had more powers than their non-metropolitan counterparts, initially, there were 296 non-metropolitan districts in the two-tier structure, but reforms in the 1990s and 2009 reduced their number to 201. A further 55 non-metropolitan districts are now unitary authorities, which combine the functions of county, in Wales, an almost identical two-tier system of local government existed between 1974 and 1996. In 1996, this was abolished and replaced with a unitary system of local government. Since the areas for Wales and England had been enacted separately and there were no Welsh metropolitan areas, a similar system existed in Scotland, which in 1975 was divided into regions and districts, this was also abolished in 1996 and replaced with a fully unitary system. In England 200 out of the 201 non-metropolitan district councils are represented by the District Councils Network, special interest group which sits within the Local Government Association. The network’s purpose is to “act as an informed and representative advocate for districts to government and other bodies, based on their unique position to deliver for ‘local’ people. ”This is a list of non-metropolitan counties. Some non-metropolitan districts are coterminous with non-metropolitan counties, making them unitary authorities and these are excluded from this list as is Berkshire which has no county council. For a full list of districts of all types including unitary authorities, metropolitan districts and London boroughs and this is a list of former two-tier districts in England which have been abolished, by local government reorganizations such as the 2009 structural changes to local government in England. It does not include districts that still exist after becoming an authority or those that transferred from one county to another
Non-metropolitan district
–
Non-metropolitan district
35.
Scotland
–
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It shares a border with England to the south, and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east. In addition to the mainland, the country is made up of more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles, the Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the Early Middle Ages and continued to exist until 1707. By inheritance in 1603, James VI, King of Scots, became King of England and King of Ireland, Scotland subsequently entered into a political union with the Kingdom of England on 1 May 1707 to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain. The union also created a new Parliament of Great Britain, which succeeded both the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. Within Scotland, the monarchy of the United Kingdom has continued to use a variety of styles, titles, the legal system within Scotland has also remained separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotland constitutes a distinct jurisdiction in both public and private law. Glasgow, Scotlands largest city, was one of the worlds leading industrial cities. Other major urban areas are Aberdeen and Dundee, Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third-largest city in Scotland, the title of Europes oil capital, following a referendum in 1997, a Scottish Parliament was re-established, in the form of a devolved unicameral legislature comprising 129 members, having authority over many areas of domestic policy. Scotland is represented in the UK Parliament by 59 MPs and in the European Parliament by 6 MEPs, Scotland is also a member nation of the British–Irish Council, and the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly. Scotland comes from Scoti, the Latin name for the Gaels, the Late Latin word Scotia was initially used to refer to Ireland. By the 11th century at the latest, Scotia was being used to refer to Scotland north of the River Forth, alongside Albania or Albany, the use of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in the Late Middle Ages. Repeated glaciations, which covered the land mass of modern Scotland. It is believed the first post-glacial groups of hunter-gatherers arrived in Scotland around 12,800 years ago, the groups of settlers began building the first known permanent houses on Scottish soil around 9,500 years ago, and the first villages around 6,000 years ago. The well-preserved village of Skara Brae on the mainland of Orkney dates from this period and it contains the remains of an early Bronze Age ruler laid out on white quartz pebbles and birch bark. It was also discovered for the first time that early Bronze Age people placed flowers in their graves, in the winter of 1850, a severe storm hit Scotland, causing widespread damage and over 200 deaths. In the Bay of Skaill, the storm stripped the earth from a large irregular knoll, when the storm cleared, local villagers found the outline of a village, consisting of a number of small houses without roofs. William Watt of Skaill, the laird, began an amateur excavation of the site, but after uncovering four houses
Scotland
–
Edinburgh Castle. Human habitation of the site is dated back as far as the 9th century BC, although the nature of this early settlement is unclear.
Scotland
–
Flag
Scotland
–
The class I
Pictish stone at
Aberlemno known as Aberlemno 1 or the Serpent Stone.
Scotland
–
The
Wallace Monument commemorates
William Wallace, the 13th-century Scottish hero.
36.
Wales
–
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, and it had a population in 2011 of 3,063,456 and has a total area of 20,779 km2. Wales has over 1,680 miles of coastline and is mountainous, with its higher peaks in the north and central areas, including Snowdon. The country lies within the temperate zone and has a changeable. Welsh national identity emerged among the Celtic Britons after the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century, Llywelyn ap Gruffudds death in 1282 marked the completion of Edward I of Englands conquest of Wales, though Owain Glyndŵr briefly restored independence to Wales in the early 15th century. The whole of Wales was annexed by England and incorporated within the English legal system under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542, distinctive Welsh politics developed in the 19th century. Welsh Liberalism, exemplified in the early 20th century by Lloyd George, was displaced by the growth of socialism, Welsh national feeling grew over the century, Plaid Cymru was formed in 1925 and the Welsh Language Society in 1962. Established under the Government of Wales Act 1998, the National Assembly for Wales holds responsibility for a range of devolved policy matters, two-thirds of the population live in south Wales, mainly in and around Cardiff, Swansea and Newport, and in the nearby valleys. Now that the countrys traditional extractive and heavy industries have gone or are in decline, Wales economy depends on the sector, light and service industries. Wales 2010 gross value added was £45.5 billion, over 560,000 Welsh language speakers live in Wales, and the language is spoken by a majority of the population in parts of the north and west. From the late 19th century onwards, Wales acquired its popular image as the land of song, Rugby union is seen as a symbol of Welsh identity and an expression of national consciousness. The Old English-speaking Anglo-Saxons came to use the term Wælisc when referring to the Celtic Britons in particular, the modern names for some Continental European lands and peoples have a similar etymology. The modern Welsh name for themselves is Cymry, and Cymru is the Welsh name for Wales and these words are descended from the Brythonic word combrogi, meaning fellow-countrymen. The use of the word Cymry as a self-designation derives from the location in the post-Roman Era of the Welsh people in modern Wales as well as in northern England and southern Scotland. It emphasised that the Welsh in modern Wales and in the Hen Ogledd were one people, in particular, the term was not applied to the Cornish or the Breton peoples, who are of similar heritage, culture, and language to the Welsh. The word came into use as a self-description probably before the 7th century and it is attested in a praise poem to Cadwallon ap Cadfan c. 633. Thereafter Cymry prevailed as a reference to the Welsh, until c.1560 the word was spelt Kymry or Cymry, regardless of whether it referred to the people or their homeland. The Latinised forms of names, Cambrian, Cambric and Cambria, survive as lesser-used alternative names for Wales, Welsh
Wales
–
Bryn Celli Ddu, a late Neolithic chambered tomb on Anglesey
Wales
–
Flag
Wales
–
This article is about the country. For other uses, see
Wales (disambiguation).
Wales
–
Coin of
Magnus Maximus
37.
Northern Ireland
–
Northern Ireland is a constituent unit of the United Kingdom in the north-east of Ireland. It is variously described as a country, province, region, or part of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland shares a border to the south and west with the Republic of Ireland. In 2011, its population was 1,810,863, constituting about 30% of the total population. Northern Ireland was created in 1921, when Ireland was partitioned between Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland by an act of the British parliament, Northern Ireland has historically been the most industrialised region of Ireland. After declining as a result of the political and social turmoil of the Troubles, its economy has grown significantly since the late 1990s. Unemployment in Northern Ireland peaked at 17. 2% in 1986, dropping to 6. 1% for June–August 2014,58. 2% of those unemployed had been unemployed for over a year. Prominent artists and sports persons from Northern Ireland include Van Morrison, Rory McIlroy, Joey Dunlop, Wayne McCullough, some people from Northern Ireland prefer to identify as Irish while others prefer to identify as British. Cultural links between Northern Ireland, the rest of Ireland, and the rest of the UK are complex, in many sports, the island of Ireland fields a single team, a notable exception being association football. Northern Ireland competes separately at the Commonwealth Games, and people from Northern Ireland may compete for either Great Britain or Ireland at the Olympic Games. The region that is now Northern Ireland was the bedrock of the Irish war of resistance against English programmes of colonialism in the late 16th century, the English-controlled Kingdom of Ireland had been declared by the English king Henry VIII in 1542, but Irish resistance made English control fragmentary. Victories by English forces in war and further Protestant victories in the Williamite War in Ireland toward the close of the 17th century solidified Anglican rule in Ireland. In Northern Ireland, the victories of the Siege of Derry and their intention was to materially disadvantage the Catholic community and, to a lesser extent, the Presbyterian community. In the context of open institutional discrimination, the 18th century saw secret, militant societies develop in communities in the region and act on sectarian tensions in violent attacks. Following this, in an attempt to quell sectarianism and force the removal of discriminatory laws, the new state, formed in 1801, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, was governed from a single government and parliament based in London. Between 1717 and 1775 some 250,000 people from Ulster emigrated to the British North American colonies and it is estimated that there are more than 27 million Scotch-Irish Americans now living in the US. By the close of the century, autonomy for Ireland within the United Kingdom, in 1912, after decades of obstruction from the House of Lords, Home Rule became a near-certainty. A clash between the House of Commons and House of Lords over a controversial budget produced the Parliament Act 1911, which enabled the veto of the Lords to be overturned. The House of Lords veto had been the unionists main guarantee that Home Rule would not be enacted, in 1914, they smuggled thousands of rifles and rounds of ammunition from Imperial Germany for use by the Ulster Volunteers, a paramilitary organisation opposed to the implementation of Home Rule
Northern Ireland
–
Scrabo Tower,
County Down
Northern Ireland
–
Location of Northern Ireland (dark green) – in
Europe (green & dark grey) – in the
United Kingdom (green)
Northern Ireland
–
Cannon on
Derry 's
city walls
Northern Ireland
–
Signing of the
Ulster Covenant in 1912 in opposition to Home Rule
38.
Unitary authorities of England
–
Unitary authorities of England are local authorities that are responsible for the provision of all local government services within a district. They are constituted under the Local Government Act 1992, which amended the Local Government Act 1972 to allow the existence of counties that do not have multiple districts, unitary authorities do not cover all of England. Most were established during the 1990s and a further tranche were created in 2009, unitary authorities have the powers and functions that are elsewhere separately administered by councils of non-metropolitan counties and the non-metropolitan districts within them. Strictly speaking, the term does not necessarily mean a single level of government within an area. Although the term was not applied to them, county boroughs between 1889 and 1974 were effectively unitary authorities, that is, single-tier administrative units. Before 1889, local government authorities had different powers and functions, some smaller settlements also enjoyed some degree of autonomy from regular administration as boroughs or liberties. The Local Government Act 1972 created areas for local government where large towns, a review in the 1990s was initiated in order to select non-metropolitan areas where new unitary authorities could be created. The resulting structural changes were implemented between 1995 and 1998, the changes caused the ceremonial counties to be defined separately, as they had been before 1974. The review caused 46 unitary authorities to be created, a further review was initiated in 2007 and was enacted in 2009. The review caused nine unitary authorities to be created, unitary authorities combine the powers and functions that are normally delivered separately by the councils of non-metropolitan counties and non-metropolitan districts. The exceptions, which are divided into electoral divisions as in county elections, are Cornwall, County Durham. Unitary authority areas can additionally have the status of borough or city, the Council of the Isles of Scilly is a sui generis unitary authority, created in 1890 and since 1930 has held the powers, duties and liabilities of a county council. The 36 metropolitan borough councils are also the elected local government units in their areas
Unitary authorities of England
–
Unitary authorities of England
39.
Local government in Northern Ireland
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Northern Ireland is divided into 11 districts for local government purposes. Their functions include waste and recycling services, leisure and community services, building control and local economic and they are not planning authorities, but are consulted on some planning applications. The collection of rates is handled by the Land and Property Services agency, the current pattern of 11 local government districts was established on 1 April 2015, as a result of the reform process that started in 2005. The system was based on the recommendations of the Macrory Report, of June 1970, from 1921 to 1973, Northern Ireland was divided into six administrative counties and two county boroughs. The counties and county continue to exist for the purposes of lieutenancy. This system, with the abolition of districts, remains the model for local government in the Republic of Ireland. Councillors are elected for a term of office under the single transferable vote system. Elections were last held in May 2014, to qualify for election, a councillor candidate must be, at least 18 years of age, and a Commonwealth of Nations or European Union citizen. The districts are combined for various purposes, in the Eurostat Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics, Northern Ireland is divided into five parts at level 3 There were five education and library boards in Northern Ireland. As part of the Review of Public Administration process, the functions of the ELBs were taken over by a new body. The education and skills functions were centralised into a single Education Authority for Northern Ireland in April 2015, the boards were as follows, There were four health and social services boards which were replaced by a single Health and Social Care Board in April 2009. Among its recommendations were a reduction in the number of districts, in 2005 Peter Hain, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, announced proposals to reduce the number of councils to seven. The names and boundaries of the seven districts were announced in March 2007, in March 2008 the restored Northern Executive agreed to create eleven new councils instead of the original seven. The first elections were due to place in May 2011. However, by May 2010 disagreements among parties in the executive over district boundaries were expected to delay the reforms until 2015, in June 2010 the proposed reforms were abandoned following the failure of the Northern Ireland Executive to reach agreement. However, on 12 March 2012, the Northern Ireland Executive published its programme for government, which included a commitment to reduce the number of councils in Northern Ireland to 11
Local government in Northern Ireland
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Parts of this article (those related to <topic>) are outdated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. Last update: 2011 (May 2014)
Local government in Northern Ireland
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Northern Ireland
40.
Recycling in Northern Ireland
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Recycling in Northern Ireland Roughly 40% of waste is recycled or composted in Northern Ireland. Northern Irelands local councils have statutory responsibility for the collection and disposal of waste, in the original 2000 Waste Management Strategy, local councils were set the target of recycling and composting 15% of household waste by 2005 and 25% by 2010. In the second Waste Management Strategy, launched in early 2006, new, bolder targets were set for recycling 35% of waste by 2010, 40% by 2015, and 45% by 2020. In June 2012, Northern Irelands then environment minister Alex Attwood announced plans to make it compulsory for local councils to achieve a 60% waste recycling rate by 2020. According to data contained in the Northern Ireland Municipal Waste Management Statistics Annual Report 2010-11, in 2015-2016, the overall recycling rate of household waste stood at 42. 2%. Over the past decade recycling and composting rates have increased considerably in Northern Ireland from roughly 5% in 1999 to just over 42% in 2015-2015, below are tables summarizing the gains made in recent years in diverting waste from landfill through recycling and composting. The figures in these tables refer to the proportion of local authority collected municipal waste being sent for recycling and composting. The data come from Northern Irelands Department of the Environment municipal waste reports, since the mid-2000s, local councils in Northern Ireland have been required to report data on municipal waste arisings on a quarterly basis. Recycling Recycling in the United Kingdom Recycling in Ireland
Recycling in Northern Ireland
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Materials
41.
Land and Property Services
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The Land and Property Services is an agency of the Department of Finance. The agency, created in 2008, includes the Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland
Land and Property Services
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v
42.
Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994
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Act 1994 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which created the current local government structure of 32 unitary authorities covering the whole of Scotland. It abolished the two-tier structure of regions and districts created by the Local Government Act 1973 which had previously covered Scotland except for the council areas. The Act came into effect on 1 April 1995, applying beginning in the 1995 local elections in Scotland, the Secretary of State for Scotland, Ian Lang outlined proposed areas in a statement to the Commons on 8 July 1993. Each area established by the Act was to be governed by an elected council, the councils title was simply the name of the area followed by the word Council, Argyll and Bute Council, Aberdeen City Council and so on. Each area was divided into wards with each ward returning a single councillor, the councillors were required to elect a convener, and could choose to elect a depute convener. In the four city areas the conveners title was to be Lord Provost, in the other council areas the convener was to be known by such title as the council may determine, other than Lord Provost. In 1998 sixteen councils were using the title provost, the remaining twelve having conveners, area councils were obliged to make a draft decentralisation scheme by 1 April 1997. Having made the plan there was to be an eight-week period in which the area council was to consult with the relevant community councils. The decentralisation scheme could then be adopted in original or modified form, community councils established by district councils under the 1973 Act were to continue to exist. The area councils took on the powers of the districts to make or amend schemes for the establishment of communities. Part II of the Act reorganised water supply and sewerage services, three water authorities were established, each with a defined water area and sewerage area. The water and sewerage areas were defined in schedule 8, as follows, The Act also established a Scottish Water, the three water authorities were merged in 2002 to form Scottish Water. The reorganisation of local government areas also led to changes in policing, fire services, public transport and these had been organised in 1975 to correspond to one or more regions. The Police Act 1967 was amended to allow for the reconstitution of police areas, similarly fire services and authorities were reconstituted. The Secretary of State for Scotland was to designate an area, area Tourist Boards were to be established by the Secretary of State. Civic Licensing – the Civic Government Act 1982 introduced a framework of regulation of activities such as taxis, street traders, public entertainment. After the introduction of the 1994 Act, the licensing authority became the new council for each area. Subdivisions of Scotland Full text of the act, Office of Public Sector Information websiteOPSI home page
Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994
43.
Subdivisions of Scotland
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For local government purposes, Scotland is divided into 32 areas designated as council areas, which are all governed by unitary authorities designated as councils. The council areas have been in existence since 1 April 1996, historically, Scotland has been divided into 34 counties or shires. Although these no longer have any function, they are still used to some extent in Scotland for cultural and geographical purposes. Traditionally burghs have been the key unit of the government of Scotland, being highly autonomous entities. Even after the Acts of Union 1707, burghs continued to be the principal subdivision, until 1889 administration was on a burgh and parish basis. The years following 1889 saw the introduction of a hierarchy of local government administration comprising counties, counties of cities, large burghs, source,2011 Census for Scotland Scotland has several other administrative divisions, some of which are handled by joint boards of the councils. The Police and Fire Reform Act 2012 resulted in the merger of police and fire services on 1 April 2013 to form the Police Service of Scotland. Policing was the responsibility of the Cities and Burghs of Scotland, Police and fire service areas date from the era of regions and districts and island council areas. There are several joint boards for electoral registration and the purposes of property valuation for assessing council tax, see also NHS Scotland Until 1 April 2014 the towns of Cambuslang and Rutherglen were in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board area despite being located in South Lanarkshire. They are now part of NHS Lanarkshire, the Scottish Government has created seven Regional Transport Partnerships, for establishing transport policy in the regions. They broadly follow council area groupings and these areas in most cases resemble those of the pre-1975 administrative counties with Glasgow being the only current city to form a registration county. Although they have had no administrative function since 1930, they still exist and are used for statistical purposes such as the census. Many former civil parish areas also continue to form current registration districts and it should be noted that many boundary changes have occurred over the years and that an area currently derived from an old parish might no longer contain a place previously within that parish. The base level of sub-division in Scotland is that of communities, the main role of the CCs is to channel local opinion to larger local-government bodies. Otherwise, they have limited powers. There are around 1,200 communities in Scotland, not all communities have councils, some have joint councils. Scottish communities are the nearest equivalent to parishes in England. List of articles about local government in the United Kingdom ISO 3166-2, GB, subdivision codes for the United Kingdom
Subdivisions of Scotland
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Councils of Scotland
44.
Regions and districts of Scotland
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The local government areas of Scotland were redefined by the Local Government Act 1973 and redefined again by the Local Government etc Act 1994. The 1973 Act created a system of nine regions and three islands areas, and this system completely replaced local government counties and burghs in 1975. The new regions were very different from the counties which had been in use since the Local Government Act 1889. Also, the districts were different from the subdivisions of counties, also called districts. The reorganisation of government in Scotland was a matter of political debate from the mid-1960s. In June 1963 the Scottish Office published a paper titled The Modernization of Local Government in Scotland. This proposed a large decrease in the number of authorities in the country. There was to be a reduction from thirty-three county councils to between ten and fifteen, at the same time, new second-tier councils were proposed, with burghs being merged with the surrounding landward rural areas. The minimum population for the areas of these councils was to be 40,000 and it was hoped that the reforms could be carried out quickly, with existing authorities agreeing to amalgamation and boundary alterations prior to legislation being passed. The white paper was rejected by the Association of Large Burghs, at the 1964 general election Labour came to power, and the scheme was not pursued. Instead a royal commission under the chairmanship of Lord Wheatley was appointed in 1966 to enquire into local administration, the commissions report was delivered on 25 September 1969, and recommended a two-tier system of 7 regions and 37 districts. The incoming Conservative government accepted the principles of the commissions report in their white paper Reform of Local Government in Scotland. The number of regions was increased to 8, and of districts to 49, also Orkney and Shetland were to become most-purpose authorities, separated from the Highland Region. Following consultation, the structure was modified, the Western Isles, which was to have formed four districts of the Highland Region, became an islands area, with the same status as Orkney and Shetland. The number of districts was to remain at 49 in number and these were the areas included in the Local Government Bill as introduced to parliament in 1973. Considerable changes were made during the passage of the legislation, fife, which was to have been divided between the South-East and East Regions, was to become a region on the same boundaries as the existing county. This increased the number of regions to nine, the number of districts was increased to 53, numerous boundary changes were made and regions and districts renamed. The first elections to the new district and regional councils were held on 7 May 1974, Regions had a two-tier system of local government, with each region divided into districts, varying from 3 to 19 in number
Regions and districts of Scotland
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Overview
45.
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
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Comhairle nan Eilean Siar is the local government council for Na h-Eileanan Siar council area of Scotland, comprising the Outer Hebrides. Comhairle nan Eilean Siar is the local council in Scotland to have a Gaelic-only name. In 1975, the council was created as Western Isles Council,57 years after the creation of Na h-Eileanan an Iar for elections to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Since 1999, there has also the Na h-Eileanan an Iar constituency of the Scottish Parliament. When the Bank of Credit and Commerce International collapsed in 1991, in 1997, the Western Isles Council was renamed as Comhairle nan Eilean Siar. General elections to the council are held on a five-year cycle, in 2007, under the Local Governance Act 2004, the single transferable vote system, together with multi-member wards, was used for the first time, each ward electing three or four councillors. This system is designed to produce a form of proportional representation, constitutional status of Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles Lerwick Declaration Comhairle nan Eilean Siar website Ward maps, with links re councillors
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
46.
Scottish Gaelic language
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Scottish Gaelic or Scots Gaelic, sometimes also referred to as Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish. The 2011 census of Scotland showed that a total of 57,375 people in Scotland could speak Gaelic at that time, the census results indicate a decline of 1,275 Gaelic speakers from 2001. A total of 87,056 people in 2011 reported having some facility with Gaelic compared to 93,282 people in 2001, only about half of speakers were fully literate in the language. Nevertheless, revival efforts exist and the number of speakers of the language under age 20 has increased, Scottish Gaelic is neither an official language of the European Union nor the United Kingdom. Outside Scotland, a group of dialects collectively known as Canadian Gaelic are spoken in parts of Atlantic Canada, mainly Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. In the 2011 census, there were 7,195 total speakers of Gaelic languages in Canada, with 1,365 in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island where the responses mainly refer to Scottish Gaelic. About 2,320 Canadians in 2011 also claimed Gaelic languages as their mother tongue, with over 300 in Nova Scotia, aside from Scottish Gaelic, the language may also be referred to simply as Gaelic. In Scotland, the word Gaelic in reference to Scottish Gaelic specifically is pronounced, outside Ireland and Great Britain, Gaelic may refer to the Irish language. Scottish Gaelic should not be confused with Scots, the Middle English-derived language varieties which had come to be spoken in most of the Lowlands of Scotland by the modern era. Prior to the 15th century, these dialects were known as Inglis by its own speakers, from the late 15th century, however, it became increasingly common for such speakers to refer to Scottish Gaelic as Erse and the Lowland vernacular as Scottis. Today, Scottish Gaelic is recognised as a language from Irish. Gaelic in Scotland was mostly confined to Dál Riata until the 8th century, when it began expanding into Pictish areas north of the Firth of Forth, by 900, Pictish appears to have become extinct, completely replaced by Gaelic. An exception might be made for the Northern Isles, however, however, though the Pictish language did not disappear suddenly, a process of Gaelicisation was clearly underway during the reigns of Caustantín and his successors. By a certain point, probably during the 11th century, all the inhabitants of Alba had become fully Gaelicised Scots, by the 10th century, Gaelic had become the dominant language throughout northern and western Scotland, the Gaelo-Pictic Kingdom of Alba. Its spread to southern Scotland, was even and totalizing. Place name analysis suggests dense usage of Gaelic in Galloway and adjoining areas to the north and west as well as in West Lothian, less dense usage is suggested for north Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, the Clyde Valley and eastern Dumfriesshire. In south-eastern Scotland, there is no evidence that Gaelic was ever widely spoken, the area shifted from Cumbric to Old English during its long incorporation into the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria
Scottish Gaelic language
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1891 distribution of
English and Gaelic in Scotland
Scottish Gaelic language
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Anne Lorne Gillies speaking publicly in the Scottish Gaelic language.
Scottish Gaelic language
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Coronation of
King Alexander III on
Moot Hill,
Scone on 13 July 1249. He is being greeted by the ollamh rìgh, the royal poet, who is addressing him with the proclamation "Benach De Re Albanne" (= Beannachd Dè Rìgh Alban, "God's Blessing on the King of Scotland"); the poet goes on to recite Alexander's genealogy.
Scottish Gaelic language
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Public signage in Gaelic is becoming increasingly common throughout the Scottish Highlands. This sign is located in the bilingual port community of
Mallaig.
47.
Local government in Wales
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For local government purposes, Wales has since 1 April 1996 been divided into 22 single-tier principal areas. The elected councils of these areas are responsible for the provision of all government services, including education, social work, environmental protection. Below these there are also elected community councils to which responsibility for specific aspects of the application of local policy may be devolved. The Queen appoints a Lord Lieutenant to represent her in each of the eight preserved counties of Wales, subdivisions of Wales created for such purposes as the provision of police and emergency services and the organization of the National Health Service are made up of combinations of principal areas. There are six cities in total in Wales, in addition to the three areas with city status, the communities of Bangor, St Davids and St Asaph also have the status. City status is granted by letters patent, the status was, however, not officially recognised for many years. When city status was restored to St Davids in 1994, St Asaph town council submitted a petition for the same purpose, the petition was refused as, unlike St Davids, there was no evidence of any charter or letters patent in the past conferring the status. Applications for city status in competitions in 2000 and 2002 were unsuccessful, There are 22 principal areas in Wales. They came into being on 1 April 1996 by virtue of the Local Government Act 1994, eleven are named as counties, including the Cities and Counties of Cardiff and Swansea, and eleven are styled as county boroughs. In 2002 Newport was granted city status, and the county borough is now styled as the City of Newport, Welsh language forms are given in parentheses, except where there is no English equivalent. Locations of each council headquarters are indicated by yellow markers, the current names of certain unitary authority areas are different from those specified in the Local Government Act 1994. Elections planned for 2012 were delayed until 2013, the historic counties of Wales are ancient subdivisions of Wales, used for various functions for several hundred years. The oldest date from 1138 By 1066 the whole of England had been divided into counties, the first counties, Cardiganshire and Carmarthenshire, were established in the 1240s. In 1284 the Principality of Gwynedd was divided into three counties, Anglesey, Caernarvonshire and Merionethshire and this can be regarded as an arrangement imposed on Wales by the English during the last years of Prince Llywelyn II. Before the end of the century, Flintshire had also become a county, the formation of counties was completed under the Act of Union 1536, which created Pembrokeshire, Montgomeryshire, Denbighshire, Radnorshire, Glamorganshire, Brecknockshire and Monmouthshire. These 13 counties were the main subdivisions of Wales from 1889 until the implementation in 1974 of the Local Government Act 1972. At the lowest level of subdivision in Wales are the communities. They may have elected community councils which perform a number of roles, such as providing local facilities, community councils are the equivalent of English parish councils
Local government in Wales
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Wales
48.
Local Government (Wales) Act 1994
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It came into effect on 1 April 1996. In June 1991, the Secretary of State for Wales, David Hunt, the paper proposed the replacing of the existing two-tier system of administrative counties and districts, established by the Local Government Act 1972 in 1974, with unitary authorities. The number and size of the areas was not set down. On 3 March 1992 the Secretary of State made a statement in the House of Commons and he further stated, My approach in identifying these 23 authorities has been as follows. First, I want to restore to the largest centres of population - Cardiff, Swansea, Newport, I shall consult further on whether to extend that approach to separate authorities for Radnorshire and Brecknock. Thirdly in the south Wales valleys I want as far as possible to account of the intense local loyalties that are such a feature of the area. Taking account of demographic and other factors, however, I also consider it necessary for some of the present district councils in the valleys to come together to form new unitary authorities. The areas of the new councils were not precisely defined, although a map was issued at the time of the statement. The Conservatives held power at the election held on 9 April 1992. The number of unitary authorities had been reduced to twenty-one, with the deletion of separate authorities for Merionethshire and Montgomeryshire, the fire service, previously administered by county councils, was to be organised as three combined authorities. Elections for the new councils was to be in 1994, initially acting as shadow authorities until 1 April 1995 when they would assume their responsibilities, in May 1993, a cabinet reshuffle led to John Redwood replacing David Hunt as Welsh Secretary. In November 1993, it was announced that the reorganisation was to be put back by a year to 1 April 1996 to allow time for consultation. The Glamorgan Valleys authority was to be renamed as Rhondda Cynon Taff, although I am reluctant to increase the number of authorities in the Bill, I understand the differences between Merthyr and its proposed partner in Blaenau Gwent. I understand Merthyrs long, proud history and its status as a county borough. Its size, which is comparable to that of Cardiganshire and Anglesey, the Local Government Bill was introduced to the Commons in June 1994. The debate on the led to a number of opposition amendments which sought to increase the number of councils. None of these amendments was successful and the Bill was passed by both houses and received the Royal Assent on 5 July 1994, preserved counties, based on the previous local government counties as established in 1974, were created for the purposes of lieutenancy and shrievality. Each new unitary authority area was to have a council and be divided into electoral districts
Local Government (Wales) Act 1994
49.
County Council
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A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has different meanings in different countries. County councils were formed in the late 19th century, in the various constituent countries of the United Kingdom councils had different powers and different memberships. Following local government reforms in the 1970s, county councils no longer exist in Scotland or Northern Ireland, in England they generally form the top level in a two-tier system of administration, in Wales they are unitary authorities. In England county councils were introduced in 1889, and reformed in 1974, since the mid-1990s a series of local government reorganisations has reduced the number of county councils as unitary authorities have been established in a number of areas. Until the 1990s they also ran colleges of education and the careers services. That decade also saw the privatisation of some services, such as highway maintenance, cleaning. County councils were created by the Local Government Act 1888, largely taking over the functions of the unelected county courts of quarter sessions. County councils consisted of councillors, directly elected by the electorate, there was one county alderman for every three councillors. The first elections to the councils were held at various dates in January 1889, and they served as provisional or shadow councils until 1 April, elections of all councillors and half of the aldermen took place every three years thereafter. The areas over which the councils had authority were designated as administrative counties, the writ of the county councils did not extend everywhere, large towns and some historic counties corporate were constituted county boroughs by the same act. County borough councils were independent of the council for the county in which they were geographically situated, the new system was a major modernisation, which reflected the increasing range of functions carried out by local government in late Victorian Britain. A major accretion of powers took place when education was added to county council responsibilities in 1902, County councils were responsible for more strategic services in a region, with smaller urban district councils and rural district councils responsible for other activities. The Local Government Act 1929 considerably increased the powers of county councils, in 1965 there was a reduction in the number of county councils. The London Government Act 1963 abolished those of London and Middlesex, Greater London was declared to be an area and not to lie in any county. The Local Government Act 1972 completely reorganised local authorities in England, County boroughs were abolished and the whole of England was placed in a two-tier arrangement with county councils and district councils. In the six largest conurbations metropolitan county councils, with increased powers, were created, the post of county alderman was abolished, and the entire council was thereafter directly elected every four years. In 1986 the six county councils were abolished, with their functions transferred to the metropolitan boroughs
County Council
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Changhua County Council building
50.
County Borough
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County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control. They were abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in England and Wales, in the Republic of Ireland they remain in existence but have been renamed cities under the provisions of the Local Government Act 2001. The Local Government Act 1994 re-introduced the term for certain areas in Wales. Scotland did not have county boroughs but instead counties of cities and these were abolished on 16 May 1975. All four Scottish cities of the time — Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, there was an additional category of large burgh in the Scottish system, which were responsible for all services apart from police, education and fire. Some cities and towns were already independent counties corporate, and most were to become county boroughs, the Local Government Act 1888 as eventually passed required a population of over 50,000 except in the case of existing counties corporate. This resulted in 61 county boroughs in England and two in Wales, several exceptions were allowed, mainly for historic towns, Bath, Dudley and Oxford were all under the 50,000 limit in the 1901 census. Various new county boroughs were constituted in the decades as more boroughs reached the 50,000 minimum. The granting of county status was the subject of much disagreement between the large municipal boroughs and the county councils. County boroughs to be constituted in this era were a bag, including some towns that would continue to expand such as Bournemouth. Other towns such as Burton upon Trent and Dewsbury were not to increase in population much past 50,000, the threshold was raised to 100,000 by the Local Government Act 1958. The viability of the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil came into question in the 1930s. Due to a decline in the industries of the town, by 1932 more than half the male population was unemployed. At the same time the population of the borough was lower than when it had created in 1908. A royal commission was appointed in May 1935 to investigate whether the status of Merthyr Tydfil as a county borough should be continued. In the event county borough status was retained by the town, after the Second World War the creation of new county boroughs in England and Wales was effectively suspended, pending a local government review. The policy in the paper also ruled out the creation of new county boroughs in Middlesex owing to its special problems, the Local Government Boundary Commission was appointed on 26 October 1945, under the chairmanship of Sir Malcolm Trustram Eve, delivering its report in 1947. The report envisaged the creation of 47 two-tiered new counties,21 one-tiered new counties and 63 new county boroughs, although the Commissions did not complete their work before being dissolved, a handful of new county boroughs were constituted between 1964 and 1968
County Borough
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Street nameplate on Rutland Road,
Smethwick in April 2007, showing painted out "County Borough" lettering.
County Borough
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For the pre-1880s definition, see
County borough constituency.
