Anadministrative centreis a seat of regional administration or local government, or acounty town,or the place where the central administration of acommune,is located.
In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland and many African countries), achef-lieu(French pronunciation:[ʃɛfljø],plural formchefs-lieux,literally 'chief place' or 'main place'), is a town or city that is important from an administrative perspective.
Algeria
editThe capital of anAlgerian provinceis called achef-lieu.The capital of adistrict,the next largest division, is also called achef-lieu,whilst the capital of the lowest division, themunicipalities,is calledagglomération de chef-lieu(chef-lieuagglomeration) and is abbreviated asA.C.L.
Belgium
editThechef-lieuin Belgium is the administrative centre of each of the tenprovinces of Belgium.Three of these cities also give their name to their province (Antwerp,LiègeandNamur).
France
editThechef-lieu of adépartementis known as thepréfecture.This is the town or city where theprefectof the department (and all services under their control) are situated, in a building known as theprefecture.In everyFrench region,one of the departments has pre-eminence over the others, and the prefect carries the title ofPrefect of region X..., Prefect of Department Z...and the city where the regional prefect is found is known aschef-lieu of the regionor, more commonly,Regional prefecture.The services are, however, controlled by the prefecture of the department.
Thechef-lieu of anarrondissement,commonly known as thesous-préfectureis the city or town where the sub-prefect of the arrondissement (and the services directly under their control) are situated, in a building called thesub-prefecture.The arrondissement where the département prefecture is located does not normally have a sub-prefect or sub-prefecture, the administration being devolved usually to theSecretary-general of the departmental prefecture,who functions as sub-prefect for the arrondissement.
Thechef-lieu of acantonis usually the biggest city or town within the canton, but has only a nominal role. No specific services are controlled by it. In past decades, there was always aGendarmerie,a treasurer and a justice of the peace.
New Caledonia
editThechef-lieuindicates the principal city of the provinces of New Caledonia. SoNouméais the chef-lieu of South Province. But the chef-lieu can also mean the principal area within a town. SoWéis part of the town ofLifou,but is the chef-lieu of Lifou. In theLoyalty Islandsand the other islands, the name of the chef-lieu differs from that of the name of the town. For the towns of the mainland, the chef-lieu has the same name as the town. Nouméa is a town composed only of Nouméa.
Francophone West Africa
editMany of the West African states which gained independence fromFrancein the mid-20th century also inherited the French administrative structure of Departments and Communes, headed by aChief-Lieu.States still using Chief-Lieu to identify the administrative headquarters of a government subdivision includeSenegal,Burkina Faso,Benin,Mali,andNiger.[1]
TakingNigerandMalias examples, the administrative subdivisions down to the Commune level each have a formal place of administrative headquarters, titled the chef-lieu. The larger portion of the terminology of administrative division is inherited from colonial rule as part ofFrench West Africa,and has survived and been somewhat modified over time. In both nations there have been remarkably parallel histories.[2]With the decentralization process begun in both nations in the 1990s, the chef-lieu has transitioned from the location of the Governor, Commandant, or Prefect and their staff, to the location of Commune,Cercles of Mali/Departments of Niger,and Regional Councils and a variety of decentralized bodies.[3][4]Thechefs-lieuxof a Region, Cercle or Département, is usually also a Communal chef-lieu. Both nations collect these councils in a "High Council of Collectivites" seated at the nation's capital. Smaller sub-divisions in Mali's Communes (Villages, Tribal councils, Quarters) are administered from or identified as aPlace/Site(Sitein French), so the chef-lieu is literally theChief-Placeeven at the lowest level.[5][6]
Jordan
editIn theHashemite Kingdom of Jordan,the administrative centres are known as "chief towns" ornahias.[7]Nahias may be in charge of a sub-district (qda), a district (liwa), or agovernorate(muhafazah).
Luxembourg
editLuxembourg is divided into two judicialarrondissements(Luxembourg City, Diekirch), four electoral circonscriptions (constituencies), twelvecantons,as well as 100 communes (municipalities; Luxembourgish:Gemengen).
Arrondissements, districts and cantons have each achef-lieuand are named after it. The same is true for each commune which is composed of more than one town or village. Usually (with a few exceptions), the commune is named after the communal chef-lieu.
Russia
editInRussia,several million-plus cities infederal districtshave the official status of an administrative centre:Moscow(as the main city of theCentral Federal District),Vladivostok,Volgograd,Yekaterinburg,Nizhny Novgorod,Novosibirsk,Pyatigorsk,Rostov-on-DonandSt. Petersburg.The main cities of regions and municipal districts are also called unofficially the administrative centre or simply the centre. The only exception to this rule is therepublics,for which the term "capital"is used to refer to the seat of government. The capital of Russia is also an entity to which the term" administrative centre "does not apply.
Sweden
editInSwedenthere are two levels of administrative centre; the localmunicipaland the regionalcounty.
Central locality
editCentral locality(Swedish:"centralort" )is a term commonly ascribed to the settlement that serves as a municipal administrative centre. This level handles the local administrative and political tasks of the surrounding settlements. Sincecentral place theorywas the guiding principle during the municipal reform 1962–1977, most municipalities were dominated by a larger urban area where the political seat was located. Most municipalities are named for their central locality, but there are several exceptions.
There are many deviations from the central locality principle. Some municipalities are dominated by two or more towns of similar size, and sometimes they share the municipal administration, with the municipality having its official address in one of the towns. For example, bothSkillingarydandVaggerydare central localities ofVaggeryd Municipality.Conversely, there are municipalities withinmetropolitan areas.For example, there are twenty-six municipalities within theStockholm metropolitan area.
The termcentral localityhas no legal standing and it is unclear how it should be applied to these municipalities. Some municipalities appointing one or several localities to be the central locality.
Residence city
editAresidence city(Swedish: "residensstad" ) is the town or city which is thepolitical and administrative seat of the county.This level handles the more regional political and administrative tasks of the county, such as healthcare andpublic transport.The name comes from that this is the town or city where the governor(Swedish:"landshövding" )have theirresidence.There are some exceptions to this, however. In the newer amalgamated "greater counties", often referred to as "regions", the administrative centre is placed in one of the olderresidence cities.Examples of this isMalmöinRegion ScaniaandGothenburgin theVästra Götaland Region.
Switzerland
editThe termchef-lieuis applied to the capital of eachSwiss canton.In 16 of the 26 cantons, the territory is subdivided into districts. Every district also has a location nominated as chef-lieu and each has a prefect.
Tunisia
editThe termchef-lieuis used to designate the capital of eachgouvernorat(department). Each of the 24 gouvernorats is subdivided intodelegations(districts) which each have a central city aschef-lieu of delegation.
United Kingdom
editIn theUnited Kingdomit is the centre of alocal authority,which is distinct from ahistoric countywith a county town.
Popular culture
edit- The Fiancée of the pirate(1969) is a film byNelly Kaplan,where the action takes place in a hamlet where everyone spends their time worrying about what everyone thinks about the chef-lieu of the town.
See also
edit- County seat,administrative centres in the U.S.
- County town,administrative centres in Ireland and the UK
- Local government
- Seat of government
References
edit- ^Bierschenk T., Olivier de Sardan, J.‑P. (eds), 1998, "Les arènes locales face à la décentralisation et démocratisation. Analyses comparatives en milieu rural béninois", in Bierschenk T. & Olivier de Sardan J.-P. (eds), Les pouvoirs au village. Le Bénin rural entre démocratisation et décentralisation, Paris, Karthala: 11‑51.
- ^Claude Fay [La décentralisation dans un Cercle (Tenenkou, Mali). Autrepart: Logiques identitaires, logiques territoriales, 2000, IRDhttp://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/pleins_textes_7/autrepart/010021949.pdf#page=122].
- ^Bréhima Béridogo, [« Processus de Décentralisation au Mali et Couches Sociales Marginalisées », Bulletin de l'APAD, 14, 1997http://apad.revues.org/581]
- ^for Mali, see Bréhima Kassibo, [« La Décentralisation au Mali: État des Lieux », Bulletin de l'APAD, 14, 1997http://apad.revues.org/579]
- ^REPUBLIQUE DU NIGER Loi n° 2002-017 du 11 JUIN 2002 déterminant le régime financier des Régions, des Départements et des Communes[permanent dead link].
- ^Loi n° 2002-014 du 11 JUIN 2002 portant création des communes et fixant le nom de leurs chefs-lieux[permanent dead link].Includes list of 213 communes rurales and seats, 52 Communes urbaines and seats.
- ^"Annex B: Analysis of the municipal sector"(PDF).Third Tourism Development Project, Secondary Cities ОМ Study.Ministry of Antiquities and Tourism, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. 24 May 2005. p. 4.Archived(PDF)from the original on 19 April 2016.