Unincorporated area

A sign atContra Costa Centre Transit Village,an unincorporated community inContra Costa County, California,north ofWalnut Creek, California

Anunincorporated areais a region that is not governed by a localmunicipal corporation.There are many unincorporated communities and areas in the United States and Canada.

By country

Argentina

In Argentina, the provinces ofChubut,Córdoba,Entre Ríos,Formosa,Neuquén,Río Negro,San Luis,Santa Cruz,Santiago del Estero,Tierra del Fuego,andTucumánhave areas that are outside any municipality or commune.

Australia

Main article:Local government in Australia § Unincorporated areas

Unlike many other countries, Australia has onlyone level of local governmentimmediately beneathstate and territorialgovernments. A local government area (LGA) often contains several towns and even entire metropolitan areas. Thus, aside from very sparsely populated areas and a few other unique cases, almost all of Australia is part of an LGA. Unincorporated areas are often in remote locations, cover vast areas, or have very small populations.

Postal addresses in unincorporated areas, as in other parts of Australia, normally use thesuburb or localitynames gazetted by the relevant state or territorial government. Thus, any ambiguity regarding addresses rarely exists in unincorporated areas.

Canada

See also:Unorganized area

In Canada, depending on the province, anunincorporated settlementis one that does not have a municipal council that governs solely over the settlement. It is usually, but not always, part of a larger municipal government. These range from smallhamletsto large urbanized areas similar in size to a town or city.

InAlberta,unincorporated communities can be classified as Hamlet, Locality or townsite. A Hamlet is an unincorporated community that can be designated by the council of Municipal District or Specialized Municipality within their boundaries, or by the Minister of Municipal Affairs within the boundaries of an Improvement District.

For example, were they incorporated, theurban service areasofFort McMurrayin theRegional Municipality of Wood BuffaloandSherwood ParkinStrathcona Countywould be thefifth- and sixth-largest citiesin Alberta.

Unincorporated settlements with a population between 100 and 1,000 residents may have the status ofdesignated placein Canadian census data.

In some provinces, large tracts of undeveloped wilderness or rural country areunorganizedareas that fall directly under the provincial jurisdiction. Some unincorporated settlements in such unorganized areas may have some types of municipal services provided to them by a quasigovernmental agency such as alocal services boardin Ontario. In New Brunswick, where a significant population lives in alocal service district,taxation and services may come directly from the province.

Czech Republic

Sign prohibiting entry to theBoletice Military Training Area

The entire area of the Czech Republic is divided intomunicipalities;the only exceptions are fourmilitary training areas.These are parts of theregionsand do not form self-governing municipalities, but are rather governed by military offices (újezdní úřad), which are subordinate to theMinistry of Defence.

Military area	Region	Civilian population (2022)	Administrative centre (outside the military areas)	Area (km2)
Libavá	Olomouc	0	Město Libavá	235.48
Hradiště	Karlovy Vary	0	Karlovy Vary	280.73
Boletice	South Bohemian	0	Kájov	165.44
Březina	South Moravian	0	Vyškov	149.62

Note: The Brdy Military Area was abandoned by theArmyin 2015 and converted into aprotected landscape area,with its area being incorporated either into existing municipalities or into newly established municipalities based on the existing settlements. The other four military training areas were reduced in size in 2015 too. The decisions on whether the settlements joined existing municipalities or formed new ones were made by plebiscites.

Denmark

Ertholmene,is a small group of islands that forms the easternmost part of Denmark. This smallarchipelagolies 20 kilometers northeast ofBornholmand is the only part of metropolitan Denmark which is not part of a municipality. The islands have been under military jurisdiction since 1685 when Denmark turnedChristiansøinto a naval base to in response to Sweden creatingKarlskronanaval base a few years earlier. In 1926, the entire area was declared protected cultural heritage.Population of less than 100.Statistics Denmarkgroups it with Bornholm inLandsdel Bornholm.

Germany

Since Germany has no administrative level comparable to the townships of other countries, the vast majority of the country, close to 99%, is organized inmunicipalities(‹See Tfd›German:Gemeinde,pluralGemeinden), often consisting of multiple settlements that are not considered to be unincorporated. Because these settlements lack a council of their own, usually anOrtsvorsteherorOrtsvorsteherin(village chairman / chairwoman) is appointed by the municipal council, except in the very smallest villages.

In 2000, the number of unincorporated areas in Germany, calledgemeindefreie Gebiete(municipality-free areas) or singulargemeindefreies Gebiet,was 295 with a total area of 4,890 km²(1,890 sq mi) and around 1.4% of its territory. However, these are mostly unpopulated areas such as forests, lakes and their surroundings, military training areas, and the like.

As of 31 December 2007,Germany had 248 uninhabited unincorporated areas (of which 214 are located inBavaria), not belonging to any municipality, consisting mostly of forested areas, lakes, and larger rivers. Also, three inhabited unincorporated areas exist, all of which served asmilitary training areas:OsterheideandLohheidein Lower Saxony, andGutsbezirk MünsingeninBaden-Württemberg.They have fewer than 2,000 inhabitants in total. Gutsbezirk Münsingen has become uninhabited after losing its inhabited parts to adjacent municipalities on 1 January 2011.

Largest

The following shows the largest unincorporated areas in Germany (including all inhabited areas, but excluding lakes) with an area of more than 50 km²(19 sq mi):

Regional number	Name	District	State	Area (km2)	Population (31 Dec. 2010)
031530000504	Harz (Landkreis Goslar)	Goslar	Lower Saxony	371.76	–
031560000501	Harz (Landkreis Göttingen)	Göttingen	Lower Saxony	267.35	–
066330000200	Gutsbezirk Reinhardswald	Kassel	Hessen	182.58	–
033580000501	Osterheide	Heidekreis	Lower Saxony	177.99	762
031550000501	Solling	Northeim	Lower Saxony	177.49	–
033510000501	Lohheide	Celle	Lower Saxony	91.32	716
064350000200	Gutsbezirk Spessart	Main-Kinzig-Kreis	Hessen	89.30	–
091800000451	Ettaler Forst	Garmisch-Partenkirchen	Bavaria	83.46	–
084150000971	Gutsbezirk Münsingen	Reutlingen	Baden-Württemberg	64.68	160
010535303105	Sachsenwald	Herzogtum Lauenburg	Schleswig-Holstein	58.49	–
094720000468	Veldensteiner Forst	Bayreuth	Bavaria	55.60	–
033540000502	Göhrde	Lüchow-Dannenberg	Lower Saxony	51.81	–
033540000501	Gartow	Lüchow-Dannenberg	Lower Saxony	50.92	–
066360000200	Gutsbezirk Kaufunger Wald	Werra-Meißner-Kreis	Hessen	50.32	–

In Bavaria, there are other contiguous unincorporated areas covering an area of more than 50 km²(19 sq mi) which are however composed of several adjacent unincorporated areas, each one of which is under 50 km²in area.

Israel

In Israel, almost all land is subdivided into 393 municipalities which are further classified, normally by population, ascity,local council,orregional council.All three types of municipality provide services including zoning and planning.

However, a few unincorporated areas exist, whether because of omissions and ambiguities left in official maps dating from theBritish Mandate for Palestine,or due to deliberate policy of ensuring facilities of national importance, such asBen Gurion Airport,Mikveh Israelboarding school, or theBAZAN Groupoil refineries, would not have their operation affected by local considerations.

The largest unincorporated area in Israel is the so-called "Reservation area", a triangular region whose vertexes areBeersheba,DimonaandArad,in which all Negev Bedouins were concentrated in the 1950s. As no municipal services are provided within unincorporated areas, this effectively makes all Bedouin settlements in the areaunrecognized,with the sole exception of those that were included from 2003 within theAbu Basma Regional Council.On 5 November 2012 that council was split into two new councils,Neve Midbar Regional Councilandal-Kasom Regional Council.

Netherlands

The Netherlands has had regular periods with unincorporated land when newly reclaimed landpoldersfall dry. Unincorporated land is since medieval times administered by an appointed officer with the nameLanddrostorDrossaart.Also,EltenandTudderen,both annexed from Germany afterWorld War II,were governed by aLanddrostuntil they were ceded back to Germany in 1963.

The most recent period with unincorporated land started in 1967, when the dyke aroundSouthern Flevolandwas closed, but several years are required before the polder is genuinely accessible for cultivation, and construction of roads and homes can start, as in the first years, the soil is equivalent toquicksand.During the initial period of inhabitation, a special, government-appointed officer was installed, thelanddrost.During the administrative office of aLanddrost,no municipal council forms.

In 1975, the first homes in what is now the city ofAlmerewere built, and from 1976 to 1984, the area was governed by theLanddrostas the executive of theOpenbaar Lichaam Zuidelijke IJsselmeerpolders(Southern IJsselmeerpolders Public Body). In 1984, theLanddrostbecame the first mayor of the new city Almere. Since that date, the Netherlands does not have any unincorporated land areas.

TheOpenbaar Lichaamremained, however, only governing the water body of theMarkermeer.After the municipal division of the Wadden Sea (1985), the territorial waters in the North Sea (1991) and the IJsselmeer (1994), all water bodies are now also part of a municipalityand no unincorporated areas exist in the Netherlands anymore. TheOpenbaar Lichaam Zuidelijke IJsselmeerpolderswas dissolved in 1996.

New Zealand

TheNew Zealand outlying islandsare offshore island groups that are part of New Zealand. TheChatham Islandsis the only island group among these that are populated and it has its ownterritorial authority.Most of the other island groups are not part of any administrativeregionordistrict,but are instead each designated as anArea Outside Territorial Authority.

Norway

In Norway, the outlying islands ofBouvet Island,Jan Mayen,andSvalbardare outside of all of the country'scountiesandmunicipalities.They are ruled directly by national authorities without any local democracy. An exception is theLongyearbyen Community Councilin Svalbard, which since 2004 in reality acts partly like a Norwegian municipality. Svalbard has agovernorappointed by the government of Norway, ruling the area. Jan Mayen has no population, only radio and weather stations with staff, whose manager has the responsibility for the activities. Bouvet Island has only occasional visitors.

United States

Nutbush,an unincorporated area inHaywood County, Tennessee

Inlocal government in the United States,an unincorporated area generally refers to the part of acountythat is outside any municipality. Anunincorporated communityis one general term for a geographic area having a common social identity without municipal organization or official political designation (i.e., incorporation as a city or town). The two main types of unincorporated communities are:

• a neighborhood or other community existing within one or across multiple existing incorporated areas (i.e., cities or towns). In this sense, a community is part of a municipal government but notseparatelyincorporated from it. For example,Hyannis, Massachusetts,is an unincorporated village within the town ofBarnstable,andIntervale, New Hampshire,is an unincorporated community on the border of the towns ofBartlettandConway.
• a neighborhood or other community existing outside an incorporated municipal government. In this sense, the community is outside any municipal government and is entirely unincorporated. Examples includeHovland, Minnesota;Nutbush, Tennessee;andYucca, Arizona;all are small rural settlements of low population.

Most states have granted some form ofhome rule,so thatcounty commissions(orboardsor councils) have the same powers in these areas ascity councilsortown councilshave in their respective incorporated areas.Some states instead put these powers in the hands of townships, which areminor civil divisionsof each county and are called "towns" in some states.

Differences in state laws regarding the incorporation of communities leads to a great variation in the distribution and nature of unincorporated areas. Unincorporated regions are essentially nonexistent in eight of thenortheastern states.All of the land inNew Jersey,Connecticut,Massachusetts,New York,andRhode Island,and nearly all of the land inNew Hampshire,Pennsylvania,andVermont,is part of an incorporated area of some type. In these areas, types (and official names) of local government entities can vary. InNew England(which includes five of those eight states, plus the less fully incorporated state ofMaine), local municipalities are known astownsor cities, and most towns are administered by a form of direct democracy, such as theopen town meetingorrepresentative town meeting.Larger towns in New England may be incorporated as cities, with some form of mayor-council government. In New Jersey, multiple types exist, as well, such ascity,township,town,borough,orvillage,but these differences are in the structure of the legislative branches, not in the powers or functions of the entities themselves.

Rosslyn,one of many high-rise neighborhoods inArlington County, Virginia.The county has no cities within its borders, and five times the population density of the state's most populous city,Virginia Beach.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is theVirginia"strong county" model.Virginia and other states with this model, such asAlabama,Maryland,andTennessee,set strict requirements on incorporation or grant counties broad powers that in other states are carried out by cities, creating a disincentive to incorporate, and thus have large urbanized areas which have no municipal government below the county level.

Inmid-Atlanticstates such as New York and Pennsylvania, a hybrid modelthat tries to balance the two approaches is prevalent,with differing allocations of power between municipalities and counties existing.

Throughout the U.S., some large cities haveannexedall surrounding unincorporated areas within their counties, creating what are known asconsolidated city–countyforms of government (e.g.,Jacksonville, Florida,andNashville, Tennessee). In these cases, unincorporated areas continue to exist in other counties of their respective metropolitan areas. Conversely, acounty islandis surrounded on most or all sides by municipalities. In areas of sparse population, the majority of the land in any given state may be unincorporated.

Some states, includingNorth Carolina,grantextraterritorial jurisdictionto cities and towns (but rarely villages) so that they may controlzoningfor a limited distance into adjacent unincorporated areas, often as a precursor (and sometimes as a legal requirement) to later annexation of those areas. This is especially useful in rural counties that have no zoning at all, or onlyspot zoningfor unincorporated communities.

In California, all counties except theCity and County of San Franciscohave unincorporated areas. Even in highly populated counties, the unincorporated portions may contain a large number of inhabitants. InLos Angeles County,the county government estimates the population of its unincorporated areas to exceed one million people.Despite having 88 incorporated cities and towns, including the state's most populous, 65% of the land in Los Angeles County is unincorporated, this mostly consisting ofAngeles National Forestand sparsely populated regions to its north.In California, the state constitution recognizes only one kind of municipality, the city.The California Government Code allows cities to call themselves towns, if they wish, although the designation is purely cosmetic.

Insular areas

In the context of theinsular areasof the United States, the word "unincorporated" refers toterritoriesin which theUnited States Congresshas determined that only selected parts of theConstitution of the United Statesapply and which have not been formally incorporated into the United States by Congress. Currently, the five major unincorporated U.S. insular areas areAmerican Samoa,Guam,theNorthern Mariana Islands,Puerto Rico,and theU.S. Virgin Islands.Unincorporated insular areas can becededto another nation or be granted independence.The U.S. has one incorporated insular area,Palmyra Atoll.Incorporation is regarded asperpetualby the U.S. federal government; once incorporated, the territorycannot be disincorporated.TheUnited States Minor Outlying Islandswithout a permanent civilian population are "unorganized" in the sense that they do not have a local government, and they are administered by theOffice of Insular Affairsdirectly. The populated American Samoa is "unorganized" in the sense that Congress has not passed anorganic act,but it does have a constitution and locally elected territorial legislature and executive.

U.S. Census Bureau

An unincorporated community may be part of acensus-designated place(CDP). A CDP is an area defined by theUnited States Census Bureaufor statistical purposes only. It is a populated area that generally includes one officially designated but currently unincorporated community for which the CDP is named, plus surrounding inhabited countryside of varying dimensions, and occasionally other smaller unincorporated communities as well. Otherwise, it has no legal status.

The Census Bureau designates some unincorporated areas as "unorganized territories", as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau where portions ofcountiesare not included in any legally establishedminor civil division(MCD) or independent incorporated place.These occur in 10 MCD states:Arkansas,Indiana,Iowa,Louisiana,Maine,Minnesota,North Carolina,North Dakota,Ohio,andSouth Dakota.The census recognizes such separate pieces of territory as one or more separate county subdivisions for statistical purposes. It assigns each unorganized territory a descriptive name, followed by the designation "unorganized territory". Unorganized territories were first used for statistical purposes in conjunction with the 1960 census.

At the2000 censusthere were 305 of these territories within the United States. Their total land area was 85,392 square miles (221,165 km²) and they had a total population of 247,331. South Dakota had the most unorganized territories, 102, as well as the largest amount of land under that status: 39,785 square miles (103,042 km²), or 52.4% of the state's land area. North Dakota followed with 86 territories, 20,358 square miles (52,728 km²), or 29.5% of its land area. Maine was next with 36 territories, 14,052 square miles (36,396 km²), or 45.5% of its land area. Minnesota had 71 territories, 10,552 square miles (27,330 km²), or 13% of its land area. Several other states had small amounts of unorganized territory. The unorganized territory with the largest population wasCamp Lejeune, North Carolina,aUnited States Marine Corpsbase with a census population of 34,452 inhabitants.

In the2010 census,unorganized territory areas were identified in nine U.S. states: Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

U.S. mail delivery

Many unincorporated communities are also recognized as acceptable place names for use in mailing addresses by theUnited States Postal Service(USPS) (indeed, some have their own post offices), and the Census Bureau uses the names of some widely recognized unincorporated communities for its CDPs for which it tabulates census data. In some instances, unincorporated areas have a mailing address indicating the name of an incorporated city,as well as those where residents of one incorporated city have mailing addresses indicating another incorporated city. Mailing addresses do not necessarily change whether an area becomes a part of an incorporated place, changes to another incorporated place, or disincorporates. For example, places inKingwood, Texas,previously unincorporated, retained "Kingwood, TX" mailing addresses after the 1996 annexation of Kingwood into the city ofHouston.The Houston city government stated on its website, "The U.S. Postal Service establishes ZIP codes and mailing addresses to maximize the efficiency of their system, not to recognize jurisdictional boundaries."

The USPS is very conservative about recognizing new place names for use in mailing addresses and typically only does so when a place incorporates.The original place name associated with aZIP Codeis still maintained as the default place name, even though the name of the newly incorporated place is more accurate. As an example,Sandy Springsis one of the most populated places inGeorgiabut is served by a branch of theAtlantapost office. Only after the city was incorporated in 2005 was "Sandy Springs" approved for use in mailing addresses, though "Atlanta" remains the default name. Accordingly, "Atlanta" is the only accepted place name for mailing addresses in the nearby unincorporated town ofVinings,also served by a branch of the Atlanta post office, even though Vinings is inCobb Countyand Atlanta is inFultonandDeKalbcounties. In contrast, neighboringMabletonhas not been incorporated in nearly a century, but has its own post office and thus "Mableton" is the only acceptable place name for mailing addresses in the town. The areas ofDulahandFaria,California, which are unincorporated areas inVentura CountybetweenVenturaandCarpinteria,have the ZIP Code of 93001, which is assigned to the post office at 675 E. Santa Clara St. in Ventura;thus, all mail to those two areas is addressed to Ventura.

If an unincorporated area becomes incorporated, it may be split among ZIP Codes, and its new name may be recognized as acceptable for use with some or all of them in mailing addresses, as has been the case inJohns CreekandMilton, Georgia.If an incorporated area disincorporates, though, this has no effect on whether a place name is "acceptable" in a mailing address or not, as is the case withLithia Springs, Georgia.ZIP Code boundaries often ignore political boundaries, so the appearance of a place name in a mailing address alone does not indicate whether the place is incorporated or unincorporated.

Populated place

Unincorporated areas with permanent populations in the United States are defined by theUnited States Geological Surveyas "populated places", a "place or area with clustered or scattered buildings, and a permanent human population (city, settlement, town, village)." No legal boundaries exist, although a corresponding "civil" record may occur, the boundaries of which may or may not match the perceived populated place.

Other nations

Some nations have some exceptional unincorporated areas:

• Hong KongSpecial Administrative Region of thePeople's Republic of China(except for theLok Ma Chau Loop) is divided intodistricts.
• TheKingdom of Denmarkhas three unincorporated areas:
  • InDenmark proper,the former naval fortressErtholmeneeast ofBornholmwith less than 100 inhabitants is still governed directly by the Ministry of Defence.
  • InGreenland,all land is incorporated except for theNortheast Greenland National Parkand thePituffik Space Base.
• In France, all land is incorporated except forClipperton Island,a small overseas island possession held as an overseas state private property under the direct authority of the French government, administered by France'sOverseas Minister.
• In India, there are severalunion territories(central government administered regions). Unlike thestates of India,which have their own governments, union territories are federal territories governed, in part or in whole, by theGovernment of India.Many of these were created at the time of India's independence or after being acquired from non-British colonial powers orprincely states.
• Azad Kashmirhas no official status in Pakistani law, but is nonethelessde factogoverned by Pakistan.
• Slovakia is divided intomunicipalities.There are two types of municipalities: towns (mesto,pl.mestá) and villages (obec,pl.obce), with minor differences between them. Additionally, there are severalmilitary areaswhich are not part of any municipality. Each military area is a municipality of its own right. However, the military areas hold no elections and have no mayors or other elected representatives. Instead, they are administered directly by the Slovak Ministry of Defence.
• In Spain, theSpanish Constitution of 1978says that the land is divided intoautonomous communities,provinces,andmunicipalities.Each of these have certain powers determined by law. Autonomous Communities and municipalities are enabled to appeal to theConstitutional Courtany public decision that violates their autonomy by other entities (State or Autonomous Community power).
  Nevertheless, some regions, likeNavarre,have some unincorporated areas. The largest of these, theBardenas Reales,has a surface of 418 km²(161 sq mi) and is governed by a board of representatives of 20 bordering municipalities, a valley in the Pyrenees, and a monastery, all of which have rights to use the area. Theplazas de soberaníaalso functions asde factounincorporated areasunder the administration of theSpanish Ministry of Defence.
• Switzerland also has a few exceptions: 22 lakes and a forest, as described by the Swiss federal statistical office (See:Gemeindefreie Gebiete(in German)).
• In Ukraine, all land is divided intohromadasexcept for theChernobyl Exclusion Zone.The latter contains parts ofKyiv OblastandZhytomyr Oblastand is directly administered by a designated government agency.

Countries without unincorporated areas

Many countries, especially those with many centuries of history with multiple tiers of local government, do not use the concept of an unincorporated area.

• The whole of the territories of Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Finland, Metropolitan France, Greece, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Montenegro, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, and Sweden are divided into municipalities.
• In Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico, all land must belong to a municipality. Even large uninhabited areas, such as forests or grasslands, are, by law, part of the nearest "city". This is because in Latin America, a "municipality" in some senses is the equivalent of what in the United States and Canada is called a "county".
• InMainland China,every piece of land belongs to acounty-level (third level) administrative division(equivalent to amunicipality), either adistrict ( khu qū)in an urban area, or acounty-level city ( huyện cấp thị xiànjíshì),county ( huyện xiàn)orbanner ( kỳ qí).There is also a township-level (fourth level) administrative division, which may be asubdistrict ( nhai đạo jiēdào),town ( trấn zhèn),township ( hương xiāng),orsumu ( tô mộc sūmù).
• In Croatia, every piece of land belongs either to a city (grad) or to a municipality (općina).
• In Estonia, the entire territory is divided into 79municipalities,of which 14 are municipal towns and 65 are parishes. The entire territory of the country is divided into settlements of four types: towns, boroughs, small boroughs and villages.
• In France, the territory is subdivided into 36,685communes(municipalities).An elected council and a mayor form the governing body of a municipality. This applies to mainland France and tooverseas departments and regions,however, some territories likeClipperton Islandare not incorporated. Sixcommunes depopulated during World War Iwere maintained incorporated for memorial reasons, although they have no population.
• In Indonesia, every piece of land belongs to amunicipality (kota)or aregency(kabupaten).
• In Japan, every piece of land belongs to amunicipality,of which there are four types:cities ( thịshi);the special wards ( đặc biệt khutokubetsu-ku) of Tokyo;towns ( đinhchōormachi);villages ( thônmuraorson).The four southernmost islands ofHachijō Subprefectureare currently not part of any municipality as the town ofHachijōand village ofAogashimaboth claim administrative rights.
• In Peru, the whole territory is divided into districts ( "distritos" ), which form provinces ( "provincias" ), which form regions ( "regiones" ). Some districts, especially in theAmazon,are vast portions of territory, but they are governed from a district capital (which can be anywhere from a city to a small village).
• In the Philippines, all land belongs to either acityor amunicipality,which are further subdivided intobarangays.
• In Portugal, the constitution defines territorial divisions as parishes, municipalities, and administrative regions.It has no official definition of city limits, so a city may include several parishes, or a parish may cover several villages or townships, but a municipality is usually administered from the city or town that bears its name.
• In South Africa, the constitution gives every place in the country democratically elected third-tier government.
• In South Korea, every piece of land belongs to amunicipality,either adistrict (구 gu)in acity (시 shi)or atown (읍 eub)ortownship (면 myeon)in acounty (군 gun).
• In Sweden, all territory is divided into municipalities. Sweden haspost-glacial rebound,so the land area is increasing, but municipal boundaries extend into the sea, so new land is not unincorporated.
• In thefree area of the Republic of China(Taiwan Island, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu, and some minor islands), every piece of land belongs to either atownshipor acounty-administered cityincounty,ordistrictinprovincial city.There are, in total, 368 townships, county-administered cities and districts in Taiwan. See also:administrative divisions of Taiwan.
• In the United Kingdom:
  • In England, all land is within acountyorlocal government district,both of which exercise power over their jurisdictions.
  • In Northern Ireland, all land is within one of 11 districts.
  • In Scotland, all land is within one of 32unitary authoritiesdesignated as councils.
  • In Wales, all land is within one of 22single-tierprincipal areas.

See also

• County Island
• Fire sign (address)
• Main road town
• Unorganized area
• Unorganized Borough, Alaska,an area without county-level government.
• Unparished area,areas of England outside any civil parish