Ward (subnational entity)
Encyclopedia
A ward is a subdivision of a municipality. Wards are usually named after neighbourhood
s, thoroughfare
s, parish
es, landmark
s, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to the area. It is common in the United States
for wards to simply be numbered.
In Australia
, Canada
, Monaco
, New Zealand
, South Africa
, the United Kingdom
, and the United States
they are an electoral district
within a municipality
used in local politics.
In the Republic of Ireland
, urban Wards and rural District Electoral Divisions were renamed Electoral Division
s in 1994. The electoral districts for local authorities
are often popularly called "wards". These consist of multiple electoral divisions, and are officially called "local electoral areas".
In the case of a municipal amalgamation
, the former cities and towns that make up the new metropolis may be referred to as wards.
Neighbourhood
A neighbourhood or neighborhood is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town or suburb. Neighbourhoods are often social communities with considerable face-to-face interaction among members. "Researchers have not agreed on an exact definition...
s, thoroughfare
Thoroughfare
A thoroughfare is a place of transportation intended to connect one location to another. Highways, roads, and trails are examples of thoroughfares used by a variety of general traffic. On land a thoroughfare may refer to anything from a rough trail to multi-lane highway with grade separated...
s, parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
es, landmark
Landmark
This is a list of landmarks around the world.Landmarks may be split into two categories - natural phenomena and man-made features, like buildings, bridges, statues, public squares and so forth...
s, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to the area. It is common in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
for wards to simply be numbered.
In Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Monaco
Monaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
they are an electoral district
Electoral district
An electoral district is a distinct territorial subdivision for holding a separate election for one or more seats in a legislative body...
within a municipality
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
used in local politics.
In the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
, urban Wards and rural District Electoral Divisions were renamed Electoral Division
District Electoral Division
A district electoral division is a former name given to a low-level territorial division in Ireland. In 1994, both district electoral divisions and wards were renamed as electoral divisions...
s in 1994. The electoral districts for local authorities
Local government in the Republic of Ireland
Local government functions in the Republic of Ireland are mostly exercised by thirty-four local authorities, termed county or city councils, which cover the entire territory of the state. The area under the jurisdiction of each of these authorities corresponds to the area of each of the 34 LAU I...
are often popularly called "wards". These consist of multiple electoral divisions, and are officially called "local electoral areas".
In the case of a municipal amalgamation
Amalgamation (politics)
A merger or amalgamation in a political or administrative sense is the combination of two or more political or administrative entities such as municipalities , counties, districts, etc. into a single entity. This term is used when the process occurs within a sovereign entity...
, the former cities and towns that make up the new metropolis may be referred to as wards.
- In certain cities of IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, like MumbaiMumbaiMumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
and DelhiDelhiDelhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
, a wardAdministrative divisions of MumbaiThe city of Mumbai, India, is divided into administrative divisions.Greater Mumbai is the urban agglomeration of 18 million people which comes under the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai. The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai employs 1,40,626 people...
is an administrative unit of the city region, a city area is divided into ZonesZoningZoning is a device of land use planning used by local governments in most developed countries. The word is derived from the practice of designating permitted uses of land based on mapped zones which separate one set of land uses from another...
, which in turn contains numerous wards. - In JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, a ward (ku or 区 in JapaneseJapanese languageis a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
) is an administrative unit of one of the larger cities. - In VietnamVietnamVietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, a ward (phường) is an administrative subunit of an inner city district (quận). - A ward in NepalNepalNepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
is a political division. Nine wards make up a Village Development Committee (VDC); VDCs make districts; districts makes zones; and zones (regions) make up the country. - In parts of northern EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, a ward was a sub-entity of a countyHistoric counties of EnglandThe historic counties of England are subdivisions of England established for administration by the Normans and in most cases based on earlier Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and shires...
, equivalent to a hundred.
See also
- Wards of Canada
- Wards of the City of OttawaWards of the City of OttawaIn the City of Ottawa, Canada a ward is an electoral district within a municipality used in local politics. Wards are named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to the area, and numbered. There are 23 wards in...
- Wards of the City of Ottawa
- Wards of JapanWards of JapanA is a subdivision of one of the cities of Japan that is large enough to have been designated by government ordinance. Wards are used to subdivide each city designated by government ordinance...
- Wards of the United KingdomWards of the United KingdomA ward in the United Kingdom is an electoral district at sub-national level represented by one or more councillors. It is the primary unit of British administrative and electoral geography .-England:...
- Wards of the City of LondonWards of the City of LondonThe City of London , in the United Kingdom, is constituted of 25 wards. The City is the historic core of the much wider metropolis of London, with an ancient and sui generis form of local government, which avoided the many reforms enacted to local government elsewhere in the country in the 19th and...
- Wards of the City of London
- Wards of the United StatesWards of the United StatesIn the United States, a ward is an optional division of a city or town, especially an electoral district, for administrative and representative purposes...
- Wards of Tanzania