In Canada, two kinds of township occur in common use. Thus, in Brazil the Portuguese word cidade (for 'city') refers only to such urban areas, but if the definition current in some other countries is used - that is, the entire area under the administrative jurisdiction of a specially incorporated urban area - that would mean that even in the remotest wilderness areas of Brazil, one would still be technically in a 'city.' Brazilian law establishes no difference between cities and towns all it takes for an urban settlement to be called a 'city' is to be the seat of a municipality, and some have a very small population. A city is defined in Brazilian law as the urban seat of a municipality, and a municipality always has the same name as its seat. Except for the Federal District (the area of the national capital city, Brasília), which has special status and no municipalities, all land in Brazil is in the territory of some municipality. However, the Federative Republic of Brazil is defined as a Tripartite Federal Republic - that is, the federal government, the states and municipalities are in a co-federation with each other, so there is not a proper federal hierarchy in Brazil. In Brazil, a municipality ( município) is part of a state ( estado). In Belgium, a municipality ( commune in French, gemeente in Dutch or Gemeinde in German) is the equivalent of a township and is the lowest level of administrative division. In Australia and New Zealand the designation of 'township' traditionally refers to a small town: a place that in Britain might qualify as a village or a hamlet. miles), which is larger than the United Kingdom. Possibly the largest municipality in the world is Baie-James in northern Quebec, Canada, with a land area of 297,330 km² (114,800 sq.

The largest municipalities can be found in Canada and Greenland. In most countries, a municipality is the smallest administrative subdivision to have its own democratically elected representative leadership. Small (in terms of population) rural subdivisions with limited administrative responsibilities are better referred to as 'parishes' or 'communities', and this (rather than 'municipality') is the preferred translation of the expressions commune, gemeende, Gemeinte, comuna, obec, etc referred to below. 'Municipality' refers to a town or 'an area governed like a town'. In the Scottish Highlands the term describes a very small agrarian community, usually a local rural or semi-rural government within a county. However there are many exceptions to this rule, especially in the U.S. Township (or municipality) is generally associated with an urban area.

Define Township in South Africa