Arrondissement

Arrondissement (/əˈrɒndɪsmənt/; French: [aʁɔ̃dismɑ̃]) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, and the Netherlands.

France

The 101 French departments are divided into 342 arrondissements, which may be translated into English as districts. The capital of an arrondissement is called a subprefecture. When an arrondissement contains the prefecture (capital) of the department, that prefecture is the capital of the arrondissement, acting both as a prefecture and as a subprefecture. Arrondissements are further divided into cantons and communes.

Municipal arrondissement

A municipal arrondissement (French: arrondissement municipal, pronounced [aʁɔ̃dismɑ̃ mynisipal]), is a subdivision of the commune, used in the three largest cities: Paris, Lyon, and Marseille. It functions as an even lower administrative division, with its own mayor. Although usually referred to simply as an "arrondissements", they should not be confused with departmental arrondissements, which are groupings of communes within one département. The official translation into English is "district".

Belgium

Belgium is a federalized country which geographically consists of three regions, of which only Flanders (Flemish Region) and Wallonia (Walloon Region) are subdivided into five provinces each; the Brussels-Capital Region is neither a province nor is it part of one.

In Belgium, there are administrative, judicial and electoral arrondissements. These may or may not relate to identical geographical areas.

Haiti

Each of Haiti's ten departments is sub-divided into 42 arrondissements.

Switzerland

Subdivisions of the canton of Bern include districts since 2010, which are called arrondissements administratifs in French.

Netherlands

In the Netherlands an arrondissement is a judicial jurisdiction, comprising a number of communes.

Nations of Africa

Most nations in Africa which had been colonised by the French have retained the arrondissement administrative structure. These are normally subunits of a Department, and may either contain or be coequal with Communes (towns). In Mali the arrondissement is a subunit of a Cercle, while in some places arrondissements are essentially subdistricts of large cities.

Post-Soviet states

In some ex-Soviet republics, there are cities that are divided into municipal raioni similarly to how some French cities are divided into municipal arrondissements (see e.g. Raions of cities in Ukraine, Municipal divisions of Russia, Administrative divisions of Minsk).

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