Local administrative unit
Generally, a local administrative unit (LAU) is a low level administrative division of a country, ranked below a province, region, or state. Not all countries describe their locally governed areas this way, but it can be descriptively applied anywhere to refer to counties, municipalities, etc.
In the European Union, LAUs are basic components of Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) regions. For each EU member country, two levels of Local Administrative Units (LAU) are defined: LAU-1 and LAU-2, which were previously called NUTS-4 and NUTS-5 respectively, until the NUTS regulation went into force in July 2003. For some countries, the LAU-1 level is not defined, and thus equivalent to the NUTS-3 level. A similar statistical system is defined for the candidate countries and members of the European Free Trade Association.
| Countries | LAU 1 | LAU 2 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EU members | 27 | 8772 | 120968 | ||
| Austria | AT | — (same as NUTS 3: Groups of Districts) | 35 | Municipalities (Gemeinden) | 2357 |
| Belgium | BE | — (same as NUTS 3: Arrondissements; Verviers split into two) | 44 | Municipalities (Gemeenten/Communes) | 589 |
| Bulgaria | BG | Municipalities (Общини/Obshtini) | 264 | Settlements (Населени Места/Naseleni Mesta) | 5329 |
| Croatia | HR | — (same as NUTS 3: Counties) | 21 | Municipalities | 546 |
| Cyprus | CY | Districts (Eparchies) | 6 | Municipalities, communities (Dimoi, koinotites) | 613 |
| Czech Republic | CZ | Districts (Okresy) | 77 | Municipalities (Obce) | 6249 |
| Germany | DE | Collective municipalities (Verwaltungs-gemeinschaften) | 1457 | Municipalities (Gemeinden) | 12379 |
| Denmark | DK | Municipalities (Kommuner) | 99 | Parishes (Sogne) | 2148 |
| Estonia | EE | Counties (Maakond) | 15 | Municipalities (Vald, linn) | 227 |
| Spain | ES | — (same as NUTS 3: Provinces + Islands + Ceuta and Melilla) | 59 | Municipalities (Municipios) | 8111 |
| Finland | FI | Sub-regions (Seutukunnat / Ekonomiska regioner) | 77 | Municipalities (Kunnat / Kommuner) | 416 |
| France | FR | Cantons (Cantons de rattachement) | 3787 | Communes | 36683 |
| Greece | GR | Municipalities/Communities (Dimoi/Koinotites) | 1034 | Municipal districts/Community districts (Demotiko diamerisma/Koinotiko diamerisma) | 6130 |
| Hungary | HU | Statistical sub-regions (Statisztikai kistérségek) | 174 | Settlements (Települések) | 3152 |
| Ireland | IE | Counties/Cities | 34 | Electoral Districts | 3441 |
| Italy | IT | — (same as NUTS 3: Provinces) | 107 | Municipalities (Comuni, Municipi) | 8101 |
| Lithuania | LT | Municipalities (Savivaldybės) | 60 | Elderships (Seniūnijos) | 518 |
| Luxembourg | LU | Cantons | 13 | Communes | 105 |
| Latvia | LV | Districts, republic cities (Rajoni, republikas pilsētas) | 33 | Cities, municipalities, parishes (Pilsētas, novadi, pagasti) | 527 |
| Malta | MT | Districts (Distretti) | 6 | Councils (Kunsilli) | 68 |
| Netherlands | NL | — (same as NUTS 3: COROP regions) | 40 | Municipalities (Gemeenten) | 443 |
| Poland | PL | Districts and city districts (Powiaty i miasta na prawach powiatu) | 379 | Municipalities (Gminy) | 2478 |
| Portugal | PT | Municipalities (Concelhos - Municípios) | 308 | Parishes (Freguesias) | 3091 |
| Romania | RO | — (same as NUTS 3: Counties (Judeţe) + Bucharest) | 42 | Communes + Municipalities + Cities (Comune + Municipii + Oraşe) | 3174 |
| Sweden | SE | — (same as NUTS 3: Counties) | 21 | Municipalities (Kommuner) | 290 |
| Slovenia | SI | Administrative units (upravne enote) | 58 | Municipalities (občine) | 211 |
| Slovakia | SK | Districts (Okresy) | 79 | Municipalities (Obce) | 2928 |
| United Kingdom | UK | In England and Wales: districts or individual unitary authorities; In Scotland: Individual unitary authorities or LECs; In Northern Ireland: districts |
443 | Wards (or parts thereof) | 10664 |
| Candidate countries | 5 | 1036 | 40786 | ||
| Iceland | IS | Regions | 8 | Municipalities | 79 |
| Macedonia | MK | Municipalities | 84 | Settlements | 1776 |
| Montenegro | ME | Municipalities | 21 | Settlements | 1256 |
| Turkey | TR | Districts | 923 | Municipalities | 37675 |
| EFTA countries | 3 | 257 | 3163 | ||
| Liechtenstein | LI | Electoral districts | 2 | Municipalities | 11 |
| Norway | NO | Economic regions | 89 | Municipalities | 431 |
| Switzerland | CH | Districts | 166 | Municipalities | 2721 |
See also
External links
- Eurostat Local Administrative Units (LAU codes of each country can be downloaded here)
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