Editing Ticino (section)

===Municipalities and circles===
{{Main|Municipalities of the canton of Ticino}}
There are 108 [[Municipalities of Switzerland|municipalities]] in the canton ({{As of|2021|alt=as of June 2021}}). These municipalities (''comuni'') are grouped in 38 ''circoli'' (circles or sub-districts) which are in turn grouped into the eight districts (''distretti'').<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www3.ti.ch/CAN/RLeggi/public/index.php/raccolta-leggi/legge/vid/2|title=CAN – Raccolta delle leggi del Cantone Ticino|website=www3.ti.ch}}</ref>

The mayor (''sindaco'') is the president of the municipal government (''municipio'') which comprises at least three members; a council also exists. The members of the council and the ''municipio'' are elected every four years by the [[Swiss citizen|citizens]] resident in the ''comune'' – the next elections are scheduled for April 2024.<ref name=elections/>

Since the late 1990s, there has been an ongoing [[Municipalities of the canton of Ticino#Changes|project to aggregate some municipalities]], with the constitution of the canton allowing for the Grand Council of Ticino to promote and lead in deciding on mergers.<ref name=constitution/> This has resulted in changes to some of the circles, with many circles now consisting of just one or two municipalities. The most populous municipality – Lugano (having merged with numerous other municipalities) – is subdivided into ''[[quartieri]]'' (quarters){{citation needed|date=September 2019}} which are grouped into three (cantonal) circles. In the modern day, the circle serves only as a territorial unit with limited public functions, most notably the local judiciary.