Editing Independent city (section)

==Europe==

===Austria===
The city of [[Vienna]] is a [[States of Austria|federal state]] within the Republic of Austria. A similar concept is the ''[[statutory city (Austria)|statutory city]]''.

=== Belgium ===
The [[Brussels]] Capital Region, a densely built-up area consisting of 19 communes including the capital city [[Brussels]], became one of Belgium's three [[Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium|regions]] after the country was turned into a federation in 1970. (In Belgium there are special circumstances due to the country's language communities.)

===Bosnia and Herzegovina===
The [[Brčko District]] is independent of both Entities that constitute Bosnia and Herzegovina (Republika Srpska and Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina). All other cities and municipalities are under the jurisdiction of the Entity (in Republika Srpska) or under the jurisdiction of cantons (Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina). The [[Dayton Peace Agreement]] afforded the special designation as a district, while also creating the [[Office of the High Representative]] that currently oversees the district of Brčko.

===Bulgaria===
The capital city of [[Sofia]] has the status of [[oblast]] (region).

===Croatia===
The capital city of [[Zagreb]] has the status equal to [[županija]] (county), whereas all other cities and municipalities are under a county jurisdiction.

Historically, Croatian cities became independent by being named a "[[royal free city]]". Under the [[Austro-hungarian empire|Austro-Hungarian Empire]], the city of [[Rijeka]] (Fiume) was a separate city from the [[Counties of Hungary (1000–1920)|Counties of Hungary]], and the [[Modrus-Fiume|Modros-Fiume]] County that surrounded it.

===France===
{{See also|Administrative divisions of France}}
The city of Paris is both a ''[[Departments of France|département]]'' and a ''[[Communes of France|commune]]''; it is the only French city with this status. The Council of Paris (''Conseil de Paris'') exercises functions similar to those of a departmental council (''[[Departmental council (France)|conseil départemental]]'') and a city council (''conseil municipal''). However, Paris and the ''départements'' closest to it are part of the [[Île-de-France (region)|Île-de-France]] {{lang|fr|[[région]]}}.

===Germany===
{{See also|Districts of Germany|List of German urban districts}}
In Germany, most of the [[States of Germany|federal states]] are subdivided into administrative districts called [[Districts of Germany|Kreis]]e (''circles''), each of which normally includes several towns or cities. However, a number of the more important and more populous cities are not part of a ''Kreis'', but are instead themselves each equivalent in status and functions to a ''Kreis''. Such cities are known as ''kreisfreie Städte'' (literally, "district-free cities") – or, in the case of [[Baden-Württemberg]], ''Stadtkreise'' ("urban districts").

There are currently 110 ''kreisfreie Städte'' (or equivalents). Of these, the 22 largest are:

*[[Berlin]] [a]
*[[Hamburg]] [a]
*[[Munich]] (München)
*[[Cologne]] (Köln)
*[[Frankfurt]] (Frankfurt am Main)
*[[Stuttgart]]
*[[Düsseldorf]]
*[[Dortmund]]
*[[Essen]]
*[[Leipzig]]
*[[Bremen]] [a]
*[[Dresden]]
*[[Hanover]] (Hannover) [b]
*[[Nuremberg]] (Nürnberg)
*[[Duisburg]]
*[[Bochum]]
*[[Wuppertal]]
*[[Bielefeld]]
*[[Bonn]]
*[[Münster]]
*[[Karlsruhe]]
*[[Mannheim]]

[a]: Berlin, Hamburg, and Bremen are also federal states in their own right.<br>
[b]: Effectively a ''kreisfreie Stadt'', although the city is ''[[de jure]]'' a part of the special-status [[Hanover Region]].

==== ''Stadtstaaten'' of Germany ====
Two cities in Germany, namely [[Berlin]] and [[Hamburg]], are considered city-states (German: ''Stadtstaaten''). Additionally, the state of [[Bremen (state)|Bremen]] is officially classified as a city-state although it consists of the two cities of [[Bremen]] and [[Bremerhaven]], which are separated by the state of [[Lower Saxony]]. Together with thirteen area states (German: ''Flächenländer'') they form the sixteen federal [[states of Germany]].<ref name="Mogens, Hansen 2000. Pg. 19" /> Hamburg and Bremen are "[[Free Imperial City|Free]] and [[Hanseatic League|Hanseatic]] Cities".

Generally, the city-states have no other rights or duties than the other states. Through the financial redistribution system of [[Equalization Payments in Germany]] (German: ''Länderfinanzausgleich''), they do receive more money because of their demographic characteristics. The city-states are most distinctive due to the names of their state organs: their governments are called Senate, the prime ministers 'mayor' (Governing Mayor in [[Berlin]] and First Mayor in Hamburg) or President of the Senate (in Bremen) and also the expressions for their state parliaments differ from the other states.

In the 18th century, many German cities were [[free imperial cities]] (German: ''Reichsstädte''), without a principality [[Imperial immediacy|between them and the imperial level]]. After the Napoleonic era, in 1815, four were still city-states: Hamburg, Bremen and Lübeck in Northern Germany, and Frankfurt where the [[Federal Convention (German Confederation)|Federal Convention]] was located. Frankfurt was incorporated by Prussia in 1866, and Lübeck became a part of Prussia during the national socialist regime in 1937 (Greater Hamburg Law). After 1945, Berlin was a divided city, and the Western part became a German quasi-state under (Western) Allied supervision. Since 1990/1991, the reunited Berlin is an ordinary German state among others.

===Hungary===
{{See also|Town with county rights|List of towns in Hungary}}
In Hungary, 23 of the cities are "cities with county rights". These cities have equal rights with the 19 counties of Hungary. [[Budapest]], the capital city is also a special district, outside of the country's system of counties. Although Budapest does not belong to [[Pest County]] which surrounds it, it is still the county headquarters.

===Ireland===
{{See also|Local government in the Republic of Ireland|l1=local government in Ireland}}

Cork, Dublin, Galway, Limerick and Waterford are governed by independent city councils.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.oecd.org/gov/regulatory-policy/46272100.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910171829/http://www.oecd.org/gov/regulatory-policy/46272100.pdf |archive-date=2015-09-10 |url-status=live | title=The interface between subnational and national levels of government | work=Better Regulation in Europe: Ireland | year=2010 | publisher=OECD | access-date=15 February 2021 }}</ref>

===Norway===
In Norway, Oslo is both a municipality (''kommune'') and a county (''fylke'') within itself.

===Poland===
====Urban gmina==== 
{{See also|Gmina#Types}}
Among Polish municipalities containing a town or a city, 638 are organized as a mixed urban-rural gmina ({{langx|pl|gmina miejsko-wiejska}}) consisting of a town and surrounding villages and countryside, governed by a common municipal government. The remaining 302 of them, however, are a standalone '''urban gmina''' ({{langx|pl|gmina miejska}}) which contains solely either an independent town or one of the 107 cities (the latter governed by a city mayor or ''prezydent miasta'').

====City with powiat rights====
{{See also|City with powiat rights|Powiat}}
Among the 107 cities, 66 of them constitute counties in their own right, formally called [[City with powiat rights|cities with powiat rights]]. They are suitably marked on the [[list of counties in Poland]].

=== Romania ===
[[Bucharest]], the capital of Romania, is outside the country's system of [[County|counties]].

===Russian Federation===
In the Russian Federation, [[Moscow]] and [[Saint Petersburg]] are both [[Federal subjects of Russia|subjects of the federation]] and cities themselves. Russia also considers the [[Crimean]] city of [[Sevastopol]] to be a [[Federal cities of Russia|federal city of Russia]], but this is not recognized by the majority of states who see the [[Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation|2014 Russian annexation of Crimea]] as unlawful.

===Spain===
{{See also|Plazas de soberanía}}
In Spain, there exist two so-called ''autonomous cities'', [[Ceuta]] and [[Melilla]], which are located on the North African coast surrounded by Morocco and have been under Spanish jurisdiction since the 15th century. Spain is a highly decentralized state organized in [[Autonomous Community|autonomous communities]]. These two cities hold their special status because they are not large enough to be considered regions on their own. Nonetheless, they function as autonomous communities with a high degree of self-administration and law-making powers.

=== Sweden ===
Historically, until 1967, [[Stockholm]] did not belong to any [[Counties of Sweden|county]] of Sweden. Instead, there was a [[Governor of Stockholm]] that had the normal responsibilities of the [[County Administrative Boards of Sweden|County Administrative Boards]] and their managers, the governors. There was no [[County councils of Sweden|County Council]] (which is elected by the people and is responsible for example for health care); instead, the City of Stockholm handled such tasks.

=== Switzerland ===
One of the [[cantons of Switzerland]], [[Basel-Stadt]], is considered to be a city-state, although it contains two smaller municipalities [[Bettingen]] and [[Riehen]] alongside the city of [[Basel]] itself.<ref>[http://www.bs.ch/dam/jcr:485ef4e3-3642-4d84-aa7d-290908e4aea1/Brochure_Welcome_BaselStadt.pdf Canton of Basel-Stadt] Welcome</ref>

===Ukraine===
In Ukraine, the cities of [[Kyiv]] and [[Sevastopol]] are part of the country constituent regions along with the autonomous republic of [[Crimea]] (ARK), and 24 other oblasts (see [[Oblasts of Ukraine]]).

===United Kingdom===
In the UK, having city status gives the city's [[Local government in the United Kingdom|local government]] no additional inherent powers; [[City status in the United Kingdom|city status]] depends on a grant from the [[British monarchy|monarch]] and merely confers on the place so designated the right to call itself a city. Many cities and large urban areas are [[unitary authority|unitary authorities]], meaning they have their own local government, separate from the surrounding county. (However, a number of large urban areas have a number of unitary authorities, such as [[Greater Manchester]], which mean they do not have a unified, citywide local government.) [[County borough]] referred to a [[borough]] or a city, independent of [[county council]] control in England and Wales from 1889 to 1974 with the term continuing in use in Northern Ireland. Wales re-introduced the term in 1994 for use with certain unitary authorities.

London, the capital of the United Kingdom and its [[Countries of the United Kingdom|constituent country]] England, is administratively [[Greater London]], which consists of the [[City of London]] and 32 [[London boroughs]]. Greater London is not one of the [[Metropolitan county|metropolitan]] or [[Non-metropolitan county|non-metropolitan counties]], which the remainder of England is subdivided into. London has its own [[London Assembly|assembly]] and [[Mayor of London|directly elected mayor]], which exercise local government/[[Devolution|devolved powers]] greater than any other city or place in the UK, apart from the nations/provinces of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.