Editing Township

{{Short description|Type of settlement or urban area}}
{{other uses|Township (disambiguation)}}{{distinguish|Dispersed settlement}}
{{World city population tables}}
A '''township''' is a form of [[human settlement]] or [[administrative subdivision]]. Its exact definition varies among countries.

Although the term is occasionally associated with an [[urban area]], this tends to be an exception to the rule. In [[Australia]], [[Canada]], [[Scotland]], and parts of the [[United States]], the term refers to settlements too small or scattered to be considered urban.

==Australia==
{{See also|Suburbs and localities (Australia)}}
''[[The Australian National Dictionary]]'' defines a township as "a site reserved for and laid out as a [[town]]; such a site at an early stage of its occupation and development; a small town".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://australiannationaldictionary.com.au/oupnewindex1.php |title=Township|date=2022 |website=Australian National Dictionary |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=22 June 2022|quote=To those unacquainted with Australian colloquialisms the word 'township' is misleading. One is reluctant to give to a little [[hamlet (place)|hamlet]], containing barely a dozen houses, a title which would more properly apply to a town of moderate size. But, nevertheless, of that character are the majority of colonial townships.}}</ref> 

The term refers purely to the settlement; it does not refer to a unit of government. Townships are governed as part of a larger council (such as that of a [[shire]], [[district]] or [[city]]) or authority.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/2901.0Chapter23002016 |title=Australian Statistical Geography Standard |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2016 |website=Australian Bureau of Statistics  |access-date=22 June 2022 }}</ref>

==Canada==
{{Main article|Township (Canada)}}
{{See also|Dominion Land Survey}}
In [[Canada]], two kinds of township occur in common use:

*In [[Eastern Canada]], a township is one form of the subdivision of a [[county]]. In [[Canadian French]], this is a {{Lang|fr-CA|canton}}. Townships are referred to as "lots" in [[Prince Edward Island]]; they merely form [[census subdivisions]] and are not administrative units. In Canada, a municipality is a city, town, township, county, or [[regional municipality]] which has been incorporated by [[statute]] by the legislatures of the [[Provinces and territories of Canada|provinces and territories]].
 
*In [[Western Canada]], townships exist only for the purpose of land division by the [[Dominion Land Survey]] and do not form administrative units. These townships are nominally six miles by six miles (36 square miles, or roughly 93 km<sup>2</sup>). Townships are designated by their township number and range number. Township 1 is the first north of the First Base Line, and the numbers increase to the north. While not an administrative unit, [[Alberta]] and [[Saskatchewan]] do have numbered [[Range road|township and range roads]] in rural areas based on the old Dominion Land Survey. In [[Saskatchewan]] and [[Manitoba]], [[Rural municipality (Canada)|rural municipalities]], township-like administrative units below the provincial level, are made up of groups of said surveyed townships.

==China==
{{Main article|Townships of the People's Republic of China}}
In [[China]], townships are found at the fourth level of the [[Administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China|administrative hierarchy]], below [[Counties of China|counties]], [[District (China)|districts]], and county level [[List of cities in China|cities]] but above [[Villages of China|villages]] and communities, together with [[ethnic township]]s, [[Town (China)|town]]s and [[Subdistricts of China|subdistrict]]s.

==India==
In [[India]], townships are found at the fourth level of the city.

==Jersey==
In [[Jersey]], ''township'' is a redundant term, as the only surviving local government level at present are the 12 [[Parishes of Jersey|parishes]] of the island.

==Malaysia==
{{Main article|Mukim}}
In [[Malaysia]], townships are found at the third level of the [[Administrative divisions of Malaysia|administrative hierarchy]], is a [[Country subdivision|subdivision]] of a ''{{Lang|ms|[[daerah]]}}'' ([[district]] or [[county]]) or autonomous sub-district (''{{Lang|ms|daerah kecil}}''), while above ''{{Lang|ms|[[kampung]]}}'' ([[village]]) and {{Lang|ms|taman}} (residential neighbourhood) as defined in the [[National Land Code (Malaysia)|National Land Code]], adopted in 1965.

==New Zealand==
In [[New Zealand]], towns and townships no longer exist; all land is part of either a [[List of cities in New Zealand|city]], which is mostly urban, or a [[Districts of New Zealand|district]], which is mostly rural.<!-- each having an elected council, and many having smaller "community board" divisions. Populations range from 5,000 to 400,000. On top of that structure are "regions", whose elected councils are concerned with broad subjects such as air and water purity and regional public transport. Most regions encompass 3-10 districts and/or cities.--> Since 1979, municipalities have existed in New Zealand but are rare and not formally defined legally.

As a term, however, townships are still in common usage in New Zealand, used in referring to a small town or urban community located in a rural area. The term is generally comparable to that of a village in England.<ref>{{cite web |last=Baker |first=Carl |date=21 June 2018 |title=City & Town Classification of Constituencies & Local Authorities |url=https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8322/ |access-date=26 June 2022 |website=Commons Library, UK Parliament}}</ref>

==Pakistan==
{{main|Tehsil}}
{{empty section|date=March 2023}}

==Philippines==
In the [[Philippines]], townships refer to administrative divisions established during the [[History of the Philippines (1898–1946)|American Civil Government]] in the country. Many of these political divisions were originally established as [[rancheria]]s during the [[History of the Philippines (1521-1898)|Spanish Regime]]. The term was later replaced with "[[municipal district]]".<ref name=TamingPhilH>{{cite book|last1=Keesing|first1=Felix Maxwell|last2=Keesing|first2=Marie Margaret|last3=Keesing|first3=Marie Martin|title=Taming Philippine Headhunters: A Study of Government and of Cultural Change in Northern Luzon|date=1934|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=9780804721103|page=104|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A0OsAAAAIAAJ|access-date=11 November 2014}}</ref> Most municipal districts would later be converted into [[Municipalities in the Philippines|regular municipalities]] by [[executive order]]s from the Philippine president.<ref name=GovPH>{{cite web|title=Executive Order No. 42, s. 1963: Declaring Certain Municipal Districts in the Philippines as Municipalities|url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1963/06/25/executive-order-no-42-s-1963/|website=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines|access-date=25 October 2014}}</ref>

[[Mambukal]], a [[hill station]] geographically located in [[Murcia, Negros Occidental]], is the only legally constituted township in the Philippines, created under Republic Act No. 1964, approved in June 1957.{{citation needed|date=October 2016}}

As a term, the word "township" in the Philippines is used to refer to new developments with their own amenities, including both vertical and horizontal projects. The modern and largest townships in the Philippines are [[New Clark City]] with 9,450 hectares in [[Capas]] of [[Tarlac]], Hamilo Coast with 5,900 hectares in [[Nasugbu]] of [[Batangas]], Nuvali with 2,290 hectares in [[Santa Rosa, Laguna|Santa Rosa]] of [[Laguna (province)|Laguna]], Lancaster New City with 2,000 hectares in Kawit Imus GenTri of [[Cavite]], Vista City with 1,500 hectares in Las Piñas Muntinlupa of [[Metro Manila]], and [[Dasmariñas]] of Cavite, Twin Lakes with 1,149 hectares in [[Tagaytay]] of Cavite and Alviera with 1,125 hectares in [[Porac]] of [[Pampanga]]. The majority of the current townships are near Metro Manila, which permits faster access to the capital region by road or rail transport.

==Post-Soviet countries==
{{main|Urban-type settlement}}
The former [[Russian Empire]],  [[Soviet Union]], and [[Commonwealth of Independent States]] states is sometimes used to denote a small semi-urban, sometimes industrial, settlement and used to translate the terms ''{{Lang|ru|поселок городского типа|italic=no}}'' ([[Urban-type settlement|townlet]]), ''{{Lang|ru|посад|italic=no}}'' (''{{Lang|ru-latn|[[posad]]}}''), ''{{Lang|ru|местечко|italic=no}}'' (''mestechko'', from Polish "{{Lang|pl|[[miasteczko]]}}", a small town; in the cases of predominant [[Jewish]] population the latter is sometimes translated as [[shtetl]]).{{cn|date=January 2018}}

==South Africa==
{{Main article|Township (South Africa)}}
[[File:Khayelitsha, Baden Powell Drive (South Africa).jpg|thumb|[[Khayelitsha]], a township in [[South Africa]]]]
In [[South Africa]] under [[apartheid]], the term "township" was used to describe residential developments that confined non-Whites, including Blacks, Coloureds, and Indians, living near or working in White-only communities. [[Soweto]] and [[Mdantsane]] were both prominent townships under apartheid. The term also has a precise legal meaning and is used on land titles in all areas regardless of the demographics of the respective region.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lawsoc.co.za/webs/surveyorgeneral/survey_system_sa/survey_system_sa.doc |title=The Survey System in South Africa |first=Richard |last=Birkett |date=August 2003 |publisher=KZNLS Information Services |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181222081957/http://www.lawsoc.co.za/webs/surveyorgeneral/survey_system_sa/survey_system_sa.doc |archive-date=2018-12-22 |access-date=October 21, 2022 |quote=page 3: In an urban area, the basic unit of land is an erf. And page 5: A general plan is registered as a "township" in the Deeds Office and in the case of Durban.  Hence the trend now is to frame diagrams for townships that should really be depicted on general plans.}}</ref>

==Taiwan==
{{Main article|Township (Taiwan)}}
In [[Taiwan]], townships are administered by a [[County (Taiwan)|county]] together with a [[county-administered city]]. There are three types of townships in Taiwan: urban townships, rural townships, and mountain indigenous townships. Mountain indigenous townships are those with significant populations of [[Taiwanese aborigines]].

==Thailand==
{{Main article|Tambon}}
{{empty section|date=March 2023}}

==United Kingdom==
===England===
{{Main article|Township (England)}}
[[File:Township marker mungrisdale.jpg|thumb|Township boundary marker at Mungrisdale, Cumbria. The marker has been restored for historical purposes.]]
In [[England]], the term "township" is no longer in official use, but still maintains some meaning, typically used to describe subdivisions of large [[Parish (administrative division)|parishes]] for administrative purposes.<ref>{{citation|last=Winchester|first=A.|year=2000|title=Discovering parish boundaries|publisher=Shire Publications|location=Princes Risborough, UK.|isbn=0-7478-0470-2|pages=21–29}}</ref> This definition became legally obsolete at the end of the 19th century when local government reform converted many townships that had been subdivisions of ancient parishes into the newer [[civil parishes]], which formally separated the connection between the ecclesiastical functions of ancient parishes and the civil administrative functions that had been introduced in these areas beginning in the 16th century. As of the 21st century, some councils, mostly in [[Northern England]], have revived the term.

===Scotland===
{{Main article|Township (Scotland)}}
In [[Scotland]], the term is still used for some rural settlements. In parts of the [[Highlands and Islands area|Highlands and Islands]], a [[township (Scotland)|township]] is a [[crofting]] settlement. In the Highlands generally the term may describe a very small [[agrarian community]].

===Wales===
In [[Wales]], the term "township" is used to describe a population center created by an Act of Parliament in 1539, such as the [[Townships in Montgomeryshire]].

==United States==
{{Main article|Township (United States)}}
In the [[United States]], a township is a subdivision of a [[county (United States)|county]] and is usually 36 square miles (about 93 square kilometres) in area.<ref>"[https://www.britannica.com/topic/township township]". Encyclopedia Britannica.</ref> There are two types of townships in the [[United States]]: civil and survey. A [[U.S. state|state]] may have one or both types. In states that have both, the boundaries often coincide in many counties.

* A [[civil township]] is a unit of [[local government]] in the U.S., which is subordinate to a [[county (United States)|county]]. Specific responsibilities and the degree of [[Wiktionary:autonomy|autonomy]] vary based on the laws of the respective [[U.S. state|state]]. In many states, townships are organized and operate under the authority of state statutes, similar to counties. In others, townships operate as municipal corporations, which are chartered entities with a degree of home rule.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}} Notable exceptions include [[Township (New Jersey)|New Jersey]] and [[Township (Pennsylvania)|Pennsylvania]], where townships are a class of incorporation with fixed boundaries and equal standing to a village, town, borough, or city, analogous to a [[New England town]] or [[Administrative divisions of New York#Town|towns in New York]].

* A [[survey township]] is a unit of land measure defined by the [[Public Land Survey System]], which in many states has no governmental function.

===Puerto Rico===

In the first U.S. census of [[Puerto Rico]], the population centers known as townships were referred to as  "[[Barrios of Puerto Rico|barrios]]," a term first used when Puerto Rico was under [[Kingdom of Spain|Spanish colonial
rule]].<ref name="OfficeSanger1900">{{cite book|author1=Joseph Prentiss Sanger|author2=Henry Gannett|author3=Walter Francis Willcox|title=Informe sobre el censo de Puerto Rico, 1899, United States. War Dept. Porto Rico Census Office|url=https://archive.org/details/informesobreelc00joangoog|year=1900|publisher=Imprenta del gobierno|page=[https://archive.org/details/informesobreelc00joangoog/page/n253 162]| language=es}}</ref>  

Like townships in most U.S. states, barrios are subdivisions and function as [[municipalities of Puerto Rico|municipalities]].<ref name= "2010 Census">{{cite book|title=Puerto Rico:2010:population and housing unit counts.pdf | url = https://permanent.access.gpo.gov/gpo35934/cph-2-53.pdf|year=2010|publisher=U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration, U.S. Census Bureau}}</ref><ref>{{Cite GNIS|2415755|Parguera Barrio}}</ref>

==Vietnam==
In [[Vietnam]], a [[Commune-level town (Vietnam)|commune-level town]] ({{lang|vi|thị trấn}}) is similar to a township; it is a subdivision of a rural district ({{lang|vi|huyện}}) and is the lowest administration subdivision in the country.{{citation needed|date=October 2016}}

==Zimbabwe==
In [[Zimbabwe]], the term township was used for segregated parts of suburban areas. During colonial years in [[Rhodesia]], the term ''township'' referred to a residential area reserved for Black citizens within the boundaries of a city or town and is still commonly used colloquially. This reflected the [[Township (South Africa)|South African]] usage.

In present-day Zimbabwe, the term is also used to refer to a residential area within close proximity of a rural growth point.<ref>{{cite web|title=Reporting from Zimbabwe: a visit to Harare's biggest township|url=http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/discussion/reporting-from-zimbabwe-a-visit-to-harares-biggest-township|website=University of Cambridge|access-date=27 September 2017|language=en|date=17 August 2013}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Croft (Scotland)]]
* [[Market town]]
* [[Shtetl]]
* [[Town]]
* [[Townland]]
* [[Urban-type settlement]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Wiktionary}}

{{Terms for types of administrative territorial entities}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Townships| ]]
[[Category:Types of administrative division]]