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

External links

Eurostat Local Administrative Units (LAU codes of each country can be downloaded here)

Categories

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Local administrative unit