Unincorporated area

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(Redirected from Unincorporated community)

Sign at Contra Costa Centre Transit Village, an unincorporated community in Contra Costa
County, California, United States, north of the city of Walnut Creek.
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not governed by its own local
municipal corporation, but rather is administered as part of larger administrative divisions, such
as a township, parish, borough, county, city, canton, state, province or country. Occasionally,
municipalities dissolve or disincorporate, which may happen if they become fiscally insolvent,
and services become the responsibility of a higher administration (for example, Cabazon,
California, disincorporated in 1972). In some countries, such as in France, Brazil or the United
Kingdom, there are no unincorporated areas as all parts of the country are incorporated.

Contents

1 By country
o 1.1 Australia
o 1.2 Canada
o 1.3 Czech Republic
o 1.4 Germany

1.4.1 List

o 1.5 Netherlands

o 1.6 Norway
o 1.7 United States

1.7.1 U.S. mail delivery

o 1.8 Other

2 Countries without unincorporated places

3 See also

4 References

By country
Australia
In Australia, unincorporated areas are places not covered by a municipal council, usually in
remote areas. Some are of vast area but tiny population.
In the Northern Territory, 1.45% of the area and 4.0% of the population are in unincorporated
areas including Unincorporated Top End Region (Finniss-Mary, the largest), areas covered by
the Darwin Rates Act - Nhulunbuy, Alyangula on Groote Eylandt in the northern region, and
Yulara in the southern region.[1]
In South Australia, 60% of the state's area is unincorporated and communities located within can
receive municipal services provided by a state agency, the Outback Communities Authority.[2]
The far west and north of New South Wales is called the Unincorporated Far West Region, which
is sparsely populated and barely warrants an elected council. A civil servant in the state capital
manages such matters as are necessary. The second unincorporated area of this state is Lord
Howe Island.
Victoria has a number of small unincorporated areas, most of which are ski resorts or small
offshore islands:[1]
1. Falls Creek Alpine Resort
2. French Island and Sandstone Island [3]
3. Elizabeth Island
4. Gabo Island

5. Lady Julia Percy Island

6. Lake Mountain Alpine Resort
7. Mount Baw Baw Alpine Resort
8. Mount Buller Alpine Resort
9. Mount Hotham Alpine Resort
10. Mount Stirling Alpine Resort
Unlike the United States and some other countries, Australia has only one level of local
government beneath the states. Thus, aside from these special or very sparsely populated areas,
almost all of Australia will be in one local government area or another. Local government areas
(LGAs) often contain many towns, townships and even cities; while many larger cities (like
Melbourne and Sydney) extend over many local government areas. The boundary, style and
name of an incorporated area do not necessarily correspond to the boundary, type or name of any
settlement.
In Australia, placenames in mail addresses use the suburbs and localities declared by local
councils,[citation needed] but which may cross LGA boundaries. In unincorporated areas, they are
declared by the relevant authority. Thus, the question of address in unincorporated areas does not
arise as it does in the U.S.

Canada
In Canada, depending on the province, an unincorporated settlement is one that does not have
a municipal council that governs solely over the settlement. It is usually, but not always, part of a
larger municipal government. This can range from small hamlets to large urbanized areas that are
similar in size to towns and cities.
For example, the urban service areas of Fort McMurray and Sherwood Park, of the Regional
Municipality of Wood Buffalo and Strathcona County respectively, would be the fifth and sixth
largest cities in Alberta if they were incorporated.
In British Columbia, unincorporated settlements lie outside municipal boundaries entirely, and
are administered directly by regional/county-level governments similar to the American system.
Unincorporated settlements with a population of between 100 and 1,000 residents may have the
status of designated place in Canadian census data.[4]
In some provinces, large tracts of undeveloped wilderness or rural country are unorganized areas
that fall directly under the provincial jurisdiction. Some unincorporated settlements in such
unorganized areas may have some types of municipal services provided to them by a quasigovernmental agency such as a local services board in Ontario. In New Brunswick where a

significant population live in a Local Service District, taxation and services may come directly
from the province.

Czech Republic

Sign prohibiting entry to the Military Area Boletice

The entire area of the Czech Republic is divided into municipalities, with the only exception
being 5 military areas. These are parts of the regions and do not form a self-governing
municipalities, but are rather governed by military offices (jezdn ad), which are subordinate
of the Ministry of Defense.
Military
Area
Libav
Hradit
Boletice
Brdy
Bezina

Region
Olomouc Region
Karlovy Vary
Region
South Bohemian
Region
Central Bohemian
Region
South Moravian
Region

Civilian
Population
(2010)
1123
596
293
34
4

Administrative
centre
Msto Libav
Karlovy Vary

No. of settlements
with over 20
inhabitants
5

Area
(km)
327

332

Boletice

219

Jince

260

158

(outside of the military area)

(outside of the military area)

Vykov
(outside of the military area)

Brdy Military Area is scheduled to be abandoned by the Army in 2015 and converted
into Landscape park (protected area), with its area being incorporated either into existing
municipalities or municipalities newly established from the existing settlements. The
other four Military Areas are scheduled to be reduced in size in 2015 too. The decisions
on whether the settlements join existing municipalities or form new ones are decided in
plebiscites.[5]

Germany

Since Germany has no administrative level comparable to the townships of other countries, the
vast majority of the country, close to 99%, is organized in municipalities, often consisting of
multiple settlements which are not considered to be unincorporated. Because these settlements
lack a council of their own, there is usually an Ortsvorsteher (village or parish chair) appointed
by the larger municipality, except in the very smallest villages.
In 2000, the number of unincorporated areas in Germany, called gemeindefreie Gebiete or
singular gemeindefreies Gebiet, was 295 with a total area of 4,890.33 km and around 1.4% of its
territory.
As of December 31, 2007, Germany had 248 uninhabited unincorporated areas (of which 214 are
located in Bavaria), not belonging to any municipality, consisting mostly of forested areas, lakes
and larger rivers. There were also three inhabited unincorporated areas, all of which served as
military training areas: Osterheide and Lohheide in Lower Saxony, and Gutsbezirk Mnsingen in
Baden-Wrttemberg. They had fewer than 2,000 inhabitants in total. Gutsbezirk Mnsingen,
after losing its inhabited parts to adjacent municipalities on 1 January 2011, is uninhabited now.[6]
List
The following shows the largest unincorporated areas in Germany (including all inhabited areas,
but excluding lakes) with an area of more than 50 km:
Regional
number

Unincorporated area

031530000504 Harz (Landkreis Goslar)

Harz (Landkreis
031560000501
Osterode)
Gutsbezirk
066330000200
Reinhardswald
033580000501 Osterheide
Solling (Landkreis
031550000501
Northeim)
033510000501 Lohheide
064350000200 Gutsbezirk Spessart
091800000451
084150000971
010535303105
094720000468
033540000502
033540000501
066360000200

County

State

Area in
km

Population
on 31 Dec
2010

Goslar

Lower Saxony

371.76

Osterode am Harz

Lower Saxony

267,35

Kassel

Hesse

182.58

Heidekreis

Lower Saxony

177.99

762

Northeim

Lower Saxony

177.49

Celle
Lower Saxony
Main-Kinzig-Kreis Hesse
GarmischEttaler Forst
Bavaria
Partenkirchen
BadenGutsbezirk Mnsingen Reutlingen
Wrttemberg
Herzogtum
SchleswigSachsenwald
Lauenburg
Holstein
Veldensteiner Forst
Bayreuth
Bavaria
LchowGhrde
Lower Saxony
Dannenberg
LchowGartow
Lower Saxony
Dannenberg
Gutsbezirk Kaufunger Werra-MeinerHesse

91.32
89.30

716

83.46

64.68

160

58.49

55.60

51.81

50.92

50.32

Wald

Kreis

No inhabitants since 1 January 2011 as a result of reduction in area.

In Bavaria, there are other contiguous unincorporated areas covering more than 50 km; these are
however composed of several adjacent unincorporated areas combined, each of which is
however under 50 km in area.

Netherlands
The Netherlands has had regular periods with unincorporated land when newly reclaimed land
polders fall dry. Unincorporated land is since medieval times administered by an appointed
officer with the name Landdrost or Drossaart. Also, Elten and Tudderen, both annexed from
Germany after World War II, were governed by a Landdrost until they were ceded to Germany in
1963.
The most recent period with unincorporated land started in 1967 when the dyke around Southern
Flevoland was closed. It however requires several years before the polder is genuinely accessible
for cultivation and construction of roads and homes can start, as in the first years the soil is
equivalent to quick sand. During the initial period of inhabitation a special, governmentappointed officer is installed, who is called Landdrost. During the administrative office of a
Landdrost there is no municipal council.
In 1975, the first homes in what is now the city of Almere were built and from 1976 to 1984 the
area was governed by the Landdrost as the executive of the Openbaar Lichaam Zuidelijke
IJsselmeerpolders (Public Body Southern IJsselmeerpolders). In 1984 the Landdrost became the
first mayor of the new city Almere. Since that date the Netherlands does not have any
unincorporated land areas.
The Openbaar Lichaam remained however, only governing the water body of the Markermeer.
After the municipal division of the Wadden Sea (1985), the territorial waters in the North Sea
(1991) and the IJsselmeer (1994), also all water bodies are now part of a municipality[7] and there
are no unincorporated areas in the Netherlands anymore. The Openbaar Lichaam Zuidelijke
IJsselmeerpolders was dissolved in 1996.

Norway
In Norway, Jan Mayen, Svalbard and Bouvet Island are outside the division into counties and
municipalities. They are ruled directly by national authorities without any local democracy. An
exception is that Longyearbyen since 2004 has an organisation in reality acting partly like a
Norwegian municipality. Svalbard has a governor appointed by the government of Norway,
ruling the area. Jan Mayen has no population, only radio and weather stations with staff, whose
manager has the responsibility for the activities. Bouvet Island has only occasional visitors.

United States

Nutbush, an unincorporated area in Haywood County, Tennessee

In local government in the United States, an unincorporated area generally refers to the part of a
county which is outside of any municipality.
Most states have granted some form of home rule, so that county commissions (or boards or
councils) have the same powers in these areas as city councils or town councils have in their
respective incorporated areas.[8] Some states instead put these powers in the hands of townships,
which are minor civil divisions of each county, and are called "towns" in some states.
Some American states have no unincorporated land areas; these include Connecticut,
Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, although these states all
have communities that are not separately incorporated but are part of a larger municipality.
An unincorporated community is one general term for a geographic area having a common
social identity without municipal organization or official political designation (i.e., incorporation
as a city or town). There are two main types of unincorporated communities:

a neighborhood or other community existing within one or across multiple existing

incorporated areas (i.e., cities or towns). In this sense, a community is part of a municipal
government, but not separately incorporated from it. For example, Hyannis,
Massachusetts, is an unincorporated village within the town of Barnstable.

a neighborhood or other community existing outside of an incorporated municipal

government. In this sense, the community is outside of any municipal government, and
entirely unincorporated. Examples include: Hovland, Minnesota; Ceresco, Michigan;
Nutbush, Tennessee; and Yucca, Arizona; small rural settlements of low population.

Due to differences in state laws regarding the incorporation of communities, there is a great
variation in the distribution and nature of unincorporated areas. Unincorporated regions are
essentially nonexistent in seven of the northeastern states. All of the land in New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, and nearly all of the land in New
Hampshire and Vermont, is part of an incorporated area of some type. In these areas, types (and
official names) of local government entities can vary. In New England (which includes the last
five of those seven states, plus the less fully incorporated state of Maine), local municipalities are
known as towns, and are administered by a form of direct democracy, such as the open town
meeting or representative town meeting. Larger towns in New England may be incorporated as
cities, with some form of mayor-council government. In New Jersey multiple types exist as well,
such as city, township, town, borough, or village, but these differences are in the structure of the
legislative branches, not in the powers or functions of the entities themselves.

Rosslyn, one of many highrise neighborhoods in Arlington County, Virginia. The county has no
cities within its borders, and five times the population density of the state's most populous city,
Virginia Beach.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is the Virginia "strong county" model.[9] Virginia and other
states with this model, such as Alabama, Maryland, and Tennessee, set strict requirements on
incorporation or grant counties and townships broad powers that in other states are carried out by
cities, creating a disincentive to incorporate, and thus have large, urbanized areas which have no
municipal government below the county or township level.
Meanwhile, in other mid-Atlantic states, such as New York and Pennsylvania, a "hybrid" model[9]
that tries to "balance" the two approaches is prevalent,[10] with differing allocations of power
between municipalities and counties existing.
Throughout the USA, some large cities have annexed all surrounding unincorporated areas,
creating what are known as consolidated citycounty forms of government (e.g., Jacksonville,
Florida and Nashville, Tennessee). In areas of sparse population the majority of the land in any
given state may be unincorporated.
Some states, including North Carolina, grant extraterritorial jurisdiction to cities and towns (but
rarely villages), so that they may control zoning for a limited distance into adjacent
unincorporated areas, often as a precursor (and sometimes as a legal requirement) to later
annexation of those areas. This is especially useful in rural counties which have no zoning at all,
or only spot zoning for unincorporated communities.
In California, all counties except the City and County of San Francisco have unincorporated
areas. Even in highly populated counties, the unincorporated portions may contain a large
number of inhabitants. In Los Angeles County, the county government estimates the population
of its unincorporated areas to exceed one million people.[11] Despite having 88 incorporated cities
and towns, including the state's most populous, 65% of the land in Los Angeles County is
unincorporated, this mostly consisting of Angeles National Forest and sparsely populated regions
to its north.[12]
In the context of the insular areas of the United States, the word "unincorporated" means that the
territory has not been formally and irrevocably incorporated into the United States. (See: United
States territory.) Unincorporated insular areas are therefore potentially subject to being sold or
otherwise transferred to another power, or, conversely, being granted independence. There are
currently five major unincorporated U.S. insular areas: American Samoa, Puerto Rico, Guam, the
U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

U.S. mail delivery

Many unincorporated communities are also recognized as acceptable place names for use in
mailing addresses by the United States Postal Service (USPS) (indeed, some have their own post
offices), and the United States Census Bureau uses the names of some widely recognized
unincorporated communities for its census-designated places (CDPs) for which it tabulates
census data.
However, the USPS is very conservative about recognizing new place names for use in mailing
addresses, and typically only does so when a place incorporates. The original place name
associated with a ZIP code is still maintained as the "default" place name, even though the name
of the newly incorporated place is more accurate. As an example, Sandy Springs is one of the
most populated places in Georgia, but is served by a branch of the Atlanta post office. Only after
the city was incorporated in 2005 has "Sandy Springs" been approved by the USPS for use in
mailing addresses, though "Atlanta" remains the default name. Accordingly, "Atlanta" is the only
accepted place name for mailing addresses in the nearby unincorporated town of Vinings, also
served by a branch of the Atlanta post office, even though Atlanta is in a different county. In
contrast, neighboring Mableton has not been incorporated in nearly a century, but has its own
post office and thus "Mableton" is the only acceptable place name for mailing addresses in the
town. The areas of Dulah and Faria, California are unincorporated areas in Ventura County
between Ventura and Carpinteria have the ZIP code of 93001, which is assigned to the post office
at 675 E Santa Clara St in Ventura;[13] thus, all mail to those two areas is addressed to Ventura.
If an unincorporated area becomes incorporated, it may be split among ZIP codes, and its new
name may be recognized as "acceptable" for use with some or all of them in mailing addresses,
as has been the case in Johns Creek and Milton, Georgia. However, if an incorporated area
disincorporates, this has no effect on whether a place name is "acceptable" in a mailing address
or not, as is the case with Lithia Springs. ZIP code boundaries often ignore political boundaries,
so the appearance of a place name in a mailing address alone does not indicate whether the place
is incorporated or unincorporated.

Other
Some countries have some exceptional unincorporated areas:

Denmark (the Kingdom of Denmark has three unincorporated areas: the former naval
fortress Ertholmene east of Bornholm with less than 100 inhabitants is still governed
directly by the Ministry of Defence; the Northeast Greenland National Park and the Thule
Air Base are unincorporated areas in Greenland.)

France (exceptions are some small overseas possessions)

In Israel all land, except military areas, is subdivided into 393 municipalities which are
further classified, normally by population, as City, Local Council, or Regional Council.
All three types of municipality provide services including zoning and planning.

Switzerland (Switzerland also has a few exceptions as described by the Swiss federal
statistical office (see Gemeindefreie Gebiete in here))

Slovakia (except for the military areas, which are administered directly by state
government) is divided into communes.

Countries without unincorporated places

Many countries, especially those with many centuries of history using multiple tiers of local
government, do not use the concept of an unincorporated place.

The whole of the territories of Austria, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Netherlands,
Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia and Sweden are divided into communes.

In Brazil and Mexico, all land must belong to a municipality. Even large uninhabited
areas, such as forests or grasslands, are by law part of the nearest "city". This is because
in Latin America, a "municipality" is the equivalent of what in the United States and
Canada is called a "county".

In China, every piece of land belongs to a municipality, either a city ( sh) in an urban
area or a town ( zhn), township ( xing), or sumu ( sm) in a suburban or
rural area such as county ( xin) or banner ( q).

In Croatia, every piece of land belongs either to a city (grad) or to a municipality

(opina).

In the United Kingdom: England - all land is within a county and/or local government
district, both of which exercise power over their jurisdictions; Scotland - all land is within
one of 32 unitary authorities[14] designated as Councils;[15] Wales - all land is within one of
22 single-tier principal areas.;[16] Northern Ireland - all land is within one of 26 districts.

In France, the territory is subdivided into 36,685 municipalities.[17] An elected council and
a mayor form the governing body of a municipality.

In Japan, every piece of land belongs to a municipal either a city ( shi) or special ward
( tokubetsu-ku) in urban area or a town ( ch/machi) or village ( mura/son) in
a district ( gun).

In the Philippines, every piece of land belongs either to a city or lungsd or to a

municipality or bayan.

In South Africa, the latest constitution gave every place in the country democratically
elected third-tier government.

In South Korea, every piece of land belongs to a municipal either a district (/ gu) in a
city (/ si) or a town (/ eup) or township (/ myeon) in a county (/ gun).

In Spain, the Spanish Constitution of 1978 says that the land is divided into Autonomous
Communities, provinces and municipalities. Each of these have certain powers
determined by law. Autonomous Communities and municipalities are enabled to appeal to
the Constitutional Court any public decision which violates their autonomy by other
entities (i.e. State or Autonomous Community power). Nevertheless, some regions, like
Navarra, have some unincorporated areas. The largest of these, the Bardenas Reales has a
surface of 418 km2 and is governed by a board of representatives of 20 bordering
municipalities, a valley in the Pyrenees, and a monastery, all of which have rights to use
the area.

In Taiwan (Republic of China), every piece of land belongs to either an Urban/Rural

township ( zhn/ xing) or a County-controlled city ( xinxish) in Counties
( xin), or Districts ( q) in cities ( sh). There are, in total, 368 townships,
County-controlled cities and Districts in Taiwan. See also Administrative divisions of the
Republic of China.

See also
Geography portal

Census-designated place

County island

Unparished area

References
1.
"Local Government Areas and Statistical Local Areas - Alphabetic". Australian Standard
Geographical Classification (ASGC), Jul 2008. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 26 September
2008. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
"Welcome to the Outback Communities Authority". Government of South Australia.
Retrieved 9 September 2015.
Department of Planning and Community Development, Government of Victoria,
Australia (2013-04-19). "French Island and Sandstone Island Planning Scheme Home Page and
user's guide". Planningschemes.dpcd.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
More information on Designated place. Statistics Canada. 2009.
"Vlda zruila vojensk jezd Brdy, dal tyi cviit se zmen - iDNES.cz".
Zpravy.idnes.cz. Retrieved 2013-04-25.

 [1][dead link]
Gemeentegrenzen in Nederland: een juridisch, technisch en kadastraal onderzoek, Ad
van der Meer, 2007
"A surge toward home rule". History of County Government Part II. National Association
of Counties. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
"About Counties". History of County Government Part I. National Association of
Counties. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
"County Government". Illinois Association of County Board Members. 2007. Retrieved
31 January 2011.
"Estimated Population - Unincorporated Areas" (PDF). County of Los Angeles. February
2008. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
"Unincorporated Areas". County of Los Angeles. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
675 E Santa Clara St, Ventura, CA
In this context the phrase is descriptive, not prescriptive; "unitary authority" does not
have the specific legal meaning that it has in England.
s.2 Local Government (Scotland) Act 1994
Local Government (Wales) Act 1994
insee.fr

1.
Categories:

Local government

Unincorporated communities in the United States

Urban studies and planning terminology

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