Direct-controlled municipality

A direct-controlled municipality is the highest level classification for cities used by unitary state, with status equal to that of the provinces in the respective countries. A direct-controlled municipality is similar to, but not the same as, a Federal district, a common designation in various countries for a municipality that is not part of any state, and which usually hosts some governmental functions. Usually direct-controlled municipality are under central governments control with limited power.

Each country has adopted this system with some different variations. Geographically and culturally, many of the municipalities are enclaves in the middle of provinces. Some occur in strategic positions in between provinces.

•  Belarus

• Minsk.

•  Cambodia

• Phnom Penh, Kep, Pailin, and Sihanoukville (Kampong Som).

•  China, People's Republic of

Main article: Direct-controlled municipality of the People's Republic of China

• Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing.

•  Kazakhstan

• Astana and Almaty.

•  Korea, North

Main article: Special cities of Korea#North Korea

• Pyongyang and Rason.

•  Korea, South

Main article: Special cities of Korea#South Korea

• Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Incheon, Gwangju, Daejeon, and Ulsan.

South Korea officials changed the title of Directly Governed Cities into Metropolitan Cities (Special City for Seoul) in 1991.

•  Kyrgyzstan

• Bishkek and Osh.

•  Laos

• Vientiane.

•  Moldova

• Chişinău, Bălţi, and Bender.

•  Mongolia

• Ulan Bator (Ulaanbaatar).

•  Republic of China (Taiwan)

Main article: Special municipality (Republic of China)

• Kaohsiung, New Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, and Taipei

•  Turkmenistan

• Ashgabat.

•  Ukraine

• Kiev and Sevastopol.

•  Uzbekistan

• Tashkent.

•  Vietnam

Main article: Centrally governed city of Vietnam

• Hà Nội, Hồ Chí Minh City, Hải Phòng, Đà Nẵng, and Cần Thơ.

See Also

• Metropolitan Capitalism (Capital City)
• Capital