Municipalities of Vyvland
Municipalities (Vyvlander: gemends, pronounced /gəˈmendz/) are a low-level subdivision of Vyvland, typically covering anything from a village and its rural hinterland to the country's largest cities. Municipalities function as the main tier of local government, and are one of two tiers - along with provinces - which cover the entirety of the country. In most rural areas, municipalities are divided into smaller parishes, while in smaller urban areas, municipalities are often subdivided into wards (beseerks), although these hold little real power. Larger urban areas may consist of a collection of boroughs (borgen or delen); these are more common in the former North. Six municipalities enjoy the status of independent city (vrisdad), which is bestowed on Jesel, Lorence, Lyksdal, Mafiy, Strossen and Vlud on account of their large populations. This gives the cities special powers which would usually be used only by provinces, although they are still legally municipalities.
Often, municipalities organise themselves into municipal collectives (mefwerkliggemends), which often deal with issues in particular areas where connections between municipalities is strong, such as islands and valleys. They may also function as a way of grouping together municipalities which would not be able to provide essential services on their own. Most rural areas are grouped into these structures, with similarly-structured kroisen covering all of Brudon and Wik. The responsibility for creating and merging municipalities lies with Provincial Diets, although it is possible for certain proportions of residents in areas to vote bindingly against or for a merger or split proposal, as long as the proposed municipality has over 2,000 inhabitants.
There are 1058 municipalities in Vyvland, with each having an average population of around 27,000. The smallest is Sohdoym in Wel province, which consists of a low-lying island of 8 inhabitants which was cut off from the mainland during storms in 1955, while the largest is Vlud, with a population of over two million, and as a means of ensuring co-operation between municipalities in the same urban or metropolitan area together, such as Greater Lyksdal. All municipalities are obliged to elect councils of at least five members; most elect substantially more than this. Electoral systems vary from province to province and occasionally from municipality to municipality. The most common systems used in smaller municipalities are open-list, whereby those with more than a certain number of votes get elected, while larger municipalities are often divided into districts which elect councillors, usually through more complex systems.
Municipalities are responsible for the provision of a number of day-to-day services, including refuse collection, sanitation, electricity and water provision. They are also responsible for organising local events and the general upkeep for towns, and often serve as a channel through which local issues can be heard and sent to provincial or national government. It is possible for provinces or central government to rescind the powers of a municipality which fails to meet service provision requirements, although this is very rare. Municipal funding comes directly from provincial budgets. Template:Vyvland topics