Baladiya

Baladiyāt (Arabic: بلديات; singular بلدية baladiyah) function as the bottom tier of government hierarchy and second-lowest level of administrative division in the Arab Union. As the basic unit of local government in the Arab Union, the baladiya is a physically defined geographical area within which an elected majlis (council) is responsible for all matters of public administration not provided by higher levels of government. Depending on population density, a single baladiya may encompass a mostly rural area dotted with multiple small hamlets, a town or small city including immediate outskirts, or a portion of a large city which as a whole encompasses multiple baladiyāt. All permanent settlements constitute a baladiya or part of one, and as such the concept of the unincorporated community is foreign to the Arab Union.

Baladiyāt are grouped into districts, which unlike baladiyāt do not constitute a level of government in and of themselves, rather being regional groupings of governorate (republic-level government) services for organisational purposes. Therefore, only three levels of government exist—the baladiyāt, the governorates, and the Government of the Arab Union (federal level).