Baladiyah (Arab Union)

The constitution of the Arab Union provides for three levels of government, of which a baladiyah (Arabic: بلدية baladiyah, plur. بلديات baladiyāt; variably translated as township, commune or municipality) forms the lower level, used for local government purposes. Each baladiyah is administered by an elected local council, responsible for all local public services (those not provided by either level of government above) therein, making it a type of unitary authority. Many local councils, especially within urban areas, establish jointly with neighbouring councils one or more combined authorities, to which specific council functions are delegated, allowing all participating baladiyāt to pool funds, expertise and other resources, thereby making possible more efficient, coordinated, uniform and higher quality deliverance of services.

The baladiyāt also constitute the third, and second lowest, tier in a four-tiered hierarchy of administrative divisions—the republics of the Arab Union, full-fledged federated states with separate, autonomous governments, also form the upper tier of administrative division; each republic is divided into several districts (the second tier), which are each composed of multiple baladiyāt (the third tier); the fourth and bottom tier is represented by the boroughs, which are (in theory) distinct communities within a single baladiyah. As boroughs form simple administrative divisions of local government and, likewise, districts of a republic, into which a handful of baladiyāt are grouped, local councils are the sole entities of government other than the union and governorates, and the baladiyāt thus constitute the third and bottom tier of government in the nation.