Direct-controlled municipality

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title: "Direct-controlled municipality" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["municipalities", "types-of-administrative-division", "independent-cities", "types-of-cities"] description: "City classification used by several states for cities under direct government of the state" topic_path: "geography" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct-controlled_municipality" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary City classification used by several states for cities under direct government of the state ::

A direct-controlled municipality is the highest level classification for cities used by unitary states, 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 government control with limited power. In some cases, a similar term in federal states is the federal city.

Many countries have adopted this system with some variations. Geographically and culturally, many of the municipalities are enclaves in the middle of provinces. Some occur in strategic positions in between provinces.

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Country	Municipalities	Main article
	Minsk
	Phnom Penh
PRC	Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, Tianjin	Direct-administered municipalities of China
	Almaty, Astana, Baikonur, Shymkent
DPRK	Pyongyang, Nampho, Rason, Kaesong	Special cities of North Korea
ROK	Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Incheon, Gwangju, Daejeon, Ulsan, Sejong	Special cities of South Korea
	Bishkek, Osh
	Vientiane
	Chişinău, Bălți, Bender
	Ulaanbaatar
	Highly urbanized cities: Manila, Angeles City, Bacolod, Baguio, Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Caloocan, Cebu City, Davao City, General Santos, Iligan, Iloilo City, Lapu-Lapu, Las Piñas, Lucena, Makati, Malabon, Mandaluyong, Mandaue, Marikina, Muntinlupa, Navotas, Olongapo, Parañaque, Pasay, Pasig, Puerto Princesa, Quezon City, San Juan, Tacloban, Taguig, Valenzuela, Zamboanga City;
Independent component cities: Cotabato City, Dagupan, Naga, Ormoc, Santiago
Independent municipality: Pateros	Cities of the Philippines § Independent cities
TW	Taipei, Kaohsiung, New Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, Taoyuan	Special municipality (Taiwan)
	Ashgabat
	Kyiv, Sevastopol (disputed)
	Tashkent
	Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Haiphong, Da Nang, Cần Thơ, Huế	Municipalities of Vietnam
::

References

References

1. Taipei City Government, ''Taipei Yearbook'' (2008).

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