Deelgemeente

{{Short description|Type of administrative division in Belgium and the Netherlands}}

A '''{{Lang|nl|deelgemeente}}''' ({{IPA|nl|ˈdeːlɣəˌmeːntə|-|Nl-deelgemeente.ogg}}, literally ''sub-municipality''), or '''section''' ({{IPA|fr|sɛksjɔ̃|-|LL-Q150 (fra)-WikiLucas00-section.wav}}), is a subdivision of a municipality in Belgium and, until March 2014, in the Netherlands as well.

==Belgium== Each municipality in Belgium that existed as a separate entity on 1 January 1961 but no longer existed as such after 1 January 1977 as the result of a merger is considered a ''section'' or {{Lang|nl|deelgemeente}} within most municipalities. In addition, the City of Brussels is also divided in four ''sections'' that correspond to the communes that existed before their merger in 1921.

The term {{Lang|nl|deelgemeente}} is used in Dutch and the term ''section'' in French to refer to such a subdivision of a municipality anywhere in Belgium, municipalities having been merged throughout the country in the 1970s. Beforehand, ''sections'' or ''deelgemeenten'' usually were independent municipalities before the fusions in the 1970s. In French, the term ''section'' is sometimes confused with ''commune'' (for ''municipality''), especially in larger cities like Charleroi and Mons as the ''sections'' composing the municipality used to be individual ''communes'' before the 1970s. It is therefore not rare to hear that Mons comprises "19 ''communes''" when in fact Mons is a single municipality (''commune'') divided into 19 ''sections''. In addition, there is the term ''ancienne commune'' (''former municipality''), which has no official status.

A ''section'' or {{Lang|nl|deelgemeente}} does not bear any administrative powers. However, the Belgian Constitution provides the possibility of implementing ''districts'' for any municipality with at least 100,000 inhabitants, giving ''de facto'' political and administrative jurisdiction to the sections. Only the municipality of Antwerp has implemented ten ''districts'', Belgium's lowest level of administration.

==Netherlands== In the Netherlands, ''deelgemeenten'' were administrative divisions that could be instituted by any municipality.<ref>Gemeentewet, art. 87</ref> The city of Amsterdam was the first to do this. In the early 1980s, the municipality was divided into fifteen deelgemeenten. This number was decreased to eight in 2010.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.amsterdam.nl/gemeente/stadsdelen/1_amsterdam_7/1_amsterdam_7/ |title=Amsterdam.nl - 1 Amsterdam, 7 stadsdelen |access-date=2011-11-06 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111031132053/http://www.amsterdam.nl/gemeente/stadsdelen/1_amsterdam_7/1_amsterdam_7 |archive-date=2011-10-31 }}</ref> Seven of these were officially called ''stadsdeel''.

Rotterdam followed in the 1990s and was divided into fourteen ''deelgemeenten''.<ref>{{in lang|nl}} [http://www.rotterdam.nl/gemeentebestuur_deelgemeenten Deelgemeenten] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131208072901/http://www.rotterdam.nl/gemeentebestuur_deelgemeenten |date=2013-12-08 }}</ref> ''Deelgemeenten'' had their own mayor, the ''deelgemeentevoorzitter'', their own aldermen, ''deelgemeentewethouders'', and their own elected assembly, the ''deelgemeenteraad''. ''Deelgemeenten'' were abolished in March 2014, after the 2014 municipal elections. Since 2014, districts of Amsterdam have a ''bestuurscommissie'' (literally "governance commission"), and the ''deelgemeenten'' of Rotterdam are now called ''gebieden'' (literally "areas").

==References== {{reflist}}

Category:Sub-municipalities of Belgium Category:Boroughs of the Netherlands Category:Types of administrative division Category:Dutch words and phrases Category:Fifth-level administrative divisions by country