Parish (subnational entity)
|
Parish Hall of St. Clement, Jersey - seat of the municipal administration |
A
parish as a
subnational entity or administrative subdivision exists in several
countries' political systems. In
England and in
Louisiana it is sometimes called "
civil parish" to distinguish it from the religious
parish.
*
Andorra (
parròquies)
*
Antigua and Barbuda,
West Indies;
**see
Parishes and dependencies of Antigua and Barbuda*
Australia**see
Local Government Areas of New South Wales**see
Counties of Victoria**In
Queensland, Parishes exist, but only as geographical subdivisions used almost exclusively in legal documents relating to land transactions. They no longer have any connection to Local Government bodies or boundaries.
*
Barbados,
West Indies**see
Parishes of Barbados*
Bermuda (
UK)
*
Canada**see
List of parishes in New Brunswick**see
Parish municipality (Quebec)*
Dominica,
West Indies**see
Parishes of Dominica*
Grenada,
West Indies**see
Parishes of Grenada*
Guernsey (
Crown dependency),
Channel Islands*
Jamaica,
West Indies;
**see
Parishes of Jamaica*
Jersey (
Crown dependency),
Channel Islands**see
Parishes of Jersey*
Macao (
PRC) (
freguesias);
**see
List of cities and parishes in Macao*
Montserrat (
UK),
West Indies*
Portugal (
freguesias);
**see
List of parishes of Portugal*
Saint Kitts and Nevis,
West Indies**see
Parishes of Saint Kitts and Nevis*
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,
West Indies**see
Parishes of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines*
Spain**see
Galicia (
parroquias or
freguesías)
**
Asturias (
parroquias)
*
Sweden**see
Parishes of Sweden*
United Kingdom;
** see
Civil parish (England),
Local government in England,
List of civil parishes in England**
Wales*
United States**A
parish in Louisiana is the equivalent of a
county in other
states.
In these areas, it originated as a religious subdivision, but over time has come to be either a purely civil one, or (in some jurisdictions in which the
church is not separate from the state) one that is simultaneously ecclesiastical and civil.
In
Wales the equivalent body to a Parish council is termed a
Community council.
The
counties of Scotland were sub-divided into parishes, but the councils of these were abolished in 1930. Scotland has now bodies called Community councils, but these are not equivalent to and have fewer powers than the
English parishes and
Welsh communities.
In
Ireland,
counties are divided into civil parishes. Irish civil parishes are divided into approximately 60,000
townlands. Counties are also divided into larger subdivisions called
baronies, which are made up of a number of parishes or parts of parishes. Both civil parishes and baronies are now largely obsolete (except for some purposes such as legal transactions involving land) and are no longer used for local government purposes. From the 17th to mid-19th centuries civil parishes were based on early Christian and medieval monastic and church settlements. As the population grew, new parishes were created and the civil parish covered the same area as the established
Church of Ireland. The Roman Catholic Church adapted to a new structure based on towns and villages. There 2,508 civil parishes in Ireland, which frequently break both
barony and
county boundaries.
In the
State of Louisiana, a civil parish is a geographical unit of administration. In this case the
Parish is equivalent to the
counties found throughout the rest of the country. This is due to its history as a Spanish and French colony. Louisiana and
Alaska - which uses the term
borough - are the only two states to refer to county level geographical units as something other than county.
The lowlands of
South Carolina were also previously divided into parishes, rather than counties, well into the nineteenth century.
