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The municipalities of Puerto Rico number seventy-eight and they make up the smallest electoral division in Puerto Rico. Each municipality is led by a mayor and divided into barrios, though the latter are not vested with political authority. Geographically, a municipality has an urban core that consists of either a town or a city. Urban cores with a population of 50,000 or above are considered cities, while those under 50,000 inhabitants are termed towns.〔(''Puerto Rico: la isla de los 900 barrios.'' ) Héctor Sánchez Martínez. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 10 October 2012. Year 30. Issue 1506. Page 36. 21 October 2012.〕 ==Overview== Because Puerto Rico was a Spanish colony until 1898, its system of local government bears more resemblance to that of the Hispanophone nations of the Americas than to local government in the United States and some other Anglophone countries. Thus, there are no first-order administrative divisions akin to counties, as defined by the United States Government; instead, Puerto Rico has 78 municipalities or "municipios" as the secondary unit of administration. For U.S. Census purposes, the municipalities are considered "county-equivalents."〔(county equivalent )〕 The municipalities are grouped into eight electoral districts, but these do not possess administrative functions. In 1991, the Autonomous Municipalities of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Act was passed, which slightly modified the rights and responsibilities of Puerto Rican municipalities, with the aim of decentralizing control and improving government services.〔(''An Act: To amend Sections 1 and 2 of Act No. 100 of June 27, 1956'' ) Act No. 81 of August 30, 1991: Autonomous Municipalities Act of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. In ''An Act: To amend Sections 1 and 2 of Act No. 100 of June 27, 1956'', Act No. 66, 3rd Session of the 13th Legislature of Puerto Rico. April 14, 1998. Retrieved November 22, 2009.〕 Every municipality is composed of several barrios, except for Florida which has only one barrio. The municipality of Ponce has the largest number of barrios, 31.〔(''Historia de Nuestros Barrios: Portugués, Ponce.'' ) Rafael Torrech San Inocencio. El Sur a la Vista. elsuralavista.com. 14 February 2010. Accessed 12 February 2011.〕〔(''Ponce.'' ) Proyecto Salon Hogar. Map of Barrios of Ponce. (Map with fully urbanized barrios conglomerated and merged as "Zona Urbana". Barrio not labeled is named "Machuelo Abajo".) Retrieved November 30, 2009.〕〔("Ponce: General Information." ) Puerto Rico Encyclopedia. Retrieved November 30, 2009.〕〔(''Ponce Puerto Rico.'' ) AreciboWeb. (Map showing the 31 geo-numbered barrios of Ponce.) Retrieved November 30, 2009.〕〔(''Un Acercamiento Sociohistorico y Linguistico a los Toponimos del Municipio de Ponce, Puerto Rico.'' ) Amparo Morales, María T. Vaquero de Ramírez. "Estudios de lingüística hispánica: homenaje a María Vaquero". Page 113. Retrieved 19 July 2011.〕 Every municipality (except San Juan) also has an urban area made up of one or more barrios.〔(''Cartographic Boundary Files.'' ) U. S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 1 December 2011.〕 When the urban area is made up of only one barrio, it is called "''Barrio Pueblo''". Some urban areas are made up of multiple barrios: Ponce's urban area, for example, is made up of 12 barrios. All of San Juan's barrios are urban barrios, and the municipality of San Juan is composed of urban barrios only - thus, the entire municipality of San Juan consists of one large urban zone only.〔(''AREAS IN PUERTO RICO ELIGIBLE FOR RURAL HOUSING LOANS: BARRIOS, TOWNS AND VILLAGES.'' ) U.S. Department of Agriculture. Rural Development. Page 8. 2 June 2010. Retrieved 21 October 2012.〕 Every municipality's urban zone is named by the same name as the municipality. For example, the municipality of Caguas has an urban zone called Caguas - just like the municipality. Some municipalities' urban zones are termed "pueblo" (town) while others are termed "ciudad" (city). The difference resides in the population of the ''municipality'': if the municipality has an urban zone below 50,000 inhabitants, then its urban zone is called a ''pueblo''. If a municipality has a population above 50,000 inhabitants in its urban zone, then its urban zone is called a ''ciudad''.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Municipalities of Puerto Rico」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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