City Proper - Internationalization

Internationalization

Especially when translated from the English or back, "city proper" sometimes takes on different meanings in different parts of the world. Some languages have no equivalent.

The United Nations Demographic Yearbook is compiled using questionnaires dispatched annually to more than 230 national statistical offices. These questionnaires ask for the country-specific definition of urban areas, rural areas and city proper. In its glossary, the Yearbook defines "City proper" again as "a locality defined according to legal/political boundaries and an administratively recognized urban status that is usually characterized by some form of local government." In its data however, the United Nations Demographic Yearbook affords the individual countries considerable leeway over the definition of "City proper". The table titled "Population of capital cities and cities of 100 000 or more inhabitants" provides several country-specific definitions for "city proper" that diverge from the provided definition:

• Japan: "Except for Tokyo, all data refer to shi, a minor division which may include some scattered or rural population as well as an urban centre." In Tokyo, "data for city proper refer to 23 wards (ku) of the old city."
• Australia: "For all regions it is not possible to distinguish between 'city proper' and 'urban agglomeration' areas, therefore data has been included under 'city proper'."
• UK, Thailand, Qatar, Cyprus, Bangladesh, Suriname, Colombia, Nicaragua, Canada do not report City Proper data, agglomerations only.
• Turkey provides city proper data for most cities, for some large cities, such as Istanbul or Ankara, only agglomeration data are given.
• Mexico provides city proper data for most cities, for some large cities, such as Guadalajara, Mexico City or Monterey, only agglomeration data are given.
• Poland: A city can be "an administratively separated area entitled to civil (municipal) rights."
• France: "Data for cities proper refer to communes which are centres for urban agglomeration."

These definitions are those given for the purpose of the United Nations Demographic Yearbook. One should not assume that these necessarily are the prevailing definitions in their respective countries.