Chef-lieu

An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located.

In countries which have French as one of their administrative languages (such as Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland or many African countries) and in some other countries (such as Italy, cf. cognate capoluogo), a chef-lieu (French pronunciation: ​[ʃɛfljø], plural form chefs-lieux (literally "chief place" or "head place"), is a town or city that is pre-eminent from an administrative perspective. The ‘f’ in chef-lieu is pronounced, in contrast to chef-d'oeuvre where it is mute.

The capital of an Algerian Province is called a chef-lieu. The capital of a district, the next largest division, is also called a chef-lieu. While the capital of the lowest division, the municipalities, is called agglomeration de chef-lieu (chef-lieu agglomeration) and is abbreviated as A.C.L.

The chef-lieu in Belgium is the administrative centre of each of the ten Provinces of Belgium. Three of these cities also give their name to their province (Antwerp, Liège and Namur).

Luxembourg is divided into two judicial arrondissements (Luxembourg City, Diekirch), three administrative districts (Luxembourg City, Diekirch, Grevenmacher), four electoral circonscriptions (constituencies), twelve cantons and one hundred and five communes (municipalities; Luxembourgish: Gemengen).

Arrondissements, districts and cantons have each a chef-lieu and are named after it. The same is true for each commune which is composed of more than one town or village. Usually (with a few exceptions), the commune is named after the communal chef-lieu.

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