A borough is an administrative division of various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely.

The word 'borough' derives from a common Indo-European language cognate, meaning fort: compare borough, bury (England), burgh (Scotland), burg (Germany), bourg (France), burgo (Spain), borg (Scandinavia), borgo (Italy), burcht (Dutch). The incidence of these words as suffixes to place names (e.g. Canterbury, Strasbourg, Luxembourg, Edinburgh, Hamburg, Gothenburg), usually indicates that they were once fortified settlements.

In the Middle Ages, boroughs were settlements in England that were granted some self-government; burghs were the Scottish equivalent. In medieval England, boroughs were also entitled to elect members of parliament. The use of the word borough probably derives from the burghal system of Alfred the Great. Alfred set up a system of defensive strong points (Burhs); in order to maintain these settlements, he granted them a degree of autonomy. After the Norman Conquest, when certain towns were granted self-governance, the concept of the burh/borough seems to have been reused to mean a self-governing settlement.

The concept of the borough has been used repeatedly (and often differently) throughout the English-speaking world. Often, a borough is a single town with its own local government. However, in some cities it is a subdivision of the city (e.g. London, New York City, and Montreal). In such cases, the borough will normally have either limited powers delegated to it by the city's local government, or no powers at all. At certain times, London has had no overall city government and London boroughs were the main unit of local government for Londoners. In other places, such as Alaska, a borough does not designate a single township, but a whole region; Alaska's largest borough, the North Slope Borough, is comparable in area to the entire United Kingdom. In Australia, 'borough' can designate a town and its surrounding area, e.g. Borough of Queenscliffe.

Boroughs as administrative units are to be found in Ireland and the United Kingdom, more specifically in England and Northern Ireland. Boroughs also exist in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, in some states of the United States, in Israel, and formerly in New Zealand.

Pronunciation

In many parts of England, "borough" is (listen) as an independent word, and as /brə/ when a suffix of a place-name. As a suffix, it is sometimes spelled "-brough".

In the United States, "borough" is or /ˈbʊəroʊ/. When appearing as the suffix "-burg(h)" in place-names, it's pronounced /bɝːɡ/.

England & Wales

main: Borough status in the United Kingdom

Ancient & Municipal boroughs

Main: Municipal borough

During the medieval period many towns were granted self-governance by the Crown, at which point they became referred to a borough. The formal status of borough came to be conferred by Royal Charter. These boroughs were generally governed by a self-selecting corporation (i.e., when a member died or resigned his replacement would be by co-option). Sometimes boroughs were governed by bailiffs or headboroughs.