In the territories administrated by the Palestinian Authority, a municipality (Arabic: هيئة محلية‎) is an administrative unit of local government similar to a city. They were established and decided after the creation of the Local Government Ministry of the Palestinian National Authority in 1994. All municipalities and their mayors are assigned by the Local Government Ministry. Municipal council members are elected by the residents of the particular locality. Municipalities are divided into four sectors depending on their population and importance to their particular governorate.