Administrative centre

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

In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland and many African countries, a chef-lieu (French pronunciation: [ʃɛfljø], pl. chefs-lieux, lit. 'chief place' or 'main place') is a town or city that is important from an administrative perspective.

The capitals of Algerian provinces, districts, and communes are called chefs-lieux.

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).

The chef-lieu of a French department is known as the prefecture (préfecture). This is the town or city where the prefect of the department (and all services under their control) are situated, in a building also known as the prefecture. In every French region, one of the departments has preeminence over the others, and the prefect carries the title of préfet de la région (lit. 'Prefect of the Region') or préfet du département (lit. 'Prefect of the Department') and the city where the regional prefect is found is known as the chef-lieu of the region. The services are, however, controlled by the prefecture of the department.

The chef-lieu of an arrondissement, commonly known as the sous-préfecture is the city or town where the sub-prefect of the arrondissement (and the services directly under their control) are situated, in a building called the sub-prefecture. The arrondissement where the department prefecture is located does not normally have a sub-prefect or sub-prefecture, the administration being devolved usually to the secretary-general of the departmental prefecture, who functions as sub-prefect for the arrondissement.

The chef-lieu of a canton is usually the biggest city or town within the canton, but has only a nominal role. No specific services are controlled by it. In past decades, there was always a gendarmerie, a treasurer and a justice of the peace.

The chef-lieu indicates the principal city of the provinces of New Caledonia. So Nouméa is the chef-lieu of South Province. But the chef-lieu can also mean the principal area within a town. So Wé is part of the town of Lifou, but is the chef-lieu of Lifou. In the Loyalty Islands and the other islands, the name of the chef-lieu differs from that of the name of the town. For the towns of the mainland, the chef-lieu has the same name as the town. Nouméa is a town composed only of Nouméa.