Local governments are administrative offices that are smaller than a state or province. The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or (where appropriate) federal government.

What a local government does changes depending on what country it is in, and even when they are similar what it is called often varies. Common names for local governments include state, province, région, départment, county, prefecture, district, city, township, town, borough, parish, municipality, shire and village. However all these names are often used informally in countries where they do not describe a legal local government.