Under provincial law, municipalities are to be designated "district municipalities" on incorporation if the area to be incorporated is greater than 800 hectares (8 km²) and has an average population density of less than 5 persons per hectare (500 persons per km²).[1] Municipalities may be incorporated under different classifications under the direction of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, as is the case with the District of North Vancouver.
In South Africa, district municipalities are administrative divisions of a province. South Africa recognizes three types of municipality; metropolitan, district and local. District municipalities are made up of a number of local municipalities. The vast majority of land consists of district municipalities, with metropolitan municipalities being reserved for large cities and the areas around them. There are eight metropolitan municipalities, and 44 district municipalities subdivided into 226 local municipalities.