County

Each county has a “seat,” i.e. a capital or administrative center (grong rdal/, zhen/xiang).  Most of these are “towns,” but in some cases are cities.   The county seat is frequently the same name as the county administrative unit it is the seat of, but in fact it is just as frequently named differently, despite Tibetans using the broader unit’s name colloquially often to refer to the seat: zhen can be a county seat or a town that isn't a county seat, but it carries a more urban connotation than xiang, which can also be a county seat or a township that isn't a county seat.