Question: Andover, located in Essex County, Massachusetts, is an example of a basic unit of local government and local division of state authority in each of the six New England states, commonly referred to in other states as what?

Related documents: [0]  [DOC] Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was settled in 1642 and later incorporated in 1646. As of the 2010 census, the population was 33,201. It is part of the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Massachusetts-New Hampshire metropolitan statistical area. [END] 
[1]  [DOC] The New England town (generally referred to simply as a town in New England) is the basic unit of local government and local division of state authority in each of the six New England states and without a direct counterpart in most other U.S. states. New England towns overlay the entire area of a state, similar to civil townships in other states where they exist, but they are fully functioning municipal corporations, possessing powers similar to cities in other states. New Jersey's system of equally powerful townships, boroughs, towns, and cities is the system which is most similar to that of New England. New England towns are often governed by a town meeting legislative body. The great majority of municipal corporations in New England are based on the town model; statutory forms based on the concept of a compact populated place are uncommon, though they are prevalent elsewhere in the U.S. County government in New England states is typically weak at best, and in some states nonexistent. Connecticut, for example, has no county governments, [END]  
Answer: cities
cities