Vrije Stadt (literally: Free City) is one of the political and administrative subdivisions of the Kingdom of New Tarajan. It is a title conferred upon certain urban communities, which are entitled to full domestic autonomy, answering directly and exclusively to the Tarajani Crown and the federal government, thus paired to the other States of the Kingdom. Traditionally, Free Cities have received their charter, granting them their privileges, directly from the King or (in case of pre-monarchical foundations) the charters have been successively confirmed by a King.
Although their internal political organization can vary, depending upon different traditions and laws of every city, their most important political figure represents the city in the Landsraad.
Some of the Free Cities also have the role of capital of a Lordship or a Royal State (the most prominent example being Astana, capital city of the Kingdom itself). In these cases, the administration of the city should not be confused with the administration of the State, the former being completely independent from the latter (although usually the Lords of the State reside in the same city).
The Free Cities of the Kingdom should also not be confused with the cities which enjoyed a similar status inside the single States: the latter ones, indeed (also called by some Free Cities) usually enjoy a similar degree of political and administrative autonomy, but answer to the authorities of the State which they're located in (and from which their charter comes from, which is the most important distinction between the two categories of Free Cities), also having membership in the State Landsraad (but not, obviously, in the Royal Landsraad).
The Free Cities of the Tarajani Kingdom are: