Massachusetts is a state located in the Northeastern United States. Municipalities in the state are classified as either towns or cities, distinguished by their form of government under state law. Towns have an open town meeting or representative town meeting form of government; cities, on the other hand, use a mayor-council or council-manager form. Based on the form of government, there are 294 towns and 57 cities in Massachusetts. Some municipalities, however, still refer to themselves as "towns" even though they have a city form of government.