An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries which have French as one of their administrative languages (such as Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland or many African countries) and in some other countries (such as Italy, cf. cognate capoluogo), a chef-lieu (French pronunciation: ​[ʃɛfljø], plural form chefs-lieux (literally "chief place" or "head place"), is a town or city that is pre-eminent from an administrative perspective. The ‘f’ in chef-lieu is pronounced, in contrast to chef-d'oeuvre where it is mute.