A borough and a local area are different levels.
As a city-state, Berlin is divided into twelve boroughs. The boroughs are parts of Berlin, not separate federal states. Identifying Pankow as a borough therefore keeps you within the same city and state.
The present borough was formed in 2001 from the former boroughs of Pankow, Prenzlauer Berg and Weißensee. You still encounter those names as place names. For an address or administrative text, it therefore helps to notice whether it says borough or local area.
The other three answers
The other names do not belong to Berlin’s boroughs.
Altona
Altona is a borough of Hamburg. The territorial category fits, but the city does not.
Prignitz
Prignitz is a district in Brandenburg. It is a different territorial unit outside Berlin.
Mecklenburgische Seenplatte
Mecklenburgische Seenplatte is a district in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. It is not a Berlin borough.
A neighbourhood name is not automatically a borough.
Everyday speech sometimes uses neighbourhood, local area and borough loosely. This question uses the official structure: Pankow is a borough. Knowing a café or street with a familiar name is not enough to identify the administrative level.
The twelve boroughs together form Berlin. Their names and boundaries are not a list of German federal states. Even a large borough such as Pankow does not have its own state government.
Pankow · Borough and local areas · Pankow borough administration ↗Pankow belongs to Berlin; Altona to Hamburg.
Read the city name first, then the territorial level being asked about.
Three words for this question
- der Bezirkborough
- One of the twelve main administrative units within Berlin.
- der Ortsteillocal area
- A local area within a Berlin borough.
- die Gliederungstructure or subdivision
- The division of a larger area into smaller units.