Municipalities of Macau

Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau 民政總署 Instituto para os Assuntos Cívicos e Municipais
Area
– Total	29.2 km2 (11.3 sq mi)
– Water	0 km2 (0 sq mi)
Population (2009)
– Total	542,200
– Density	20,166/km2 (52,229.7/sq mi)
Time zone	Macau Standard Time (UTC+8)
Website	Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau

The councils and assemblies of the municipalities of Macau were abolished on 1 January 2002, and their functions transferred to the Instituto para os Assuntos Cívicos e Municipais, slightly more than 2 years after Macau became a special administrative region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China. They had been put in place under the administration of Portugal.

The current administrative body is the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (Portuguese: Instituto para os Assuntos Cívicos e Municipais, Traditional Chinese: 民政總署) under the Secretariat for Administration and Justice (Secretaria da Administração e Justiça) of the SAR government.

History

Each municipality was run by a municipal council (câmara municipal), with a supervising municipal assembly (assembleia municipal).

The two municipalities (sing. município or concelho) of the Portuguese era, abolished in 2002, were:

	Municipality of Macau Concelho de Macau 澳門市	Coterminous with the Macau Peninsula. Its seat was also known as Cidade do (Santo) Nome de Deus de Macau (= City of the (Holy) Name of God of Macau, full motto: Cidade do (Santo) Nome de Deus de Macau, Não Há Outra Mais Leal, lit. City of the (Holy) Name of God of Macau, None Is More Loyal)
	Municipality of the Islands Concelho das Ilhas 海島市	Coterminous with the islands of Taipa and Coloane.

After the reunification with the People's Republic of China in 1999, these structures were kept provisionally in place: the Provisional Municipal Council of Macau (臨時澳門市政執行委員會, Câmara Municipal de Macau Provisória, officially in broken Portuguese, should be Câmara Municipal Provisória de Macau), the Provisional Municipal Council of the Islands (臨時海島市政執行委員會, Câmara Municipal das Ilhas Provisória, officially in broken Portuguese, should be Câmara Municipal Provisória das Ilhas), and the Provisional Municipal Assembly (Assembleia Municipal Provisória, 臨時市政議會) of each municipality.^[1]

The Portuguese-era coat-of-arms, with two angels as heraldic supporters, was changed to a simpler design of a key with two birds as supporters.^[2]

On December 31, 2001, all the provisional organs were dissolved and the new Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (Instituto para os Assuntos Cívicos e Municipais [IACM], 民政總署) took on the role of the provisional municipal councils, starting from January 1, 2002, under the Secretariat for Administration and Justice (Secretaria da Administração e Justiça) of the SAR government.^[3][4]

The IACM was given a logo based on the Chinese Han character 民, for "civilian".

Parishes

Former administrative division of Macau (satellite picture)

There are seven parishes (sing. freguesia) in Macau. 5 are in Concelho de Macau and 2 in Concelho das Ilhas. Under Portuguese rule, they were administrative subdivisions of the municipalities. After 1999, they are still officially recognized but for symbolic reasons only.

Municipality of Macau

	Our Lady of Fatima Parish (Freguesia de Nossa Senhora de Fátima) 花地瑪堂區 (Pinyin: Huādìmǎtángqū)
	St. Anthony Parish (Freguesia de Santo António) 聖安多尼堂區 (Pinyin: Shèng'ānduōnítángqū) or 花王堂區
	St. Lazarus Parish (Freguesia de São Lázaro) 望德堂區 (Pinyin: Wàngdétángqū)
	Cathedral Parish (Freguesia da Sé) 大堂區 (Pinyin: Dàtángqū)
	St. Lawrence Parish (Freguesia de São Lourenço) 風順堂區 (Pinyin: Fēngshùntángqū) or 聖老愣佐堂區

Municipality of the Islands

	Our Lady of Carmel Parish (Freguesia de Nossa Senhora do Carmo) 嘉模堂區 (Pinyin: Jiāmútángqū) Coterminous with the island of Taipa
	St. Francis Xavier's Parish (Freguesia de São Francisco Xavier) 聖方濟各堂區 (Pinyin: Shèngfāngjìgè tángqū) coterminous with the island of Coloane
	Cotai Landfill Zone (Zona do Aterro de Cotai) 路氹城海區 The reclaimed land between the islands of Taipa and Coloane, had not been assigned to any of the parishes as of 2005[update].

Notes

Macau portal

1. ^ Law 1/1999, Article 15
2. ^ Law 6/1999, Article 16 and Annex XII
3. ^ Law 17/2001
4. ^ Administrative Regulation 32/2001

External links

• Parishes - official SAR government website
• Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau