Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau

Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau 民政總署 Instituto para os Assuntos Cívicos e Municipais
Area
• Total	31.3 km2 (12.1 sq mi)
• Water	0 km2 (0 sq mi)
Population (2009)
• Total	542,200
• Density	20,166/km2 (52,230/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

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.

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.

On 31 December 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 1 January 2002, under the Secretariat for Administration and Justice (Secretaria da Administração e Justiça) of the SAR government.

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

Freguesias

Freguesias of Macau

There are seven freguesias (sing. freguesia) also known as parishes in Macau. Under Portuguese rule, they were administrative subdivisions of the municipalities. After 1999, they are still officially recognized but for symbolic reasons only.

Freguesia (Parish) and Zone	Chinese	Area (km²)	Population (2013)	Density (/km²)
Nossa Senhora de Fátima	花地瑪堂區	3.2	237,500	74,218
Santo António	花王堂區	1.1	129,800	118,000
São Lázaro	望德堂區	0.6	33,100	55,166
Sé	大堂區	3.4	52,200	15,352
São Lourenço	風順堂區	1.0	51,700	51,700
Nossa Senhora do Carmo	嘉模堂區	7.6	92,200	12,131
São Francisco Xavier	聖方濟各堂區	7.6	9,300	221
Cotai	路氹填海區	5.8	n/a	n/a
University of Macau	澳門大學校區	1.0*	n/a	n/a

• * — Not included on Macau SAR total area.

• Macau New Urban Zone under land reclamation.

Historical divisions

Each municipality or concelho 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 (Yale: Oumùhn Síh; Pinyin: Àomén Shì)	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 das Ilhas Concelho das Ilhas 海島市 (Yale: Hóidóu Síh; Pinyin: Hǎidǎo Shì)	Coterminous with the islands of Taipa and Coloane.

External links

• Freguesias – official SAR government website
• Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau