By the end of

Portuguese rule The Portuguese Empire ( pt, Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas (''Ultramar Português'') or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (''Império Colonial Português''), was composed of the overseas Colonialism, colonies, Factory ...

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a p ...

was administratively divided into two municipalities ( pt, concelhos) and seven civil parishes ( pt, freguesias). Parishes were administrative subdivisions of the municipalities. After the 1999 handover to China, parishes are still officially recognized divisions but for symbolic reasons only. Parishes were formerly administrative divisions falling under the former two municipalities of Macau:

and

Ilhas Tiswadi ( pt, Ilhas de Goa, lit=Islands of Goa, or simply ''Ilhas'') is a Tehsil, sub-district in the district of North Goa district, North Goa, situated in the Indian coastal state of Goa. It is the largest and populous island of Goa situat ...

. Following the 1999

transfer of sovereignty over Macau The transfer of sovereignty of Macau (; pt, Transferência da soberania de Macau) from Portugal to the People's Republic of China (PRC) occurred on 20 December 1999. Macau was settled by Portuguese merchants in 1557, during the Ming dynasty ...

from Portugal to China, these municipalities were formally abolished on 31 December 2001 by Law No. 17/2001. While their administrative functions have since been removed, these parishes are still retained nominally. Since the abolition of the municipalities, some of the municipal services are now handled by the

Municipal Affairs Bureau The Municipal Affairs Bureau (; pt, Instituto para os Assuntos Municipais) of Macau is an administrative body without political powers responsible for providing certain civic services for the special administrative region and is the successor ...

Parishes

Prior to the dissolution of the municipalities in 2001, the first five parishes listed in the table below fell under the municipality of Macau while the remaining two fell under the municipality of Ilhas, totalling to 7 parishes.Situação Geográfica de Macau dscc.gov.mo
/ref> The parishes of Nossa Senhora do Carmo and São Francisco Xavier are coterminous with the natural borders of the islands of

Taipa Taipa ( zh, t=氹仔, ; pt, Taipa, ) was a former island in Macau, presently united with the island of Coloane by reclaimed land known as Cotai. Administratively, the boundaries of the traditional civil parish Freguesia de Nossa Senhora do ...

and

Coloane Coloane (Cantonese: Lou Wan) is a former island in Macau that is united with the island of Taipa by an area of reclaimed land known as Cotai. It is located at the southern part of Macau. Administratively, the boundaries of the traditional civil pa ...

, respectively.

Former municipalities

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

References

{{Counties of China 01 Geography of Macau Municipalities of Macau Populated places in Macau

Parishes

Former municipalities

See also

References