Municipalities and parishes of Macau
By the end of Portuguese rule, Macau was administratively divided into two municipalities and seven civil parishes. Parishes were administrative subdivisions of the municipalities. After the 1999 handover to China, parishes are still officially recognized divisions but for symbolic reasons only.
Background
Parishes were formerly administrative divisions falling under the former two municipalities of Macau: Macau and Ilhas. Following the 1999 transfer of sovereignty over Macau 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.
Municipalities
Each municipality was run by a municipal council, with a supervising municipal assembly.| Municipality of Macau Concelho de Macau 澳門市 | Coterminous with the Macau Peninsula. Its seat was also known as Cidade do Nome de Deus de Macau Name of God of Macau, full motto: Cidade do Nome de Deus de Macau, Não Há Outra Mais Leal, lit. City of the | |
| Municipality of das Ilhas Concelho das Ilhas 海島市 | Coterminous with the islands of Taipa and Coloane. |
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.| Parish | Chinese | Area | Population | Density |
| Nossa Senhora de Fátima | 花地瑪堂區 | 3.2 | 244,000 | 74,218 |
| Santo António | 聖安多尼堂區 | 1.1 | 136,000 | 118,000 |
| São Lázaro | 望德堂區 | 0.6 | 33,100 | 55,166 |
| Sé | 大堂區 | 3.4 | 49,200 | 15,352 |
| São Lourenço | 風順堂區 | 1.0 | 53,700 | 51,700 |
| Nossa Senhora do Carmo | 嘉模堂區 | 7.6 | 101,200 | 12,131 |
| São Francisco Xavier | 7.6 | 26,700 | 1,221 |
- Cotai is a piece of recently reclaimed land joining the islands of Taipa and Coloane, it does not fall under any of the historical parishes.
- Not included in Macau SAR total area.
- Macau New Urban Zone under land reclamation.