The Municipality of Macau () was one of two municipalities of Macau, along with the Municipality of Ilhas.

Governance

Its bodies were the

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

(''Câmara Municipal de Macau'') and the municipal assembly (''Assembleia Municipal de Macau'') (''Câmara Municipal de Macau Provisória'' and ''Assembleia Municipal de Macau Provisória'' after December 20, 1999). The two municipalities were replaced by the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (Instituto para os Assuntos Cívicos e Municipais) in 2001.

History

In 1513, Portuguese explorer Jorge Álvares arrived in the

Pearl River Delta The Pearl River Delta Metropolitan Region is the low-lying area surrounding the Pearl River estuary, where the Pearl River flows into the South China Sea. Referred to as the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area in official documents, ...

, in the

Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...

area, which he called Tamão. A Portuguese settlement was started there. By 1535 traders were allowed to anchor their ships in the harbour. In 1887, the

Sino-Portuguese Treaty of Peking The Sino-Portuguese Treaty of Peking was a trade unequal treaty between the Kingdom of Portugal and the Qing China, signed on 1 December 1887. It is counted by the Chinese as among the unequal treaties in the aftermath of the Second Opium War. ...

was signed, allowing "the perpetual occupation and government of Macau by Portugal". According to

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

, "Macau may never have existed if not for Tamão" where the Portuguese learned "how China, the Pearl River Delta, and the South China Sea worked". The settlement and Jorge Álvares "kickstarted a chain of events that ultimately spawned Macau". A large stone sculpture of Álvares stands in downtown Macau.

Freguesias

Demographics

The population of the Macau Peninsula has been increasing rapidly for decades, particularly since the transfer of sovereignty to the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. With 45,675 inhabitants/km², Macau has one of the highest population densities of any urban area.

References

External links