The Municipality of Monaco (; ) is the only

administrative division Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...

of the

Principality A principality (or sometimes princedom) is a type of monarchy, monarchical state or feudalism, feudal territory ruled by a prince or princess. It can be either a sovereign state or a constituent part of a larger political entity. The term "prin ...

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

, and is coterminous with the state as a whole. It only borders

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and it is in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Political order

The municipal system is determined by the IX part of the

Constitution of Monaco The Constitution of Monaco, first adopted in 1911 after the Monégasque Revolution and heavily revised by Prince Rainier III on 17 December 1962, outlines three branches of government, including several administrative offices and a number of co ...

. The Municipality of Monaco has as its organ the Communal Council made up of 15 members, who can also be present at the National Council. A little more than 7,000 Monegasque citizens are voters, while to be elected it is necessary to be 21 years old. The

electoral system An electoral or voting system is a set of rules used to determine the results of an election. Electoral systems are used in politics to elect governments, while non-political elections may take place in business, nonprofit organizations and inf ...

is a simple two-year plurinominal scrutiny: each elector has fifteen votes of preference that he can distribute to his pleasure among the possibly competing lists. The candidates who have been chosen by more than half of the voters are elected in the first round, while for the others the road of a second round is opened in which the most voted candidates are elected. The effect of this mechanism is hyper-major, configuring an assembly dominated by the first party of the principality, the Union Monégasque. The term of office is 4 years. The council elects in its interior the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

and his deputies, or the councilors. The political custom, however, makes sure that the candidate for the first city armchair is indirectly indicated by the voters in the figure of the list leader of the most voted list. The current mayor is Georges Marsan, who has been in office since 2003 and has come to the third re-election. The functions of the municipality, active in social, cultural and civil life, do not differ substantially from those of the homologous bodies of neighboring nations, the French and Italian municipalities.

History

The ancient territory of the Principality was much larger than the present one, including also the towns of

Roccabruna Roccabruna (; or ; ) is a communes of Italy, commune in the Province of Cuneo and the Italy, Italian region of Piedmont, located about southwest of Turin and about northwest of Cuneo. Roccabruna borders the following municipalities: Cartignano, ...

and

Menton Menton (; in classical norm or in Mistralian norm, , ; ; or depending on the orthography) is a Commune in France, commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera, close to the Italia ...

which, however, arose in the framework of the Italian Risorgimento, passed to

in 1860 leaving the capital, i.e. the Monegasque municipality, as the only commune of the State. The 1911 constitution divided the old Commune of Monaco into the three municipalities —

Monaco City Monaco City ( ; ) is the southcentral ward in the Principality of Monaco. Located on a headland that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, it is nicknamed The Rock (; ). The name "Monaco City" is misleading: it is not itself a city, but a histori ...

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...

and

La Condamine La Condamine (; ) is the central ward and a quartier in the Principality of Monaco. The quartier's landmarks include Port Hercules, the Rainier III Nautical Stadium, and the Princess Antoinette Park. Its farmers' market, at ''Place d'Armes, ...

— but the prince's government was accused of weakening one of the only democratic institutions in the country; at the time the National Council had extremely limited powers. Because of the controversy, the unified municipality was restored in a 1917 law which took effect the following year. Since then, Monegasque territory has been administratively undivided, and the city districts have only had statistical purposes. Today, the city hall of Monaco is based in place de la Mairie.

Quarters

Twin towns and sister cities

The Municipality of Monaco is twinned with: *

Ostend Ostend ( ; ; ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke, Raversijde, Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the la ...

, Belgium (1958) * Lucciana, France (2009) * Dolceacqua, Italy (2023)

References

{{reflist Subdivisions of Monaco France–Monaco border crossings