Municipality of Macau

In 1513, Portuguese explorer Jorge Álvares arrived in the Pearl River Delta, in the Shenzhen 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 was signed, allowing "the perpetual occupation and government of Macau by Portugal". According to National Geographic, "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. == Former municipal organs ==

Following the handover of Macau to China on 20 December 1999, the municipal organs were renamed as Provisional Municipal Council of Macau () and the Provisional Municipal Assembly of Macau (). The institutions were abolished on 31 December 2001 and replaced by the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau the following day. == Divisions of departments ==

Despite the of the and the dissolution of the municipal councils and assemblies in 2001, certain government departments have maintained divisions for the area of the concelho, e.g., the (DPM, ; which exists alongside the ). ==Freguesias==

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