Monaco Unitary state

Structures and competences

Monaco is divided into nine quarters and sectors, which together form four traditional quarters corresponding to the former municipalities. Each sector is subdivided into wards (also known as districts). A brand-new 27-hectare ward, known as Le Portier, is currently being built in the sea.

Monaco’s four traditional quarters are:

• Monaco-Ville, the old city on a rocky promontory
• La Condamine, the area around Port Hercules
• Monte-Carlo, the main residential and resort area
• Fontvieille, a newly constructed area claimed from the sea in 1971.

Between 1911 and 1918, these first three quarters formed three separate municipalities. They have since been merged to form just one municipality – the Municipality of Monaco, which covers the entire territory of the principality.

For town planning purposes, a sovereign ordinance of 1966 divided the principality into reserved sectors “whose current character must be retained”, and scheduled districts with special planning rules.

The number of reserved sectors and schedule districts, and their boundaries, have been revised on several occasions. The current division, of two reserved sectors and seven scheduled districts, dates from 2013. Prior to the 2013 ordinance, there were 10 scheduled districts and reserved sectors.