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 Magisterial district A type of nonfunctioning MCD found in Virginia and West Virginia.

Major retail center (MRC) A cluster of retail stores outside the CBD containing at least one general merchandise store, with a specified minimum dollar amount in annual sales or a specified minimum amount of floor space. Defined and used by the Census Bureau for the Censuses of Retail Trade from 1954 through 1982. See also central business district.

Manufactures (census) See economic census.

Master Address File (MAF) The Census Bureau’s permanent list of addresses for individual living quarters that is linked to the TIGER data base and will be continuously maintained through partnerships with the USPS, with Federal, State, regional, and local agencies, and with the private sector. (The MAF will eventually include addresses for business establishments.)

MCD See minor civil division.

Merger The joining of two or more geographic entities, generally governmental units, but also MAs or UAs, into a single geographic entity. See also annexation, conjoint, consolidated city, consolidated government, consolidation.

Metropolitan area (MA) A collective term, established by the Federal OMB and used for the first time in 1990, to refer to metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), consolidated metropolitan statistical areas (CMSAs), and primary metropolitan statistical areas (PMSAs). In addition, there is an alternative set of areas termed NECMAs. See also metropolitan districts.

Metropolitan Areas Map A large-scale color map showing the boundaries and names of all MSAs, CMSAs, and PMSAs in the United States and Puerto Rico as of June 30, 1993. The MAs are displayed in four different population size categories; also shown are the extent of UAs and the location of State and county boundaries. Formatted in wall size (46 inches by 30 inches), this map is Number 4 in the Census Bureau’s GE-90 Map Series. G-32Glossary