Page:Geographic Areas Reference Manual (GARM).pdf/379

 identified by a variety of terms, such as town, township, and district, and include both functioning and nonfunctioning governmental units. Many MCDs represent local, general-purpose governmental units, which makes them required areas for presentation of decennial census data. See also census county division, census subarea, county subdivision, incorporated place, independent place, unorganized territory.

Minor civil division (MCD) code A three-digit numeric code assigned by the Census Bureau to identify each MCD within a county (the Census Bureau assigns the codes based on the alphabetical sequence of the MCD names); also, a five-digit numeric code assigned by the NIST to identify populated places, primary county divisions, and other locational entities within a State. The NIST assigns the codes based on the alphabetic sequence of the entity names; it documents these codes in FIPS 55. See also Geographic Identification Coding Scheme, Federal Information Processing Standards.

Minority- and women-owned businesses, (census of) See economic census.

MPO See metropolitan planning organization.

MRC See major retail center.

MSA See metropolitan statistical area.

Municipal district A type of nonfunctioning MCD found in Guam.

Municipality A type of functioning county equivalent found in the Northern Mariana Islands for the 1990 census; a functioning MCD found in the Northern Mariana Islands for the 1980 census and in Palau for the 1990 census; the generic term used for a general-purpose local government, such as an incorporated place or MCD.

Municipio A type of governmental unit that is the primary legal subdivision of Puerto Rico; the Census Bureau treats the municipio as the statistical equivalent of a county. G-34Glossary