Macau

Macao

(məkou`), Port. Macau, Mandarin Aomen, special administrative region of China, formerly administered by Portugal (2015 est. pop. 601,000), 10.8 sq mi (28.2 sq km), adjoining Guangdong prov., SE China, on the estuary of the Pearl River, 40 mi (64 km) W of Hong Kong and 65 mi (105 km) S of Guangzhou (Canton).

Land, People, and Government

The most densely populated place in the world, Macau consists of a rocky, hilly peninsula connected to Zhuhai, China, and an island consisting of the former islands of Taipa and Colôane, now joined to each other by landfill (an area known as Cotai). The island is connected to the peninsula and Zhuhai by bridges; the peninsula is connected to Hong Kong by the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge (opened 2018), the main section of which spans the Pearl River estuary with a 14.2 mi (22.9 km) bridge and 4.2 mi (6.7 km) tunnel. The capital, the city of Macau, is approximately coextensive with the peninsula and contains almost the entire population of the province.

Macau's historic structures include the remaining facade of St. Paul's Basilica (built 1635 by Roman Catholic Japanese artisans; burned 1835), a fascinating example of late Italian Renaissance architecture, with mixed Western and Asian motifs; St. Domingo's church and convent (founded c.1670); the fort and chapel of Guia (1626); the fort of São Paulo de Monte (16th cent.); and statues of da Gama and Luís de Camões, who wrote (1558–59) part of The Lusiads there. Macau is separated from China proper by a barrier gate (built 1849, replacing one erected by the Chinese in 1573) and waterways.

The inhabitants are overwhelmingly Chinese and about half are Buddhist; there is a Roman Catholic minority. Cantonese and other Chinese dialects, as well as Portuguese, are spoken. Macau is ruled under the Basic Law as approved by the National People's Congress of China in 1993.

Economy

A free port, Macau is a trade, tourist, and fishing center, but gambling casinos account for most of its GDP. There are also textile, clothing, electronics, footwear, and toys industries. Most of Macau's transit trade with China is by way of its shallow harbor on the west side of the peninsula. Tourism, mainly for gambling, is extremely important to the province, with many coming from nearby Hong Kong and the mainland. Restrictions on foreign investment in casinos were lifted in 2001, and by 2006 Macau had exceeded Las Vegas in total money gambled. There is daily ferry and bus service to Guangzhou and ferry, hydrofoil, and helicopter service to Hong Kong. An airport opened in 1995.

History

The colony's name is derived from the Ma Kwok temple, built there in the 14th cent. Macau was the oldest permanent European settlement in East Asia. It was a parched and desolate spot when the Portuguese established a trading post there in 1557. For nearly 300 years the Portuguese paid China an annual tribute for the use of the peninsula, but in 1849 Portugal proclaimed it a free port; this was confirmed by China in the Protocol of Lisbon in 1887. With the gradual silting up of its harbor and the rise (19th cent.) of Hong Kong, Macau lost its preeminent position and became identified to a large extent with smuggling and gambling interests.

After 1949 the population was swelled by an influx of Chinese refugees from the mainland. In the winter of 1966–67, Communist-organized riots shook the province, resulting in a capitulation by the Portuguese to Chinese demands to bar entry to refugees and prohibit anti-Communist activities. In 1974, Macau was established as a Chinese territory under Portuguese administration; the Chinese refused to accept the return of the territory at the time. A real-estate boom in the early 1990s had largely waned by the end of the decade, but with end of the monopoly in its gambling industry the territory began a new period of real-estate and economic growth. Under the terms of a 1987 agreement, Macau became a special administrative region under Chinese sovereignty in Dec., 1999. Macau has been promised 50 years of noninterference in its economic and social systems.

Macau

Official name: Macau Special Administrative Region [of China]

Internet country code: .mo

Flag description: Light green with a lotus flower above a stylized bridge and water in white, beneath an arc of five gold five-pointed stars: one large in center of arc and four smaller

Geographical description: Eastern Asia, bordering the South China Sea and China

Total area: 10.9 sq. mi. (28.2 sq. km.)

Climate: Subtropical; marine with cool winters, warm summers

Nationality: noun: Macanese, Chinese (singular and plural); adjective: Macanese, Chinese

Population: 456,989 (July 2007 CIA est.)

Ethnic groups: Chinese 95.7%, Macanese (mixed Portuguese and Asian ancestry) 1%, other 3.3%

Languages spoken: Portuguese (official), Cantonese (official), Hokkien, Mandarin, other Chinese dialects

Religions: Buddhist, Roman Catholic

Macau

Ma·cau

Macau

Ma•cao

Macau

Macau

Macao

Land, People, and Government

Economy

History

Macau

Macau

Synonyms for Macau

noun a former Portuguese province on the south coast of China and two islands in the South China Sea

Synonyms