About Macau

Eastern Asia, bordering the South China Sea and China

Subtropical; marine with cool winters, warm summers

Generally flat

lowest point: South China Sea 0 m
highest point: Coloane Alto 172 m

Essentially urban; an area of land reclaimed from the sea measuring 5.2 sq km and known as Cotai now connects the islands of Coloane and Taipa; the island area is connected to the mainland peninsula by three bridges

conventional long form: Macau Special Administrative Region
conventional short form: Macau
local long form: Aomen Tebie Xingzhengqu (Chinese); Regiao Administrativa Especial de Macau (Portuguese)
local short form: Aomen (Chinese); Macau (Portuguese)

None (special administrative region of the People's Republic of China)

Typhoons

NA

total population: 84.38 years
male: 81.42 years
female: 87.49 years (2010 est.)

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.14 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.88 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.88 male(s)/female
total population: 0.92 male(s)/female (2010 est.)

Based on Portuguese civil law system

Transshipment point for drugs going into mainland China; consumer of opiates and amphetamines

general assessment: fairly modern communication facilities maintained for domestic and international services
domestic: termination of monopoly over mobile-cellular telephone services in 2001 spurred sharp increase in subscriptions with mobile-cellular teledensity approaching 200 per 100 persons in 2010; fixed-line subscribership appears to have peaked and is now in decline
international: country code - 853; landing point for the SEA-ME-WE-3 submarine cable network that provides links to Asia, the Middle East, and Europe; HF radiotelephone communication facility; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) (2010)

Local government dominates broadcast media; 2 television stations operated by the government with one broadcasting in Portuguese and the other in Cantonese and Mandarin; cable and satellite TV services are available; 3 radio stations broadcasting, of which 2 are government-operated (2008)

total: 28.2 sq km
land: 28.2 sq km
water: 0 sq km

567,957 (July 2010 est.)

noun: Chinese
adjective: Chinese

Chinese 94.3%, other 5.7% (includes Macanese - mixed Portuguese and Asian ancestry) (2006 census)

Cantonese 85.7%, Hokkien 4%, Mandarin 3.2%, other Chinese dialects 2.7%, English 1.5%, Tagalog 1.3%, other 1.6% (2001 census)

Buddhist 50%, Roman Catholic 15%, none or other 35% (1997 est.)

NA

Special administrative region of China

none (special administrative region of China)

National Day (Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China), 1 October (1949); note - 20 December 1999 is celebrated as Macau Special Administrative Region Establishment Day

Limited democracy

Direct election 18 years of age for some non-executive positions, universal for permanent residents living in Macau for the past seven years; indirect election limited to organizations registered as "corporate voters" (257 are currently registered) and a 300-member Election Committee drawn from broad regional groupings, municipal organizations, and central government bodies

259,000 (2008)

252 (2010)

.mo

Colonized by the Portuguese in the 16th century, Macau was the first European settlement in the Far East. Pursuant to an agreement signed by China and Portugal on 13 April 1987, Macau became the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China on 20 December 1999. In this agreement, China promised that, under its "one country, two systems" formula, China's socialist economic system would not be practiced in Macau, and that Macau would enjoy a high degree of autonomy in all matters except foreign and defense affairs for the next 50 years.

Macau's economy enjoyed strong growth in 2009 despite the global economic slowdown, largely on the back of strong tourism and gaming sectors. After opening up its locally-controlled casino industry to foreign competition in 2001, the territory attracted tens of billions of dollars in foreign investment, transforming Macao into the world's largest gaming center. Macau's gaming and tourism businesses were fueled by China's decision to relax travel restrictions on Chinese citizens wishing to visit Macau. By 2006, Macau's gaming revenue surpassed that of the Las Vegas strip, and gaming-related taxes accounted for more than 70% of total government revenue. This city of nearly 570,000 hosted more than 21 million visitors in 2009. Almost 51% came from mainland China. Macau's traditional manufacturing industry has virtually disappeared since the termination of the Multi-Fiber Agreement in 2005. In 2009, total exports were less than US$1 billion, while gaming receipts were almost US$15 billion. The Closer Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between Macau and mainland China that came into effect on 1 January 2004 offers Macau-made products tariff-free access to the mainland, nevertheless, China remains Macau's third largest goods export market, behind Hong Kong and the United States. Macau's currency, the Pataca, is closely tied to the Hong Kong dollar, which is also freely accepted in the territory.

note: as a Special Administrative Region of China, "Yiyonggjun Jinxingqu" is official (see China)