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Macau
*** Shopping-Tip: Macau
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|+'''ä¸è?¯äººæ°‘共和國澳門特別行政å?€'''
'''''Região Administrativa Especial de Macau da República Popular da China'''''
'''Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China'''
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image:macau_flag.gif 125px|Flag || align=center width=130px|
Image:Coat of arms of Macao.png 125px|Emblem|
|-
| width="130px"| (
Flag of Macau Flag)
| align=center width=130px| (
Coat of Arms of Macau In Detail)
|}
|-
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|-
| align=center colspan=2 style="background:#f9f9f9;" |
image:LocationMacau.png Location of Macau,China
|-
|'''
Official language''' .html">Portuguese language
Portuguese,
Chinese language Chinese (
Standard Cantonese Cantonese and
Standard Mandarin Putonghua are both official languages, however Chinese prevails in official documents in cases of doubt; Patua (Portuguese-Asian Creole) spoken by several dozen Macanese (people of mixed Asian and Portuguese extraction); Pilipino (Tagalog) and other Philippine languages spoken by several thousand Filipino guest worker; Fujianese spoken by large immigrant community from Fujian.
|-
|'''
Chief Executive of Macau Chief Executive''' ||
Edmund Ho Hau-wah
|-
|'''
Area'''
- Total
- % water
|
List of countries by area Ranked 191st1 E7 m² 27.3 km² 10.5
square mile sq mi0%
|-
|'''
Population'''
- Total (
2005)
-
Population density Density
|
List of countries by population Ranked 162nd488,100
17,50/km²
42,952/sq mi
|-
|'''Establishment
- Date'''
|Handover from
Portugal to the
People's Republic of China PRC
20 December 1999
|-
|'''
Gross Domestic Product GDP Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)'''
- Total (2005)
- per capita
|
List of countries by GDP (PPP) Ranked 139th US$ 11.5 billion
US$24,300
|-
|'''
Currency''' .html">Macanese pataca
Pataca (MOP)
|-
| '''
Time zone'''
|
Coordinated Universal Time UTC+8
|-
| '''
Top-level domain Internet TLD''' ||
.mo
|-
| '''
List of country calling codes Calling Code''' || +853
|-
|}
The '''Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China''' ,
Portuguese language Portuguese: ''Região Administrativa Especial de Macau da República Popular da China'', short '''RAEM''';
Traditional Chinese character Traditional Chinese: ä¸è?¯äººæ°‘共和國澳門特別行政å?€;
Simplified Chinese character Simplified Chinese: ä¸å?Žäººæ°‘共和国澳门特别行政区; short form '''Macau''' or '''Macao''' (澳門,
Pinyin: ''Àomén''; also informally known as 馬交; see
#Names Names), is a small territory on the southern coast of
China. Administered by
Portugal until
1999, it was the oldest
European
colony in China, dating to the
16th century. The administrative power (in Portuguese "potência administrante") over Macau was transferred to the
People's Republic of China in
1999, and it is now one of two
Special Administrative Regions of the PRC, together with
Hong Kong. Macau has played a unique and influential role in relations between China and the West, especially between the late
16th century 16th and
19th century 19th centuries.
Residents of Macau mostly speak
Cantonese Chinese Cantonese natively;
Mandarin Chinese Mandarin,
Portuguese language Portuguese, and
English language English, Fujianese, Pilipino, Thai and several other languages are also spoken. The
Macanese language, which is generally known as "Patua," is a distinctive
Creole language Creole that is still spoken by several dozen
Macanese people Macanese, an ethnic group of mixed Asian and Portuguese ancestry that accounts for about two per cent of Macau's population. (However, ''
Macanese'' is sometimes also used in the broader sense to describe any permanent resident of Macau.)
Besides historical colonial relics, Macau's biggest attraction is its
gambling industry and
casinos. Though many forms of
gambling are legal here, the most popular game is
Pai Gow, played with
Chinese dominoes. Gamblers from
Hong Kong often take one-day excursions to Macau;
ferry service by
hydrofoil to and from Hong Kong is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Names
The name "Macau" (
Portuguese language Portuguese pronunciation IPA: /{{IPA|mÉ?.'kaw}}/) is thought to be derived from the ''Templo de A-Má'' (Temple of A-Ma or Ma Kok Temple) (媽閣廟, Cantonese
Jyutping: ''Maa1 Gok3 Miu6'', local pronunciation: ''Maa5 Gok3 Miu6'' or ''Maa5 Gok3 Miu5''), a still-existing landmark built in
1448 dedicated to the goddess
Matsu.
The Chinese name ''Aomen'' 澳門 (
pinyin: ''Àomén'', Cantonese Jyutping: ''Ou3 Mun4'') means "Inlet Gates". The "gates" refer to two erect gate-like mountains of
Nantai ({{zh-cp|c=��|p=Nántái}}) and
Beitai ({{zh-cp|c=北�|p=Běitái}}). Alternately, ''Ao'' may derive from Macau's previous name ''Heong San Ou'', as it is geographically situated at "Cross' Door".
Macau is also known as Hou Keng Ou (壕�澳;
pinyin: ''Haojing'ao''; "Oyster-mirror Inlet"), Heong San Ou (香山澳; ''Xiangshan'ao''; "Fragrant-mountain Inlet"), Lin Tou (蓮島; ''Liandao''; "Lotus Island"), as well as "Soda Port" (ç–?æ‰“åŸ ).
While ''Àomén''/''Ou3 Mun4'' is the traditional Chinese name of the place, it is common among the Cantonese-speaking population of the territory to use the Portuguese name when speaking in Cantonese, pronouncing it ''Maa3 Gaau1'' (Jyutping romanization), occasionally rendering it phonetically as 馬交 in Chinese characters.
The form "Macao" was the original Portuguese spelling, and has been retained in most European languages. In modern Portuguese, the correct spelling is "Macau". During the 20th century, the official spelling "Macau" became more and more common in English-language sources, including most print media.
Since the handover of administration in 1999 (Portugal had unilaterally relinquished its sovereignty over the enclave in 1974 already), the government of Macau considers "Macao" the official English spelling of the name, whereas "Macau" remains the official spelling in Portuguese. This is the practice followed in official documents such as passports and immigration forms.
The
pinyin transcription ''Aomen'' has occasionally been used in English as if it were the official name for Macau. However, this is not the case, as only "Macao" is official in English, and "Macau" is used to a certain extent.
Image:Macau church.jpg St. Francis Xavier.html" title="Meaning of thumb thumb|right|200px|The Chapel of [[St. Francis Xavier (è?–方濟å?„è?–å ‚) on
Coloane island, with a forecourt displaying the territory's distinctive striped tiling..html" title="Meaning of right|200px|The Chapel of [[St. Francis Xavier">thumb|right|200px|The Chapel of [[St. Francis Xavier (è?–方濟å?„è?–å ‚) on
Coloane island, with a forecourt displaying the territory's distinctive striped tiling.">right|200px|The Chapel of [[St. Francis Xavier">thumb|right|200px|The Chapel of [[St. Francis Xavier (è?–方濟å?„è?–å ‚) on
Coloane island, with a forecourt displaying the territory's distinctive striped tiling.
History
''Main article:
History of Macau''
Macau, a fishing village populated by Chinese over four thousand years ago, was first settled by the Portuguese in
1557. Beginning in
1670, Portugal leased the territory although there was no transfer of sovereignty. Macau prospered as a port and was the subject of repeated attempts by the
Netherlands Dutch to conquer it in the
17th century.
After the
House of Braganza regained control of Portugal from the
Spanish Habsburgs in
1640, Macau was granted the official title of ''Cidade do (Santo) Nome de Deus de Macau, Não há outra mais Leal'' or ''City of the (Holy) Name of God of Macau, "There is none more Loyal"''.
The motto "'''There is none more Loyal'''" was granted in honour of the fact that the territory of Macau (''Amacao'', in older Portuguese writings) never recognized Spanish sovereignty, and thus it is considered by historians as a (now former) part of Portugal that was never surrendered. Realistically, the Habsburgs could never have changed this situation anyway since they were heavily involved in European wars and Macau was far away. Additionally, the successful, decades-long resistance against Dutch privateers demonstrated that Macau was not a soft target.
With
Hong Kong established as a
British Crown Colony, Macau's status as the major regional trading centre declined due to the fact that larger ships were drawn to the deep water port of
Victoria Harbour. In
1849, Portugal declared the colony independent of China. This was recognised by the Chinese government in
1887.
In
1955, the fascist
António de Oliveira Salazar Salazar regime declared Macau, as well as other Portuguese colonies, an "
Political divisions of Portugal#Former Regions Overseas Province" of Portugal.
Although Macanese culture had always been a mixture between Chinese and Portuguese this did not always come about peacefully. Chinese citizens' efforts to establish their own identity were often counter to the aims of the Portuguese government.
Image:FortalegoDoMonte.jpg thumb|left|Fortaleza do Monte
In
1966 residents tried to obtain a licence for a private school in Taipa, the first of two islands connected to and forming part of Macau. After being rejected many times they went ahead and started building without permits. On
November 15,
1966, the Portuguese police arrested the school officials and beat construction workers, residents, and press reporters. As a result, Chinese teachers and students gathered at the Governor’s Palace to protest, some even got inside the Palace to cite the quotations of
Mao Zedong and sang Chinese revolutionary songs. On
December 3 the government ordered them to be arrested. This stirred up the anger of the general public and more people came to protest. They pulled down the statue of Colonel Vicente Nicolau de Mesquita at Largo do Senado at the city centre, and burnt down archive documents - some irreplaceable - at the Leal Senado Building and the Holy House of Mercy. Portuguese soldiers from Africa, who came to Macau on holiday, were called in and martial law was declared. As a result of the protests, 11 people died and 200 were injured.
The Chinese people adopted a "three no's" approach as a means to continue their struggle with the Government — no taxes, no service, no selling to the Portuguese. They were successful and on
January 29,
1967 the Portuguese government of Macau signed a statement of apology. This marked the beginning of equal treatment and recognition of Chinese identity and of ''de facto'' Chinese control of the colony.
After the leftist military coup of
1974, the now democratic Portuguese government was determined to relinquish all its overseas possessions, but the
People's Republic of China did not favour Macau's immediate return to Chinese sovereignty. In
1976,
Lisbon redefined Macau as a "territory under Portuguese administration," and granted it a large measure of administrative, financial and economic autonomy. In addition, Portugal and the PRC agreed in 1979 to regard Macau as 'a Chinese territory under (temporary) Portuguese administration'. This status was made anomalous by the agreement in
1985 to return Hong Kong to China, and in
1987, an agreement, known as the "Joint Declaration" was made to make Macau a
Special Administrative Region of the PRC. The Macau Special Administrative Region finally came into being on
December 20,
1999.
Politics
''Main article:
Politics of Macau''
The
Chief Executive of Macau chief executive is appointed by the
People's Republic of China's central government after election by an election committee, whose members are nominated by corporate and community bodies. The chief executive's cabinet comprise five policy secretaries. He is advised by an
Executive Council] that has between 7 and 11 members. [[Edmund Ho Hau Wah, a community leader and former banker, is the first China-appointed chief executive of the Macau SAR, having replaced
Vasco Joaquim Rocha Vieira General Vasco Rocha Vieira at midnight on
December 19,
1999.
The legislative organ of the territory is the
Legislative Assembly, a 29-member body comprising 12 directly elected members, 10 appointed members representing
functional constituencies and seven members appointed by the chief executive. The Legislative Assembly is responsible for lawmaking and like many other legislatures, it has power to impeach the Chief Executive. It has power to amend the method of electing the chief executive after 2009.
The legal system is based largely on
Portuguese law. The territory has its own independent judicial system, headed by the
Court of Final Appeal, Macau Court of Final Appeal (CFA), which makes final judgments on court cases. Judges are selected by a committee and appointed by the chief executive.
Image:AdministrativeDivisionOfMacao.png thumb|380px|right|The administrative division within Macao
Subdivisions
''Main article:
List of cities and parishes in Macau''
Macau comprises two administrative subdivisions:
* The Macau District (澳門�):
Macau Peninsula The Macau Peninsula
* The Islands District (離島�, 海島�):
Taipa and
Coloane
Geography
''Main article:
Geography of Macau''
Macau is 70 kilometres (43.5
mile mi) southwest of
Hong Kong and 145 kilometres (90 mi) from
Guangzhou. It consists of
Macau Peninsula a peninsula, and the islands of
Taipa and
Coloane.
The
peninsula is formed by the
Zhujiang (Pearl River)
estuary on the east and the
Xijiang (West River) on the west. It borders the
Zhuhai Special Economic Zone in
mainland China.
Macau has a generally flat terrain resulting from extensive
land reclamation, but numerous steep hills mark the original natural land mass. The Macau peninsula was originally an
island, but gradually a connecting
sandbar turned into a narrow
isthmus. Land reclamation in the 17th century made Macau into a peninsula.
With a dense
urbanization urban environment, Macau has no
arable land, pastures, forest, or
woodland. Because of this deficiency, Macau's people traditionally have looked to the sea for their livelihood.
Economy
''Main article:
Economy of Macau''
Macau's
economics economy is based largely on
tourism, namely
gambling. Other chief economic activities are export-geared textile and garment manufacturing, banking and other financial services. The
clothing industry has provided about three-fourths of export earnings, and the gaming, tourism and hospitality industry is estimated to contribute more than 50% of Macau's
Gross domestic product GDP, and 70% of Macau government revenue.
From 9.1 million in
2000, arrivals to Macau has grown to 18.7 million in 2005 [http://www.dsec.gov.mo/index.asp?src=/english/indicator/e_tur_indicator.html], with over 50% of the arrivals coming from mainland China. This recent growth has been driven by gambling and related tourism. Tourists from
Hong Kong remain numerous, representing about 30% of arrivals. Since the 1999 return to Chinese rule,
Triad underworld violence, a dark spot on the economy, has virtually disappeared, to the benefit of the tourism sector. The average growth rate between 2001 and 2005 has been approximately 10% annually. The GDP
per capita in
2005 was
United States dollar USD24,300. In the last quarter of 2005, the unemployment rate stood at 3.9 %.
With the opening of the Sands Casino [http://www.sands.com.mo/eng/index04.html] in
2004 gambling revenues from Macau's casinos were for the first time greater than those of
Las Vegas (each about $5 billion), making Macau one of world's highest-volume gambling centres in the world. Other casinos slated to be opened through 2008 are the Wynn Macau Casino [http://www.wynnmacau.com/intro.htm] in 2006, the Venetian Macau [http://www.sands.com.mo/eng/index05_4_1_4.html] in 2007, the Galaxy [http://www.galaxyentertainment.com/en/], Crown Macau and others. As a result, the small economy is growing rapidly due to gambling related tourism from mainland China and construction from the new casino entrants.
Demographics
{{Main|Demographics of Macau}}
Considered as a
dependent area dependency, Macau is the world's
List of countries by population density most densely populated country/dependency.
Macau's population is 95%
Chinese people Chinese, primarily Cantonese and Fujianese, as well as some
Hakka, Shanghainese and overseas Chinese immigrants from Southeast Asia and elsewhere. The remainder are of
Portugal Portuguese or mixed Chinese-Portuguese ancestry, the so-called
Macanese, as well as several thousand Philippine and Thai nationals. The official languages are
Portuguese language Portuguese and
Chinese languages Chinese. Though the residents commonly speak
Cantonese (linguistics) Cantonese, both Cantonese and
Mandarin language Mandarin are ''de facto'' official.
English language English is widely taught and used as a language of instruction in schools and tertiary education establishments and widely spoken in tourism, trade and other businesses, being Macau's de facto "lingua fraca" among its different ethnic communities.
Macanese language Macanese (''Patuá''), a Portuguese-Asian Creole dating back to the mid-16th century, is nowadays spoken by just several dozen, mostly elderly residents.
Culture
''Main article:
Culture of Macau''
Landmarks
*
Ruins of Saint Paul's Cathedral
*
Casino Lisboa
*
Macau Tower
*
Macau Fisherman's Wharf
Some 24 historic monuments and eight public squares, together forming the "Historic Centre of Macao", has been inscribed onto the
World Cultural Heritage List of
UNESCO, on
15 July 2005.
Image:MacauLotusFountain.JPG nelumbo thumb|right|200px|A fountain in the shape of a [[nelumbo|lotus which is the symbol of Macau, outside the
Macau Tower..html" title="Meaning of lotus.html" title="Meaning of thumb|right|200px|A fountain in the shape of a [[nelumbo|lotus">thumb|right|200px|A fountain in the shape of a [[nelumbo|lotus which is the symbol of Macau, outside the
Macau Tower.">lotus.html" title="Meaning of thumb|right|200px|A fountain in the shape of a [[nelumbo|lotus">thumb|right|200px|A fountain in the shape of a [[nelumbo|lotus which is the symbol of Macau, outside the
Macau Tower.
Miscellaneous
* Like
Hong Kong and the
United Kingdom, but unlike both
mainland China and
Portugal, traffic in Macau travels on the left, and the majority of vehicles are
right hand drive. (Portugal and southern provinces of China also originally drove on the left.)
* Like Hong Kong, Macau also has a flower to represent the city. While the representative flower of Hong Kong is the ''
Bauhinia blakeana Bauhinia'', the representative flower of Macau is the
nelumbo lotus. The lotus is always used as a symbol of the Macau Special Administrative Region.
Macau-related topics
:''Main article:
List of Macao-related topics''
*
Communications in Macau
*
Crime and Police in Macau
*
Education in Macau
*
Gambling in Macau
*
Legal system of Macau
*
List of universities in Macao
*
Macau Grand Prix
*
Macau Law
*
Military of Macau
*
Transportation in Macau
*
Postage stamps and postal history of Macau
External links
{{sisterlinks|Macau}}
* MacauHub - a designated economic information portal to promote business ties between China and the Portuguese speaking world.
** {{zh icon}} [http://www.macauhub.com.mo/gb/index.php Simplified Chinese page]
** {{pt icon}} [http://www.macauhub.com.mo/pt/index.php Portuguese page]
** {{en icon}} [http://www.macauhub.com.mo/en/index.php English page]
* {{zh icon}} [http://www.rthk.org.hk/rthk/tv/hkcc/20041220.html Documentary by RTHK on fifth anniversary of Macao SAR]
-
Profile of Macau on
BBC News
-
Profile of Macau on the
CIA World Factbook
-
Expatriate Guide
* {{zh icon}} {{pt icon}} {{en icon}} [http://www.gov.mo/egi/Portal/index.jsp Portal of the government of Macau]
* Government Information Bureau of the Macao Speical Administrative Region
** {{zh icon}} [http://www.gcs.gov.mo/ugcs/MainFrame.php?PageLang=C Traditional Chinese page]
** {{pt icon}} [http://www.gcs.gov.mo/ugcs/MainFrame.php?PageLang=P Portuguese page]
** {{en icon}} [http://www.gcs.gov.mo/ugcs/MainFrame.php?PageLang=E English page]
* Government Printing Bureau
** {{zh icon}} [http://www.imprensa.macau.gov.mo/cn/ Traditional Chinese version]
** {{pt icon}} [http://www.imprensa.macau.gov.mo/pt/ Portuguese version]
** {{en icon}} [http://www.imprensa.macau.gov.mo/en/ English version]
-
Guide to Macau
-
Hongkong-Macau.info
-
Macau Hotels and Resorts tours
-
Library of Congress - ''Country Study: Macau'' data as of August 2000
-
BlogMacau.info (an independent weblog about Macau)
-
Nate's guide to Macau
-
Open Directory Project - Macau directory category
-
Yahoo! - ''Macau'' directory category
-
Entry for Macao on
Catholic Encyclopedia
-
Macau Heritage Net - List of Historic Centre of Macao
* Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao Special Administrative Region
** {{zh icon}} [http://www.icm.gov.mo/ Traditional Chinese version]
** {{zh icon}} [http://www3.icm.gov.mo/gate/gb/www.icm.gov.mo/ Simplified Chinese version]
** {{pt icon}} [http://www.icm.gov.mo/indexP.asp Portuguese version]
** {{en icon}} [http://www.icm.gov.mo/indexE.asp English version]
-
Satellite map of Macau from
Google Maps
-
Macau Child Development Association
{{Provinces of China}}
{{East Asia}}
Category:Cities in China
Category:Coastal cities
Category:Former Portuguese colonies
Category:Macau
Category:Pearl River Delta
Category:Special territories
ar:ماكاو
an:Macau
zh-min-nan:Ò-mn̂g
ca:Macau
cs:Macao
da:Macao
de:Macao
et:Aomen
es:Macao
eo:Makao
fr:Macao
gl:Macau - 澳门
ko:마카오
io:Macau-Urbo
id:Makau
ia:Macao
is:Makaó
it:Macao
he:מק×?ו
ka:მ�კ��
lb:Macau
lt:Makao
ms:Macau
nl:Macau
ja:マカオ
no:Macao
nn:Macao
pl:Makau
pt:Macau
ro:Macao
ru:Макао
simple:Macau
sk:Macao
sl:Macao
sh:Makao
fi:Macao
sv:Macao
th:มาเ�๊า
tr:Macau
zh-yue:澳門
zh:澳門
{{commonscat|Macao}}
Main article:
Macau
Category:Special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China
Category:People's Republic of China
Category:Asian dependencies
Category:China
ar:تصنيÙ?:ماكاو
de:Kategorie:Macao
fr:Catégorie:Macao
ko:분류:마카오
io:Category:Macau
he:קטגוריה:מק×?ו
nl:Categorie:Macau
no:Kategori:Macao
pt:Categoria:Macau
ru:КатегориÑ?:Макао
sl:Kategorija:Macao
sr:Категорија:Макау
zh:Category:澳門
see
Template:MC
*** Shopping-Tip: Macau
