Macau

Macau is a tiny set of two islands (Taipa and Coloane) and one peninsula (Macau) all interconnected by bridges. Lying on the coast of China’s Guangdong Province, Macau is about 60 kilometers (37 miles) west of Hong Kong. Like Hong Kong, Macau is not an independent nation, but a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China. In 1999, Portugal transferred possession of the tiny islands to the Chinese government after more than four hundred years of Portuguese rule.

General Information

• Full name of country: Macau Special Administrative Region
• Region: East & Southeast Asia
• Nationality: Chinese (noun), Chinese (adjective)
• Official language: Chinese, Portuguese
• Population: 644,426 (2024 est.)
• Population growth: 0.67% (2024 est.)
• Currency (money): Pataca
• Land area: 28.2 sq km (11 sq miles)
• Time zone: UTC +8
• Flag: The flag of Macau has a green background with a white lotus flower (the symbol of Macau) at the center. Beneath the lotus is a white bridge and four white bands of different size representing water. Above the lotus is an arc of gold, five-pointed stars; the center star is larger than the other four.
• Independence: Macau is a special administrative region of China. 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 political and economic system would not be imposed on Macau, and that Macau would enjoy a "high degree of autonomy" in all matters except foreign affairs and defense for the subsequent fifty years.
• Government type: executive-led limited democracy
• Suffrage: 18 years of age in direct elections for some legislative positions, universal for permanent residents living in Macau for the past seven years; note - indirect elections are limited to organizations registered as "corporate voters" and an election committee for the chief executive drawn from broad regional groupings, municipal organizations, central government bodies, and elected Macau officials
• Legal system: civil law system based on the Portuguese model
• National anthem: "Yiyongjun Jinxingqu" (The March of the Volunteers), by Tian Han/Nie Er
• National holiday: National Day (anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China), October 1 (1949); note - December 20, 1999 is celebrated as Macau Special Administrative Region Establishment Day

Note: unless otherwise indicated, statistical data in this article is sourced from the CIA World Factbook, as cited in the bibliography.

People and Culture

Population: Macau’s population is mostly of Chinese descent (about 89.4 percent, according to the 2021 census). This portion of the population generally comes from the neighboring Chinese province of Canton (Guangdong), and therefore speaks Cantonese. However, Macau has been a port for Chinese and European traders for centuries.

People of Portuguese descent or of Macanese descent (mixed Asian and Portuguese) make up a significant minority among Macau’s residents. Portuguese operates as a second official language, but a small number of residents also speak English, particularly those who are involved in the prosperous tourism, trade, or gambling industries. Cantonese is the most common form of Chinese spoken on the island, followed by Mandarin.

Religious practices are also diverse in Macau. Most of the population practice some form of folk religion or Buddhism. An estimated 7.2 percent are Catholic (2020 estimate). Small numbers of Macau’s residents practice other religions, such as Islam, Baha'i, and Falun Gong.

With a median population age of 42.5 (2024 estimate), Macau has one of the world’s lowest birthrates, an estimated 8.6 births for every 1,000 people in 2024. The region has a correspondingly low population growth rate, at 0.67 percent annual growth in its population (2024 estimate).

Indigenous People: During the Ming dynasty in the fourteenth through seventeenth centuries, Chinese fisherman from the nearby provinces of Fujian and Guangdong used Macau’s harbors and coves for repairing boats and getting fresh water, and eventually settled in the area. However, archeologists have found remnants of Chinese culture on the peninsula and on Coloane Island that date back four to six thousand years ago.

The village of Wangxia, on the northern part of Macau, appears to be the site of its oldest continuous settlement, dating back to the Yuan dynasty in the thirteenth century. Wangxia’s Buddhist shrine to Guanyin (the Goddess of Mercy) is probably the oldest temple in this part of China.

Education: Macau’s government administration provides a free and compulsory public education from ages five through fifteen. Children proceed from three years of kindergarten to six years of primary education and then three years of lower secondary education. Many students then go on to three years of upper secondary or vocational education from age fifteen onward. The region has a high level of literacy; about 97.1 percent of the adult population can read and write (2021 estimate).

The University of Macau, the oldest institution of higher learning in Macau, was founded privately as the University of East Asia in 1988, under a government directive. Macau’s administrative leaders proposed the university as a means of training a young generation of the region’s residents to assume government positions after governmental control was regained from Portugal in 1991. Situated on Taipa Island, the university has grown exponentially over the past two decades after being transferred to public ownership in the first year of its establishment.

Macau also has nine other institutions of higher learning, including technical schools. Some, such as the Kiang Wu Nursing College of Macau, were established prior to the founding of the University of Macau, but did not begin granting degrees until the late twentieth or early twenty-first century.

Health Care: Macau’s government provides free or low-cost health care to all of the region’s residents. The region has five hospitals and network of government-subsidized care providers, including Western-derived medical practices and Chinese medicine clinics.

In 1993, the Health Bureau completed a plan to establish a network of health clinics throughout Macau to serve the primary care needs of the population. According to Macanese government statistics, the leading cause of death is cancer, followed by heart disease and respiratory ailments.

Food: Macau’s inhabitants have developed a cuisine as unique as they are. Traditional Portuguese dishes come up against traditional Cantonese cuisine and blend in signature Macanese recipes. The territory’s urban centers and international presence also means that restaurants offer food from all over the world.

Arts & Entertainment: Macau is known worldwide as a center for licensed gambling. Its casinos and upscale hotels serve international vacationers, but particularly wealthy businessmen from mainland China. Macau’s most famous casino, the Hotel Lisboa, is one of the largest in Asia.

The territory is also well known for its dog and horse racing. The Macau Jockey Club on Taipa Island includes a large, renovated complex that seats 18,000 and sits adjacent to a casino.

Macau’s museums and historic sites display the artistic styles of two traditions. The region mixes Buddhist temples with seventeenth-century Jesuit cathedrals, and nineteenth-century European landscapes find their counterparts in Chinese calligraphy and block prints. The territory’s most visited architectural site is the Leal Senado, the Portuguese-style city square surrounded by colonial buildings and paved with cobblestones.

Holidays: Macau’s public holidays include New Year's Day (January 1), Lunar New Year (in late January or early February), Easter (March or April), Cheng Ming (early April), Buddha’s birthday (April or May), Labour Day (May 1), National Day (October 1 and 2), the Chong Chao Mid-Autumn Festival (early October), Chung Yeung Festival of Ancestors (mid to late October), All Souls' Day (November 2), Feast of the Immaculate Conception (December 8), Macau Special Administrative Region Establishment Day (December 20), Winter Solstice (December 22), and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (December 24 and 25).

Macau also celebrates a number of festival and feast days, including the Lantern Festival in January or early February, the A-Ma Festival honoring the Chinese goddess in April, and the Dragon Boat Festival in June. The Hungry Ghosts Festival in late summer is followed by an international fireworks festival in autumn.

Environment and Geography

Topography: Macau’s peninsula juts out into the South China Sea on the coast of Guangdong. Bridges connect the tiny peninsula to two equally small islands. Inland, Macau is composed of steep, hilly terrain. The territory rises to its greatest height, 172 meters (564 feet) above sea level, at Coloane Alto.

Since the arrival of the Portuguese in the seventeenth century, Macau’s territory has expanded through land reclamation. Seventeenth century governments filled in the area between Macau and the Chinese mainland to create the present-day peninsula. At the end of the twentieth century, Macau’s government began land reclamation programs to fill in area around Taipa and Coloane with flat wetlands that surround the island’s natural hills.

The coastlines of Macau peninsula and the two islands are made up of wetland areas and small coves. On the west, a harbor connects Macau to the Pearl River Delta.

Natural Resources: Though Macau has retained a little more than 20 percent of its land as “green areas,” there is no arable land or forest to speak of. The territory’s only natural resources are its sheltered coves and harbor, and its coastal position at the end of one of China’s largest and most economically significant rivers, the Zhujiang (Pearl River).

Plants & Animals: Vegetation in Macau is naturally sparse, and land animals are limited, though a number of lizard and bird species inhabit the region. About a third of the territory is built up with hotels, villages, and urban development. Thanks to a land reclamation scheme, the Macau peninsula gained 20 percent more area along the coast, including the two artificial Van Nam lakes.

Marine birds and animals are prevalent along the coastline and in the lakes. Macau’s government declared two areas in the Seac Pai Wan wetlands protected in order to attract black-faced spoonbills, an endangered species of bird related to the ibis.

Climate: Macau has a subtropical climate with an average annual temperature of 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit). In winter months, the average temperature falls slightly to 14 degrees Celsius (57 degrees Fahrenheit). Summer temperatures soar above 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit). The territory is subject to Pacific typhoons in the summer.

Economy

In 2003, a virus known as SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) spread on the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau. International and local governments quickly implemented policies and regulations to stop the spread of the disease. Though SARS was brought under control fairly quickly, the near suspension of tourism and leisure activities during this time proved a serious blow to Macau’s economy. In the years that followed, the tourism and gambling industries recovered, only to face new challenges later in the twenty-first century. Macau's GDP was US$71.248 billion  in 2023.

Industry: Despite fears that the 1999 transfer of Macau to China would shut down trade and tourism in the territory, as well as other challenges, Macau’s economy persevered, with the manufacturing, construction, tourism, and gambling industries creating a healthy rate of economic growth for Macau most years. About 25.9 percent of Macau’s workers find employment in manufacturing, where Macau is strong in electronics, toys, apparel, and textiles (2013 estimate).

The 1974 Multi-Fiber Agreement, which has protected textile industries throughout the world, was phased out in 2005, and Macau’s textile manufacturing industry has slowed since then. The territory’s most economically significant industry is gambling. The region’s internationally renowned casinos and racetracks allowed Macau’s economy to recover quickly after the 2002 downturn in Asian economies. In 2002, gambling taxes accounted for 70 percent of government revenue in Macau; by 2019, gambling taxes accounted for about 84 percent of government revenue.

Macau’s economy remained strong until 2009, when it slowed due to the global economic recession of 2007–8, before resuming growth between 2010 and 2013. It slowed again between 2014 and 2016, after the anticorruption campaign on mainland China halted Macau's gambling boom. The Chinese government’s anticorruption campaign caused casino revenues to decrease 34.3 percent between 2014 and 2015, thus causing Macau’s GDP to contract by 20.3 percent over the same time period, and to fall another 4.7 percent in 2016. In 2019, the GDP had increased to an estimated US$81.51 billion, but the economy was once again damaged by the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Agriculture: The territory’s urbanized spaces and small size keep agriculture to zero percent of GDP.

Tourism: Macau’s tourist industry is driven by its gambling industry. China carefully exempted Macau from policies that might have hindered the territory’s popularity among international tourists and businesspeople, such that Macau has remained one of the world’s most open economies.

In recent years, land reclamation has increased beachfront land for development and made it possible to create Macau’s two lakes. These projects, along with renovation of racetracks and downtown areas and an aggressive tourism campaign, brought about a surge in tourist activity. Tourism accounted for about 43.4 percent of the territory’s GDP in 2020.

Government

Until December 20, 1999, Macau was under the administration of the Portuguese government. Portuguese sailors first established trading ports in the territory in 1553, after which the islands quickly began to prosper. In 1557, the Portuguese government signed leasehold with China for the islands in return for a tribute to be paid to Beijing.

By 1573, China and Portugal had worked out an arrangement whereby China claimed sovereignty over the territory and subjected all Chinese residents to Chinese law, but Portugal administered the government and subjected Portuguese residents to their own law. In 1586, Portugal made Macau a self-governed city. Portugal would later claim sovereignty over all of Macau.

In the early twentieth century, Portugal made overtures toward returning Macau’s governance to China. The Portuguese government made Macau a separate overseas province in 1955, but China and Portugal did not reach an agreement regarding transfer of the territory until the Joint Declaration of the Transfer of Macau was signed in 1987.

In March 1993, China’s National People’s Congress enacted “Basic Law,” Macau’s unique constitution. China pledged almost the full autonomy of government for the region, with the exception of foreign policy concerns and defense. Following a “one country, two systems” formula, Chinese socialist structures do not apply to Macau. The territory follows a civil legal system based on Portuguese law and includes its own territorial Court of Final Appeal.

All citizens who have resided in territory for at least seven years and are eighteen years of age or older have the right to vote in Macau. Elections are direct (by popular vote) and indirect (by listed “corporate” voters and a four-hundred-member Election Committee composed of local government bodies).

The president of China is the chief of state and is indirectly elected by the National People’s Congress of China to a five-year term. The chief executive of China is chosen by the Election Committee and serves a five-year term as head of government.

Members of Macau’s legislative body sit on the Legislative Assembly. Of its thirty-three members, fourteen are elected by popular vote, twelve by indirect vote, and seven are appointed by the executive branch. Members serve four-year terms.

Macau’s judiciary includes the Court of Final Appeal of Macau Special Administrative Region, as well as a Court of Second Instance, Court of First Instance, Lower Court, and Administrative Court.

Interesting Facts

• The name Macau is said to be short for Amagao or A-Ma-Gao (“Bay of A-Ma” in Cantonese). A-Ma or Ling-Ma is the name of a Chinese goddess popular with fishermen and sailors.
• The United States and China signed the historic Treaty of Peace, Amity, and Commerce (known as the Treaty of Wangxia) on July 3, 1844, at a temple in Macau.
• The peninsula of Macau was an island 1 kilometer (six-tenths of a mile) offshore until Portuguese residents created a bridge to the mainland using landfill.
• Macau is the only region in China where gambling is legal.
• Macau's land reclamation project led the total area of the territory to grow from 17.4 square kilometers in 1991 to 28.2 square kilometers by 2020.

Bibliography

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“Economic Impact Reports.” World Travel and Tourism Council, 2021, wttc.org/Research/Economic-Impact. Accessed 3 June 2022.

Hao, Zhidong. Macau: History and Society. Hong Kong UP, 2011.

“Macao SAR, China.” The World Bank, data.worldbank.org/country/macao-sar-china. Accessed 9 Nov. 2023.

“Macau.” The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 16 Jan. 2025, www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/macau/. Accessed 28 Jan. 2025.

Macau in Figures 2020. Government of Macau Special Administrative Region Statistics and Census Service, 2020, www.dsec.gov.mo/getAttachment/19c634de-4f83-4c21-8d48-993c3fc51c17/E‗MN‗PUB‗2020‗Y.aspx. Accessed 9 Oct. 2020.

"Overview of Education in Macau: Review 2018." Education and Youth Affairs Bureau, Government of the Macao Special Administration Region, 17 Oct. 2019, portal.dsej.gov.mo/webdsejspace/internet/category/teach/Inter‗main‗page.jsp?id=73789. Accessed 9 Oct. 2020.

Wei, C. X. George. The Formation of a Global City. Routledge, 2013.