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Introduction | Macau

Background: | 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 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.

Geography | Macau

Location: | Eastern Asia, bordering the South China Sea and China
Geographic coordinates: | 22 10 N, 113 33 E
Map references: | Southeast Asia
Area: | total: 28.2 sq km land: 28.2 sq km water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative: | less than one-sixth the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries: | total: 0.34 km regional border: China 0.34 km
Coastline: | 41 km
Maritime claims: | not specified
Climate: | subtropical; marine with cool winters, warm summers
Terrain: | generally flat
Elevation extremes: | lowest point: South China Sea 0 m highest point: Coloane Alto 172.4 m
Natural resources: | NEGL
Land use: | arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2005)
Irrigated land: | NA
Natural hazards: | typhoons
Environment - current issues: | NA
Environment - international agreements: | party to: Marine Dumping (associate member), Ship Pollution (associate member)
Geography - note: | 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

People | Macau

Population: | 545,674 (July 2008 est.)
Age structure: | 0-14 years: 16.5% (male 47,935/female 42,301) 15-64 years: 75.8% (male 193,571/female 220,108) 65 years and over: 7.7% (male 19,340/female 22,419) (2008 est.)
Median age: | total: 35 years male: 35.6 years female: 34.5 years (2008 est.)
Population growth rate: | 3.148% (2008 est.)
Birth rate: | 8.69 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Death rate: | 3.43 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Net migration rate: | 26.21 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Sex ratio: | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.13 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.88 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.86 male(s)/female total population: 0.92 male(s)/female (2008 est.)
Infant mortality rate: | total: 3.23 deaths/1,000 live births male: 3.39 deaths/1,000 live births female: 3.07 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: | total population: 84.33 years male: 81.36 years female: 87.45 years (2008 est.)
Total fertility rate: | 0.9 children born/woman (2008 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: | NA
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: | NA
HIV/AIDS - deaths: | NA
Nationality: | noun: Chinese adjective: Chinese
Ethnic groups: | Chinese 94.3%, other 5.7% (includes Macanese (mixed Portuguese and Asian ancestry)) (2006 census)
Religions: | Buddhist 50%, Roman Catholic 15%, none and other 35% (1997 est.)
Languages: | Cantonese 85.7%, Hokkien 4%, Mandarin 3.2%, other Chinese dialects 2.7%, English 1.5%, Tagalog 1.3%, other 1.6% (2001 census)
Literacy: | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 91.3% male: 95.3% female: 87.8% (2001 census)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education): | total: 15 years male: 16 years female: 14 years (2006)
Education expenditures: | 2.4% of GDP (2005)

Government | Macau

Country name: | 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)
Dependency status: | special administrative region of China
Government type: | limited democracy
Administrative divisions: | none (special administrative region of China)
Independence: | none (special administrative region of China)
National holiday: | 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
Constitution: | Basic Law, approved on 31 March 1993 by China's National People's Congress, is Macau's "mini-constitution"
Legal system: | based on Portuguese civil law system
Suffrage: | 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
Executive branch: | chief of state: President of China HU Jintao (since 15 March 2003) head of government: Chief Executive Edmund HO Hau-wah (since 20 December 1999) cabinet: Executive Council consists of one government secretary, three legislators, four businessmen, one pro-Beijing unionist, and one pro-Beijing educator elections: chief executive chosen by a 300-member Election Committee for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 29 August 2004 (next to be held in 2009) election results: Edmund HO Hau-wah reelected received 296 votes; three members submitted blank ballots; one member was absent
Legislative branch: | unicameral Legislative Assembly (29 seats; 12 members elected by popular vote, 10 by indirect vote, and 7 appointed by the chief executive; to serve four-year terms) elections: last held 25 September 2005 (next in September 2009) election results: percent of vote - New Democratic Macau Association 18.8%, Macau United Citizens' Association 16.6%, Union for Development 13.3%, Union for Promoting Progress 9.6%, Macau Development Alliance 9.3%, others 32.4%; seats by political group - New Democratic Macau Association 2, Macau United Citizens' Association 2, Union for Development 2, Union for Promoting Progress 2, Macau Development Alliance 1, others 3; 10 seats filled by professional and business groups; seven members appointed by chief executive
Judicial branch: | Court of Final Appeal in Macau Special Administrative Region
Political parties and leaders: | Civil Service Union [Jose Maria Pereira COUTINHO]; Development Union [KWAN Tsui-hang]; Macau Development Alliance [Angela LEONG On-kei]; Macau United Citizens' Association [CHAN Meng-kam]; New Democratic Macau Association [Antonio NG Kuok-cheong]; United Forces note: there is no political party ordinance, so there are no registered political parties; politically active groups register as societies or companies
Political pressure groups and leaders: | Macau Society of Tourism and Entertainment or STDM [Stanley HO]; Roman Catholic Church; Union for Democracy Development [Antonio NG Kuok-cheong]
International organization participation: | IHO, IMF, IMO (associate), ISO (correspondent), UNESCO (associate), UNWTO (associate), UPU, WCO, WFTU, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US: | none (special administrative region of China)
Diplomatic representation from the US: | the US has no offices in Macau; US Consulate General in Hong Kong is accredited to Macau
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

Economy | Macau

Economy - overview: | Macau's economy has enjoyed strong growth in recent years on the back of its expanding tourism and gaming sectors. Since opening up its locally-controlled casino industry to foreign competition in 2001, the territory has attracted tens of billions of dollars in foreign investment that have helped transform it into the world's largest gaming center. In 2006, Macau's gaming revenue surpassed that of the Las Vegas strip, and gaming-related taxes accounted for 75% of total government revenue. The expanding casino sector, and China's decision beginning in 2002 to relax travel restrictions, have reenergized Macau's tourism industry, which saw total visitors grow to 27 million in 2007, up 62% in three years. Macau's strong economic growth has put pressure its labor market prompting businesses to look abroad to meet their staffing needs. The resulting influx of non-resident workers, who totaled one-fifth of the workforce in 2006, has fueled tensions among some segments of the population. Macau's traditional manufacturing industry has been in a slow decline. In 2006, exports of textiles and garments generated only $1.8 billion compared to $6.9 billion in gross gaming receipts. Macau's textile industry will continue to move to the mainland because of the termination in 2005 of the Multi-Fiber Agreement, which provided a near guarantee of export markets, leaving the territory more dependent on gambling and trade-related services to generate growth. However, the Closer Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between Macau and mainland China that came into effect on 1 January 2004 offers many Macau-made products tariff-free access to the mainland. Macau's currency, the Pataca, is closely tied to the Hong Kong dollar, which is also freely accepted in the territory.
GDP (purchasing power parity): | $12.5 billion (2006)
GDP (official exchange rate): | $14.3 billion (2006)
GDP - real growth rate: | 16.6% (2006)
GDP - per capita (PPP): | $28,400 (2006)
GDP - composition by sector: | agriculture: 0.1% industry: 3.9% services: 96% (2006 est.)
Labor force: | 275,000 (2006)
Labor force - by occupation: | manufacturing 11.1%, construction 11.7%, transport and communications 6.3%, wholesale and retail trade 13.7%, restaurants and hotels 11.3%, gambling 19.8%, public sector 7.7%, financial services 2.6%, other services and agriculture 15.7% (2006)
Unemployment rate: | 3.1% (2006)
Population below poverty line: | NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share: | lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%
Budget: | revenues: $4.6 billion expenditures: $3.4 billion (2006)
Fiscal year: | calendar year
Inflation rate (consumer prices): | 7.2% (2006)
Commercial bank prime lending rate: | 7.81% (31 December 2007)
Stock of money: | $1.16 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of quasi money: | $21.91 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of domestic credit: | NA (31 December 2007)
Agriculture - products: | only 2% of land area is cultivated, mainly by vegetable growers; fishing, mostly for crustaceans, is important; some of the catch is exported to Hong Kong
Industries: | tourism, gambling, clothing, textiles, electronics, footwear, toys
Industrial production growth rate: | 3.8% (3rd quarter, 2007)
Electricity - production: | 1.454 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - consumption: | 2.984 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - exports: | 0 kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - imports: | 1.683 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - production by source: | fossil fuel: 100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001)
Oil - production: | 0 bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - consumption: | 16,570 bbl/day (2006 est.)
Oil - exports: | 0 bbl/day (2005)
Oil - imports: | 13,870 bbl/day (2006)
Oil - proved reserves: | 0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)
Natural gas - production: | 0 cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - consumption: | 0 cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - exports: | 0 cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - imports: | 0 cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves: | 0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.)
Exports: | $2.557 billion f.o.b.; note - includes reexports (2006)
Exports - commodities: | clothing, textiles, footwear, toys, electronics, machinery and parts
Exports - partners: | US 40.6%, China 14.8%, Hong Kong 13.1%, Germany 6.4%, UK 4% (2007)
Imports: | $4.559 billion c.i.f. (2006)
Imports - commodities: | raw materials and semi-manufactured goods, consumer goods (foodstuffs, beverages, tobacco), capital goods, mineral fuels and oils
Imports - partners: | China 42.6%, Hong Kong 10.1%, Japan 9%, US 5.6%, Germany 4.4%, France 4.2% (2007)
Economic aid - recipient: | $13.7 million (2004)
Debt - external: | $0 (2006)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home: | $6.5 billion (2006)
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad: | $1.1 billion (2006)
Market value of publicly traded shares: | $413.1 million (2004)
Currency (code): | pataca (MOP)
Currency code: | MOP
Exchange rates: | patacas (MOP) per US dollar - 8.011 (2007), 8.0015 (2006), 8.011 (2005), 8.022 (2004), 8.021 (2003)

Communications | Macau

Telephones - main lines in use: | 177,851 (2008)
Telephones - mobile cellular: | 856,200 (2008)
Telephone system: | 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 190 per 100 persons in 2008; 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) (2008)
Radio broadcast stations: | AM 0, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998)
Radios: | 160,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations: | 1 (2006)
Televisions: | 49,000 (1997)
Internet country code: | .mo
Internet hosts: | 263 (2008)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): | 1 (2000)
Internet users: | 300,000 (2007)

Transportation | Macau

Airports: | 1 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways: | total: 1 over 3,047 m: 1 (2007)
Heliports: | 1 (2007)
Roadways: | total: 384 km paved: 384 km (2006)
Ports and terminals: | Macau

Military | Macau

Military branches: | no regular military forces; defense is the responsibility of China (2008)
Manpower available for military service: | males age 16-49: 121,825 (2008 est.)
Manpower fit for military service: | males age 16-49: 100,826 (2008 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually: | male: 4,601 female: 4,171 (2008 est.)
Military - note: | defense is the responsibility of China

Transnational Issues | Macau

Disputes - international: | none
Illicit drugs: | transshipment point for drugs going into mainland China; consumer of opiates and amphetamines

This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008