Map of Macau | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide1989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 | More stats

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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 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.


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Location: Eastern Asia bordering the South China Sea and China

Geographic coordinates: 22 10 N 113 33 E

Map reference: Southeast Asia

Area
Total: 28.2 km²
Rank: 236
Land: 28.2 km²
Water: 0 km²
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
Extremes highest point: Coloane Alto 172 m

Natural resources: NEGL

Land use
Arable land: 0%
Permanent crops: 0%
Other: 100% (2005)

Irrigated land: NA

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards: typhoons

Geography
Note: essentially urban; an area of land reclaimed from the sea measuring 5.2 km² and known as Cotai now connects the islands of Coloane and Taipa; the island area is connected to the mainland peninsula by three bridges


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Population: 567,957 (July 2010 est.)
Rank: 167
Growth rate: 0.89% (2010 est.)
Growth rate rank: 129
Below poverty line: NA%

Nationality
Noun: Chinese
Adjective: Chinese

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

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)

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

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 16.1%
15-64 years: 76.2% (male 199,593/female 227,010)
65 years and over: 7.7% (male 20,245/female 23,126) (2010 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age
Total: 35.6 years
Male: 36.3 years
Female: 35 years (2010 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.89% (2010 est.)
Rank: 129

Birth rate: 8.98 births/1000 population (2010 est.)
Rank: 210

Death rate: 3.6 deaths/1000 population (July 2010 est.)
Rank: 214

Net migration rate: 3.52 migrant(s)/1000 population (2010 est.)
Rank: 26

Population distribution

Urbanization
Urban population: 100% of total population
Rate of urbanization: 0.7% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: NA
International agreements party to: Marine Dumping Ship Pollution (associate member)

Air pollutants

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male/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.)

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate
Total: 3.2 deaths/1000 live births
Rank: 217
Male: 3.36 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 3.04 deaths/1000 live births (2010 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 84.38 years
Rank: 2
Male: 81.42 years
Female: 87.49 years (2010 est.)

Total fertility rate: 0.91 children born/woman (2010 est.)
Rank: 224

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids
Adult prevalence rate: NA
People living with hivaids: NA
Deaths: NA

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures: 2.2% of GDP (2008)
Rank: 166

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: 14 years
Male: 15 years
Female: 14 years (2008)

Youth unemployment


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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)

Government type: limited democracy

Capital

Administrative divisions: none (special administrative region of the People's Republic of China)

Dependent areas

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 charter

Legal system: based on Portuguese civil law system

International law organization participation

Citizenship

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
Head of government: Chief Executive Fernando CHUI Sai-on (since 20 December 2009)
Cabinet: Executive Council consists of 1 government secretary 3 legislators 4 businessmen 1 pro-Beijing unionist and 1 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 on 26 July 2009 (next to be held in July 2014)
Election results: Fernando CHUI Sai-on elected in 2009 with 282 votes took office on 20 December 2009

Legislative branch: unicameral Legislative Assembly (29 seats; 12 members elected by popular vote 10 by indirect vote and 7 appointed by the chief executive; members to serve four-year terms)
Elections: last held on 20 September 2009 (next to be held in September 2013)
Election results: percent of vote - UPD 14.9% ACUM 12% APMD 11.6% NUDM 9.9% UPP 9.9% ANMD 7.8% UMG 7.3% MUDAR 5.5% others 21.1%; seats by political group - UPD 2 ACUM 2 APMD 2 NUMD 1 UPP 1 ANMD 1 UMG 1 MUDAR 1; 10 seats filled by professional and business groups; 7 members appointed by the chief executive

Judicial branch: Court of Final Appeal in Macau Special Administrative Region

Political parties and leaders: Alliance for Change or MUDAR; Macau Development Alliance or NUDM [Angela LEONG On-kei]; Macau-Guangdong Union or UNG; Macau United Citizens' Association or ACUM [CHAN Meng-kam]; New Democratic Macau Association or APMD [Antonio NG Kuok-cheong]; New Hope or NE [Jose Maria Pereira COUTINHO]; Union for Promoting Progress or UPP [LEONG Heng-teng]
Note: there is no political party ordinance so there are no registered political parties; politically active groups register as societies or companies

International organization participation: IHO IMF IMO (associate) Interpol (subbureau) ISO (correspondent) UNESCO (associate) UNWTO (associate) UPU WCO WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us: none (special administrative region of China)
From the us: the US has no offices in Macau; US Consulate General in Hong Kong is accredited to Macau

Flag description: 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 the center of the arc and two smaller on either side; the lotus is the floral emblem of Macau the three petals represent the peninsula and two islands that make up Macau; the five stars echo those on the flag of China

National symbols

National anthem
Note: as a Special Administrative Region of China 'Yiyonggjun Jinxingqu' is official

National heritage


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Economy overview: Macau's economy slowed dramatically in 2009 as a result of the global economic slowdown but strong growth resumed in 2010 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 Macau into one of 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. In 2008 Macau introduced measures to cool the rapidly developing sector. 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. By October 2010 gross gaming revenue had already reached US$19 billion for the year. The Macau government plans to tighten control over the opening of new casinos and strengthen supervision of local casino operations in 2011 and has introduced measures to diversify the economy. 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.

Real gdp purchasing power parity:
Rank: 129
Note: data are in 2010 US dollars

Real gdp growth rate:
Rank: 181

Real gdp per capita:
Rank: 41

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 0.1%
Industry: 2.8%
Services: 97.1% (2009 est.)

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: NA%

Labor force: 322,000 (2009 est.)
Rank: 163
By occupation manufacturing: 4.9%
By occupation construction: 9.3%
By occupation transport and communications: 5.2%
By occupation wholesale and retail trade: 12.6%
By occupation restaurants and hotels: 13.6%
By occupation gambling: 14.2%
By occupation public sector: 6.6%
By occupation financial services: 2.1%
By occupation other services and agriculture: 31.5% (2009 est.)

Unemployment rate: 3% (2008)
Rank: 30

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line: NA%

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: NA%
Highest 10: NA%

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 8.6% (2008)
Rank: 26

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate: 5.43% (31 December 2008 est.)
Rank: 145

Stock of narrow money: $3.099 billion (31 December 2008)
Rank: 101

Stock of broad money: $23.78 billion (31 December 2008)
Rank: 75

Stock of domestic credit: $847 million (31 December 2007 est.)
Rank: 130

Market value of publicly traded shares:

Current account balance: $NA

Exports: $2 billion (2008); note - includes reexports
Rank: 153
Commodities: clothing textiles footwear toys electronics machinery and parts
Partners: Hong Kong 38.7% US 17.9% China 14.4% Germany 4% (2009)

Imports: $5.4 billion (2008 est.)
Rank: 123
Commodities: raw materials and semi-manufactured goods consumer goods (foodstuffs beverages tobacco) capital goods mineral fuels and oils
Partners: China 31.1% Hong Kong 10.8% Japan 8.1% France 8% US 6.2% (2009)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $NA

Debt external: $0 (2009)
Rank: 198

Stock of direct foreign investment at home: $11.1 billion (#REF! est.)
Rank: 77

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad: $1 billion (2008 est.)
Rank: 74

Exchange rates: patacas (MOP) per US dollar - 7.985 (2009) 7.983 (2008) 8.011 (2007) 8.0015 (2006)


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Electricity
Production: 1.424 billion kWh (2009 est.)
Production rank: 141
Consumption: 3.474 billion kWh (2009 est.)
Consumption rank: 119
Exports: 0 kWh (2009 est.)
Imports: 2.215 billion kWh (2009 est.)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas
Production: 0 m³ (2009 est.)
Production rank: 161
Consumption: 91.3 million m³ (2009)
Consumption rank: 103
Exports: 0 m³ (2009 est.)
Exports rank: 158
Imports: 97.8 million m³ (2009 est.)
Imports rank: 66
Proven reserves: 300,000 m³ (1 January 2008 est.)
Proven reserves rank: 103

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones
Main lines in use: 168,903 (2010)
Main lines in use rank: 131
Mobile cellular: 1.109 million (2010)
Mobile cellular rank: 144

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 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)

Broadcast media: 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)

Internet
Country code: .mo
Hosts: 252 (2010)
Hosts rank: 189
Users: 270,200 (2009)
Users rank: 134

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 1 (2010)
Rank: 218
With paved runways total: 1
With paved runways over 3047 m: 1 (2010)

Heliports: 2 (2010)

Pipelines

Railways

Roadways
Total: 413 km
Rank: 198
Paved: 413 km (2009)

Waterways

Merchant marine

Ports and terminals: Macau


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Disputes international: none

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs: transshipment point for drugs going into mainland China; consumer of opiates and amphetamines