| 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. China has promised that, under its "one country, two
systems" formula, China's socialist economic system will
not be practiced in Macau and that Macau will enjoy a high
degree of autonomy in all matters except foreign and defense
affairs. |
| Location: |
Eastern Asia,
bordering the South China Sea and China |
| Geographic
coordinates: |
22 10 N, 113 33 E |
| Map
references: |
Southeast Asia |
| Area: |
total:
21 sq km
land: 21 sq km
water: 0 sq km |
| Area
- comparative: |
about 0.1 times the
size of Washington, DC |
| Land
boundaries: |
total:
0.34 km
border countries: China 0.34 km |
| Maritime
claims: |
not specified |
| Climate: |
subtropical; marine
with cool winters, warm summers |
| Elevation
extremes: |
lowest point:
South China Sea 0 m
highest point: Coloane Alto 174 m |
| Land
use: |
arable land:
0%
permanent crops: 2%
permanent pastures: 0%
forests and woodland: 0%
other: 98% (1998 est.) |
| Natural
hazards: |
typhoons |
| Environment
- current issues: |
NA |
| Geography
- note: |
essentially urban;
one causeway and two bridges connect the two islands of Coloane
and Taipa to the peninsula on mainland |
| Population: |
453,733 (July 2001
est.) |
| Age
structure: |
0-14 years:
22.68% (male 53,291; female 49,615)
15-64 years: 70.08% (male 150,538; female 167,431)
65 years and over: 7.24% (male 13,287; female
19,571) (2001 est.) |
| Population
growth rate: |
1.79% (2001 est.) |
| Birth
rate: |
12.36 births/1,000
population (2001 est.) |
| Death
rate: |
3.71 deaths/1,000
population (2001 est.) |
| Net
migration rate: |
9.25 migrant(s)/1,000
population (2001 est.) |
| Sex
ratio: |
at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.9 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female
total population: 0.92 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
| Infant
mortality rate: |
4.47 deaths/1,000
live births (2001 est.) |
| Life
expectancy at birth: |
total population:
81.69 years
male: 78.88 years
female: 84.64 years (2001 est.) |
| Total
fertility rate: |
1.31 children
born/woman (2001 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS
- adult prevalence rate: |
NA% |
| HIV/AIDS
- people living with HIV/AIDS: |
NA |
| Nationality: |
noun:
Chinese
adjective: Chinese |
| Ethnic
groups: |
Chinese 95%, Macanese
(mixed Portuguese and Asian ancestry), Portuguese, other |
| Religions: |
Buddhist 50%, Roman
Catholic 15%, none and other 35% (1997 est.) |
| Languages: |
Portuguese, Chinese
(Cantonese) |
| Literacy: |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 90%
male: 93%
female: 86% (1981 est.) |
| 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 |
| 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
in 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, 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 JIANG Zemin (since 27 March 1993)
head of government: Chief Executive Edmund HO
Hau-wah (since 20 December 1999)
cabinet: Executive Council consists of all five
government secretaries, three legislators, and two businessmen
elections: NA |
| Legislative
branch: |
unicameral
Legislative Council or LEGCO (23 seats; 8 elected by popular
vote, 8 by indirect vote, and 7 appointed by the chief
executive; members serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 22 September 1996 (next to be
held by 15 October 2001)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA%;
seats by party - APPEM 2, UNIPRO 2, CODEM 1, UDM 1, UPD 1, ANMD
1 |
| Judicial
branch: |
The Court of Final
Appeal in the Macau Special Administrative Region |
| Political
parties and leaders: |
the following is a
listing of those associations that participated in the last
legislative elections: Associacao de Novo Macau Democratico or
ANMD [leader NA]; Associacao Promotora para a Economia de Macau
or APPEM [leader NA]; Convergencia para o Desenvolvimento or
CODEM [leader NA]; Uniao Geral para o Desenvolvimento de Macau
or UDM [leader NA]; Uniao para o Desenvolvimento or UPD [leader
NA]; Uniao Promotora para o Progresso or UNIPRO [leader NA]
note: there are no formal political parties, but
civic associations are used instead |
| Political
pressure groups and leaders: |
Catholic Church [Domingos
LAM, bishop]; Macau Society of Tourism and Entertainment or STDM
[Stanley HO, managing director]; Union for Democracy Development
[Antonio NG Kuok-cheong, leader] |
| International
organization participation: |
CCC, ESCAP
(associate), IMO (associate), Interpol (subbureau), UNESCO
(associate), WMO, WToO (associate), WTrO |
| Diplomatic
representation in the US: |
none (special
administrative region of China) |
| Diplomatic
representation from the US: |
the US has no offices
in Macau, and US interests are monitored by the US Consulate
General in Hong Kong |
| 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
- overview: |
The economy is based
largely on tourism (including gambling) and textile and
fireworks manufacturing. Efforts to diversify have spawned other
small industries - toys, artificial flowers, and electronics.
The tourist sector has accounted for roughly 25% of GDP, and the
clothing industry has provided about three-fourths of export
earnings; the gambling industry probably represents over 40% of
GDP. More than 8 million tourists visited Macau in 2000. Macau
depends on China for most of its food, fresh water, and energy
imports. Japan and Hong Kong are the main suppliers of raw
materials and capital goods. Output dropped 5% in 1998 and 3% in
1999, with a small 2% gain in 2000. Macau reverted to Chinese
administration on 20 December 1999. Gang violence, a dark spot
in the economy, probably will be reduced in 2000-01 to the
advantage of the tourism sector. |
| GDP: |
purchasing power
parity - $7.82 billion (2000 est.) |
| GDP
- real growth rate: |
2% (2000 est.) |
| GDP
- per capita: |
purchasing power
parity - $17,500 (2000 est.) |
| GDP
- composition by sector: |
agriculture:
1%
industry: 25%
services: 74% (2000 est.) |
| Population
below poverty line: |
NA% |
| Household
income or consumption by percentage share: |
lowest 10%:
NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
| Inflation
rate (consumer prices): |
-1.8% (2000 est.) |
| Labor
force: |
283,450 (1999) |
| Labor
force - by occupation: |
restaurants and
hotels 26%, manufacturing 22%, other services 52% (2000 est.) |
| Unemployment
rate: |
6.6% (2000) |
| Budget: |
revenues:
$1.26 billion
expenditures: $1.22 billion, including capital
expenditures of $175 million (1999 est.) |
| Industries: |
clothing, textiles,
toys, electronics, footwear, tourism, gambling |
| Industrial
production growth rate: |
NA% |
| Electricity
- production: |
1.355 billion kWh
(1999) |
| Electricity
- production by source: |
fossil fuel:
100%
hydro: 0%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1999) |
| Electricity
- consumption: |
1.422 billion kWh
(1999) |
| Electricity
- exports: |
3 million kWh (1999) |
| Electricity
- imports: |
165 million kWh
(1999) |
| Agriculture
- products: |
rice, vegetables |
| Exports: |
$2.6 billion (f.o.b.,
2000 est.) |
| Exports
- commodities: |
textiles, clothing,
toys, electronics, cement, footwear, machinery |
| Exports
- partners: |
US 47%, EU 30%, China
9.2%, Hong Kong 6.7% (1999) |
| Imports: |
$2.4 billion (c.i.f.,
2000 est.) |
| Imports
- commodities: |
raw materials,
foodstuffs, capital goods, fuels, consumer goods |
| Imports
- partners: |
China 36%, Hong Kong
18%, EU 13%, Taiwan 10%, Japan 7% (1999) |
| Debt
- external: |
$1.7 billion (1997) |
| Economic
aid - recipient: |
$NA |
| Exchange
rates: |
patacas per US dollar
- 8.033 (January 2001), 8.025 (2000), 7.990 (1999), 7.978
(1998), 7.974 (1997), 7.966 (1996); note - linked to the Hong
Kong dollar at the rate of 1.03 patacas per Hong Kong dollar |
| Fiscal
year: |
calendar year |
| Telephones
- main lines in use: |
176,837 (2000) |
| Telephones
- mobile cellular: |
120,957 (2000) |
| Telephone
system: |
general
assessment: fairly
modern communication facilities maintained for domestic and
international services
domestic: NA
international: HF radiotelephone communication
facility; access to international communications carriers
provided via Hong Kong and China; satellite earth station - 1
Intelsat (Indian Ocean) |
| Radio
broadcast stations: |
AM 0, FM 2, shortwave
0 (1998) |
| Television
broadcast stations: |
1 |
| Televisions: |
49,000 (1997) |
| Internet
country code: |
.mo |
| Internet
Service Providers (ISPs): |
1 (2000) |
| Internet
users: |
40,000 (2000) |
| Highways: |
total:
50 km
paved: 50 km
unpaved: 0 km (2001) |
| Merchant
marine: |
none (2000 est.) |
| Airports
- with paved runways: |
total:
1
over 3,047 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
|
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