Administered by Portugal until 1999, it was the oldest European colony in China, dating back to the 16th century. The administrative power (in Portuguese "poder administrativo") over Macau was transferred to the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1999, and it is now one of two special administrative regions of the PRC, together with Hong Kong.

Besides historical Chinese and Portuguese world-heritage relics, Macau's biggest attraction is its gambling industry and casinos. Though many forms of gambling are legal here, the most popular game is baccarat, which generates over two thirds of the gaming industry's gross receipts.

Macao v. Macau

The name "Macau" (Portuguese pronunciation IPA: /mɐ.'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.

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 (Chinese: 南台; pinyin: Nántái) and Beitai (Chinese: 北台; pinyin: 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 (壕鏡澳 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 (疏打埠).

History

16th - 18th century

Chinese fishermen have been living and working in the Pearl River Delta for over four thousand years. The small peninsula and islands that came to be called Macau were first settled by the Portuguese in the 16th century. Prior to that, they belonged to various counties within the Chinese Empire, with the village of Mong Ha (Wangxia), located on the Macau peninsula, having been settled during the Yuan Dynasty.

In 1535, the Portuguese, by bribing Guangdong local officials, obtained the right of Portuguese ships anchoring in Macau harbours and carrying out trading activities. In 1553, the Portuguese went ashore and settled there on the excuse of drying goods drenched by sea water. In other accounts, the Portuguese were allowed to settle Macau as a reward for defeating pirates, and to serve as middlemen for trade with Japan and India. Also, it should be noted that China's Ming Dynasty was much more tolerant and open to foreigners than the later Qing Dynasty.

In 1557, the Portuguese began permanent settlement in Macau.

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 Dutch to conquer it in the 17th century.

19th century

Following the Opium War 1839-1842, Portugal occupied Taipa and Coloane in 1851 and 1864 respectively. In 1887, Portugal forced the Qing government to sign "the Sino-Portuguese Draft Minutes" and "the Beijing Treaty", in which Portugal succeeded in introducing the article on "perpetual occupation and government of Macau by Portugal".

Before 1960's

In 1928, the Kuomintang government and the Portuguese government concluded the "Sino-Portuguese Friendship and Trade Treaty". Making only a few provisions concerning tariff principles and matters relating to business affairs, the treaty failed to mention the question with regard to Macau's position. Consequently, the situation of Portuguese occupation and government of Macau remained unchanged. In 1938 Portuguese troops occupied the D. João, Lapa and Montanha Islands which had already been settled by Portuguese missionaries. The islands were taken by the Japanese in 1941 and reverted to China in the end of World War Two

After 1960's

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 incident is often referred to as "1-2-3," with reference to the date of the riots.

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, as an official apology underlined the fact that after 1949, administration of Macau continued only at the behest of the Mainland Communist government.

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 and asked Portugal to continue to administrate it. In 1976, Lisbon redefined Macau as a "territory under Portuguese administration," and granted it a large measure of administrative, financial and economic autonomy. The Chinese Government stated on many occasions that Macau has always been Chinese territory and the issue left by history should be settled through negotiations when the condition was ripe.

Transitional period, handover

Old flag of the Government of MacauPortugal and the People's Republic of China agreed in 1979 to regard Macau as 'a Chinese territory under (temporary) Portuguese administration'--despite over 400 years of continuous Portuguese control, first established during the Ming Dynasty. This status was made anomalous by the agreement in 1985. Negotiations between the Chinese and Portuguese governments on the question of Macau started in June 1986. In 1987, an agreement, known as the "Joint Declaration" was made to make Macau a Special Administrative Region of the PRC.

The Chinese government resumed the exercise of sovereignty over Macau on December 20, 1999.

Geography

Terrain

Macau is 70 kilometres (43 mi) southwest of Hong Kong and 145 kilometres (90 mi) from Guangzhou. It consists of 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 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

Macau's 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 GDP, and 70% of Macau government revenue.

From 9.1 million in 2000, arrivals to Macau has grown to 18.7 million in 2005, 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 USD $24,300. In the second quarter of 2006, the unemployment rate stood at 3.8 %.