Macau

Macau Special Administrative RegionAomen Tebie Xingzhengqu (Chinese); Regiao Administrativa Especial de Macau (Portuguese)

limited democracyIndependence none (special administrative region of China)

Macau as the 2009 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 124 fields, one of 36 editions from 1990 to 2025.

field in that editiontext changed from the edition beforenot in that editionthe open editionEach field below ends in its editions, 1990 to 2025. Point at a year above to follow it down.

Position22 10 N, 113 33 E

Area28.2 sq km

LocationEastern Asia, bordering the South China Sea and China

Populationas each edition published it

559,846 people July 2009 est. · 441,691 in 1990

Population growth% a year

1.995% 2009 est. · 1.44% in 1993

Median ageyears

35.2 years 2009 est. · 33.1 yrs in 2003

Life expectancyyears at birth

84.36 years 2009 est. · 79.64 yrs in 1993

Fertility ratechildren per woman

0.91 children per woman 2009 est. · 2.2 in 1990

Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births

3.22 deaths per 1,000 live births 2009 est. · 7 in 1990

GDP per capitaeach edition's own dollars

$30,000 2007 · $6,700 in 1993

GDP real growth% a year

15% 2008 · 3.1% in 1993

Introduction

1 field

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.

Geography

Eastern Asia, bordering the South China Sea and China

18 fields

Land useshare of 28.2 sq km

permanent crops 0%other 100% (2005)arable land 0% in all

Area

28.2sq km

country comparison to the world: 235land: 28.2 sq kmwater: 0 sq kmless than one-sixth the size of Washington, DC

Coastline

41km

Maritime claims: not specified

Highest point

172m

Coloane Altolowest point: South China Sea 0 m

Land boundaries

0.34km

regional border: China 0.34 km

Location

Eastern Asia, bordering the South China Sea and China

Geographic coordinates

22 10 N, 113 33 E

Map references

Southeast Asia

Climate

subtropical; marine with cool winters, warm summers

Terrain

generally flat

Natural resources

NEGL

Irrigated land

Natural hazards

typhoons

Environment - current issues

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

22 fields

Age structuremale left, female right · (2009 est.)

20,245

65 and over7.7%

23,126

199,593

15-6476.2%

227,010

47,853

0-1416.1%

42,019

MaleFemale

Population

559,846

(July 2009 est.)country comparison to the world: 167growth rate: 1.995% (2009 est.)country comparison to the world: 60

Per 1,000 population

Birth

8.88 (2009 est.)Death

3.5 (July 2009 est.)Net migration

14.56 (2009 est.)

Male · female

TotalMale · femaleLife expectancy years (2009 est.)84.36

81.39 · 87.47Infant mortality deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)3.22

3.37 · 3.05Literacy (2001 census)91.3%

95.3% · 87.8%

TotalMale · femaleMedian age years (2009 est.)35.2

35.9 · 34.6School life expectancy years (2006)15

16 · 14

MaleFemaleLife expectancy country comparison to the world: 1 · Infant mortality country comparison to the world: 219 · Literacy definition: age 15 and over can read and write

Religions(1997 est.)

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

Urban population

100%of total population

(2008)rate of urbanization: 0.7% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth:: 1.05 male(s)/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 (2009 est.)

Total fertility rate

0.91 children born/woman (2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 223

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS

HIV/AIDS - deaths

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)

Education expenditures

2.4% of GDP (2005) country comparison to the world: 160

Government

Limited democracy; President of China HU Jintao (since 15 March 2003); Chief Executive Edmund HO Hau-wah (since 20 December 1999)

18 fields

Presidential electionpercent of vote

18.8%

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%last held 25 September 2005 (next to be held on 20 September 2009)

Legislative Assembly, elected 25 September 2005percent 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%

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 the People's Republic 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 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 26 July 2009 (next to be held on in July 2014)
election results:: Edmund HO Hau-wah reelected with 296 votes in 2004 election; Fernando CHUI Sai-on elected in 2009 with 282 votes, takes 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; serve four-year terms)

elections:: last held 25 September 2005 (next to be held on 20 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, New Hope 1, Convergence for Development 1, General Union for the Good of Macau 1;
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

New Hope [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];
Union for Promoting Progress [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

Political pressure groups and leaders

Civic Power [Agnes LAM Lok-fong];
Macau Society of Tourism and Entertainment or STDM [Stanley HO];
Macau Worker's Union [HO Heng-kuok];
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 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

Economy

Macau's economy has enjoyed strong growth in recent years on the back of its expanding tourism and gaming sectors.

45 fields

GDP, purchasing power parity

$18.14billion

(2008 est.)country comparison to the world: 127$12.5 billion (2006)note: data are in 2008 US dollarsofficial exchange rate: $22.04 billion (2008 est.)

GDP per capita, PPP

$30,000

(2007)country comparison to the world: 45$28,400 (2006)

Real growth rate

15%

(2008)country comparison to the world: 216.6% (2006)industrial production growth: NA

Inflation, consumer prices

6.2%

(December 2008)country comparison to the world: 1057.2% (2006)

GDP - composition by sector(2007 est.)

agriculture 0.1%industry 2.8%services 97.1% (2007 est.)

Trading partnersexports left, imports right

39.9%

5.5%

12.3%

China

39.3%

19.7%

Hong Kong

10.1%

Japan

8.5%

France

5.3%

Switzerland

4.7%

Germany

Exports $2 billion (2008 est.)Imports $5.4 billion (2008 est.)(2008)

Budget

Revenues

$6.2 billionExpenditures

$2.9 billion (2008)

Electricity

Electricity production

1.106 billion (2008 est.)Electricity consumption

3.311 billion (2008 est.)Electricity imports

2.215 billion (2008 est.)

Economy - overview

Macau's economy has enjoyed strong growth in recent years on the back of its expanding 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 Macao into the world's largest gaming center.

By 2006, Macau's gaming revenue surpassed that of the Las Vegas strip, and gaming-related taxes accounted for 75% of total government revenue. In 2008, government revenue from gaming was set to double 2006 collections. The expanding casino sector, and China's decision beginning in 2002 to relax travel restrictions, reenergized Macau's tourism industry.

This city of just over 500,000 hosted more than 30 million visitors in 2008. Almost 60% came from mainland China despite increasing restrictions on travel to the SAR. Macau's traditional manufacturing industry has been in a slow decline since the termination of the Multi-Fiber Agreement in 2005.

In 2008, exports of textiles and garments generated only $1.1 billion, compared to $13.7 billion in gross gaming receipts. 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.

Labor force

337,400 (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 157

Labor force - by occupation

manufacturing 7.4%, construction 12.6%, transport and communications 5%, wholesale and retail trade 12.5%, restaurants and hotels 12.7%, gambling 14%, public sector 6%, financial services 2.1%, other services and agriculture 27.7% (2008 est.)

Unemployment rate

3% (2008) · 3.1% (2006) country comparison to the world: 33

Population below poverty line

NA%

Commercial bank prime lending rate

5.43% (31 December 2008)

Stock of money

$1.591 billion (31 December 2008) · $1.16 billion (31 December 2007) country comparison to the world: 77

Stock of quasi money

$22.15 billion (31 December 2008) · $21.91 billion (31 December 2007) country comparison to the world: 41

Stock of domestic credit

$11.5 billion (31 December 2008); $NA (31 December 2007) country comparison to the world: 68

Market value of publicly traded shares

$2.3 billion (31 December 2008 est.); $NA (31 December 2007); $413.1 million (2004 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

Communications

8 fields

Mobile cellular

993,545

(2009)

Internet users

244

(2009)

Fixed lines

173,533

(2009) · country code .mo

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 180 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) (2009)