Macau
Macau Special Administrative Region
limited democracyIndependence none (special administrative region of China)
Macau as the 2011 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 131 fields, one of 36 editions from 1990 to 2025.
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Introduction
1 fieldBackground
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 political and economic system would not be imposed on Macau, and that Macau would enjoy a high degree of autonomy in all matters except foreign affairs and defense for the next 50 years.
Geography
Eastern Asia, bordering the South China Sea and China
18 fieldsLand useshare of 28.2 sq km
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 and Society
23 fieldsAge structuremale left, female right · (2011 est.)
Per 1,000 population
Male · female
Religions(1997 est.)
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% note: Chinese and Portuguese are the official language (2001 census)
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 (2011 est.)
Government
Limited democracy; President of China HU Jintao (since 15 March 2003); Chief Executive Fernando CHUI Sai-on (since 20 December 2009)
20 fieldsPresidential electionpercent of vote
Legislative Assembly, elected 20 September 2009percent of vote
Country name
- conventional long form:
- Macau Special Administrative Region
- conventional short form:
- Macau
- official long form:
- Aomen Tebie Xingzhengqu (Chinese); Regiao Administrativa Especial de Macau (Portuguese)
- official short form:
- Aomen (Chinese); Macau (Portuguese)
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
The Basic Law, approved 31 March 1993 by China's National People's Congress, is Macau's charter
Suffrage
- direct election 18 years of age for some legislative 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 for the Chief Executive (CE) drawn from broad regional groupings, municipal organizations, central government bodies, and elected Macau officials
Executive branch
- chief of state:
- President of China HU Jintao (since 15 March 2003)
- 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; (For more information visit theWorld Leaders website)
- elections:
- chief executive chosen by a 300-member Election Committee for a five-year term (current CE is 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 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
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 Macau Association or NMA [Jason CHAO];
- 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
Political pressure groups and leaders
- Civic Power [Agnes LAM lok-fong];
- Macau New Chinese Youth Association [LEONG Sin-man];
- Macau Society of Tourism and Entertainment or STDM [Stanley HO];
- Macau Worker's Union [HO Heng-kuok];
- Union for Democracy Development [Antonio NG Kuok-cheong]
International organization participation
ICC, IHO, IMF, IMO (associate), Interpol (subbureau), ISO (correspondent), UNESCO (associate), UNWTO (associate), UPU, WCO, WTO
Diplomatic representation 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 anthem
note: as a Special Administrative Region of China, "Yiyonggjun Jinxingqu" is the official anthem (see China)
Economy
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.
50 fieldsGDP - composition by sector(2009 est.)
Trading partnersexports left, imports right
Electricity
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 552,300 hosted nearly 25 million visitors in 2010. Almost 53% came from mainland China. Macau's traditional manufacturing industry has virtually disappeared since the termination of the Multi-Fiber Agreement in 2005.
In 2010, total exports were less than US$900 million, while gaming receipts were almost US$24 billion, a 58% increase over 2009. 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 is Macau's second largest goods export market, behind Hong Kong, and followed by the United States. Macau's currency, the pataca, is closely tied to the Hong Kong dollar, which is also freely accepted in the territory.
Labor force - by occupation
- manufacturing:
- 4.3%
- construction:
- 8.7%
- transport and communications:
- 5.5%
- wholesale and retail trade:
- 13.3%
- restaurants and hotels:
- 12.7%
- gambling:
- 13.3%
- public sector:
- 6.7%
- financial services:
- 2.4%
- other services and agriculture:
- 33.2% (2010)
Commercial bank prime lending rate
5.3% (31 December 2010 est.) · 5.25% (31 December 2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 161
Stock of narrow money
$2.495 billion (31 December 2010 est.) · $2.38 billion (31 December 2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 117
Stock of broad money
$30.33 billion (31 December 2010 est.) · $26.56 billion (31 December 2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 75
Stock of domestic credit
$1.372 billion (31 December 2010 est.) · $701.1 million (31 December 2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 143
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
Exports
$870 million (2010 est.) · $973 million (2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 157 note: includes reexports
Imports - commodities
raw materials and semi-manufactured goods, consumer goods (foodstuffs, beverages, tobacco), capital goods, mineral fuels and oils
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold
$23.73 billion (2010) (2010) country comparison to the world: 53
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home
$12.1 billion (2008 est.) · $10.5 billion (#REF! est.) country comparison to the world: 79
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad
$240 million (2009 est.) · $964 million (2008) country comparison to the world: 80
Exchange rates
patacas (MOP) per US dollar - 8.002 (2010) · 7.983 (2008) · 8.011 (2007) · 8.0015 (2006)
Communications
7 fieldsTelephone 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 (2010)
Transportation
5 fieldsAirports by runway lengthpaved only
Military
No regular military forces
5 fieldsTransnational Issues
2 fieldsIllicit drugs
transshipment point for drugs going into mainland China; consumer of opiates and amphetamines
Cite this entry
Central Intelligence Agency. “Macau.” The World Factbook 2011. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/macau/2011.