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| See also: | Other events of 2002 History of Macau | ||||
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| See also: | Other events of 2002 History of Macau | ||||
Macau or Macao is a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about 710,000 people and a land area of 32.9 km2 (12.7 sq mi), it is the most densely populated region in the world.
The economy of Macau is a highly developed market economy. Macau's economy has remained one of the most open in the world since its handover to China in 1999. Apparel exports and gambling-related tourism are mainstays of the economy. Since Macau has little arable land and few natural resources, it depends on mainland 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. Although Macau was hit hard by the 1997–98 Asian financial crisis and the early 2000s recession, its economy grew approximately 13.1% annually on average between 2001 and 2006. Macau is a full Member of the World Trade Organization. Public security has greatly improved after handover to the People's Republic of China. With the tax revenue from the profitable gambling industry, the Macau government is able to introduce the social welfare program of 15 years of free education to all Macau citizens. In 2015, Macau's economy saw a sharp decrease due to the reduced spending by visitors from Mainland China since the Anti-corruption campaign under Xi Jinping.
The People's Liberation Army Macao Garrison is a garrison of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), responsible for defense duties in the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) since the sovereignty of Macau was transferred to China in 1999.
Macau International Airport is an international airport in the special administrative region of Macau, situated at the eastern end of Taipa island and neighbouring waters. It opened for commercial operations on 9 November 1995, during Portuguese administration of the region.
The Macanese people are a multiracial East Asian ethnic group that originated in Macau in the 16th century, consisting of people of predominantly mixed Cantonese and Portuguese as well as Malay, Japanese, English, Dutch, Sinhalese, and Indian ancestry.
Gambling in Macau, a special administrative region of China, is the only place in China where casinos are legal. Gambling has been legal since the 1850s when the Portuguese government legalised the activity in the autonomous colony. After the handover of Macau from Portugal to China, Macau and the business has grown at an astounding pace since 2001, when the government ended the four-decade gambling monopoly of the Hong Kong billionaire Stanley Ho. With the entry of large foreign casinos from Las Vegas and Australia, Macau overtook the Las Vegas Strip in gambling revenues in 2007. Since then, Macau has become known worldwide as the "gambling capital of the world", grossing the highest amount of gambling/gaming revenue and greatly dwarfing all the other gambling centers/cities.
The Macau national football team represents the Chinese special administrative region of Macau in international association football. The team is supervised by the Macau Football Association. The Macau football team has a ranking that is one of the lowest among the FIFA members.
Air Macau is the flag carrier of Macau. It operates services to 24 destinations in Mainland China, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, from the airline's home base at Macau International Airport. In 2014, Air Macau carried 2.12 million passengers with an average load factor of 68.20% and carried 15,900 tonnes of cargo and mail.
Hengqin is an island that lies mostly in Zhuhai, a prefecture-level city and special economic zone in Guangdong Province of the People's Republic of China. It has a population of about 3,000. Parts of Hengqin are leased to Macau by the State Council of the People's Republic of China, starting from 2009, mostly to house the new campus of the University of Macau. In the leased parts of the island, Macau law applies.
The Macau Grand Prix is an annual motorsport road racing event for automobiles and motorcycles held on the Guia Circuit in Macau. The event includes the Formula Regional and Motorcycle Grand Prix title races, with other races for touring, grand touring and sports cars.
Centro Desportivo Olímpico - Estádio is a multi-purpose stadium in Taipa, Macau. It was formerly named Estádio Campo Desportivo (澳門運動場) before the reconstruction of the stadium had been completed.
Under the Basic Law, Macau's diplomatic relations and defence are the responsibility of the central government of China. Except diplomatic relations and defence, nonetheless, Macau has retained considerable autonomy in all aspects, including economic and commercial relations, customs control.
Liga de Elite, previously known as Campeonato da 1ª Divisão do Futebol, is the top division of the Macau Football Association, created in 1973. The league features local players and professional foreign players. Due to the lack of football fields in Macau, most matches are played at the Estádio Campo Desportivo. As with Hong Kong, the league is separate from the mainland Chinese football league system. The league is generally played between January and July of each calendar year.
The Macau Light Rapid Transit is a mass transit system in Macau and the first railway system of the city. The first phase of the project's construction began in February 2012, and the first section of the Taipa line was opened to the public on 10 December 2019. The Barra extension of the Taipa line opened in 2023, with the Seac Pai Van and Hengqin lines opened in 2024.
The Macau Open Badminton Championships is an open international championship in badminton held in Macau. In the 2002 International Badminton Federation (IBF) calendar, the first badminton tournament in Macau was held as Macau Satellite. IBF then included the tournament in the Grand Prix event in 2006, after that the tournament was categorised by the Badminton World Federation as Grand Prix Gold event in 2007, which carried a total prize money of US$120,000. After the new event structure updated by the BWF in 2017, the Macau Open categorized as the BWF World Tour Super 300 which began to be implemented in 2018. The Macau Open was on hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic starting from 2020 to 2023, and will return to the BWF calendar in 2024.
Macau – United States relations are bilateral relations between Macau and the United States.
The Macau Resident Identity Card or BIR is an official identity card issued by the Identification Services Bureau of Macau. There are two types of Resident Identity Cards: one for permanent residents and one for non-permanent residents.
Lotus TV Macau, owned by Macau Lotus TV Media via Satélite, Limitada, is a Macanese satellite TV channel broadcast via satellite through Apstar 7.
Formula Asia, also known as Asian Formula 2000, was a class of open wheel formula racing. The formula used an Argo chassis coupled with a 16-valve Ford Zetec 1,800cc engine.
Macau was a Portuguese colony from the establishment of the first official Portuguese settlement of Macau in 1557 to its handover to China in 1999. It comprised the Municipality of Macau and the Municipality of Ilhas. Macau was both the first and last European holding in China.
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