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See also: | Other events of 2018 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 special administrative regions (SAR) of the People's Republic of China are one of four types of province-level divisions of the People's Republic of China directly under the control of its Central People's Government, being integral areas of the country. As a region, they possess the highest degree of autonomy from China's central government. However, despite the relative autonomy that the Central People's Government offers the special administrative regions, the National People's Congress and its Standing Committee remain capable of enforcing laws for the special administrative regions.
"Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addition to the geographical mainland, the geopolitical sense of the term includes islands such as Hainan, Chongming, and Zhoushan. By convention, territories outside of mainland China include:
"One country, two systems" is a constitutional principle of the People's Republic of China (PRC) describing the governance of the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.
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.
Chinese nationality law details the conditions by which a person holds nationality of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The primary law governing these requirements is the Nationality Law of the People's Republic of China, which came into force on September 10, 1980.
The Macau Football Association is the governing body of association football in Macau SAR of China.
Religion in Macau is represented predominantly by Buddhism and Chinese folk religions. During the period in which the city was under Portuguese rule (1557–1999) the Catholic Church became one of the dominant faiths, but nowadays it has greatly declined.
The Government of the Macau Special Administrative Region, commonly known as the Macau Government, is the executive authorities of Macau. Formed on 20 December 1999 in accordance with the Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration, it is headed by secretariats or commissioners and report directly to the chief executive. The affairs of the government are decided by secretaries, who are appointed by the chief executive and endorsed by the State Council of the Central People's Government in Beijing. As a special administrative region of China, Macau has a high degree of autonomy, in light of the "One Country, Two Systems" policy. The Macau Government, financially independent from the Central People's Government, oversees the affairs of Macau.
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 handover of Macau from the Portuguese Republic to the People's Republic of China was at midnight on 20 December 1999. This event ended 442 years of Portuguese rule in the former colony, which began in 1557.
Ho Iat Seng is a Macau politician who served as the third chief executive of Macau from 2019 to 2024.
The Central Leading Group on Hong Kong and Macau Affairs is an internal policy coordination group of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), reporting to the CCP Politburo, in charge of supervising and coordinating Beijing's policies towards the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Macau was a part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The first known case of the disease in the special administrative region of China was confirmed on 22 January 2020. The city saw nine more cases by 4 February, but no more cases until 15 March, when imported cases began to appear. Stringent government measures have included the 15-day closure of all 81 casinos in the territory in February 2020; in addition, effective 25 March, the territory disallowed connecting flights at its airport as well as entry by all non-residents, and from 6 April, the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge was closed to public transport and most other traffic.
The 2020 TCR China season was the fourth season of the TCR's Chinese Touring Car Championship.
This article contains the number of cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) reported by each country and territory to the World Health Organization in October 2020 and published in the latter's daily 'situation reports'.