Macau or Macao, officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a population of about 680,000 and an area of 32.9 km2 (12.7 sq mi), it is the most densely populated region in the world.
Macau is a special administrative region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China. It was leased to Portugal in 1557 as a trading post in exchange for a symbolic annual rent of 500 tael. Despite remaining under Chinese sovereignty and authority, the Portuguese came to consider and administer Macau as a de facto colony. Following the signing of the Treaty of Nanking between China and Britain in 1842, and the signing of treaties between China and foreign powers during the 1860s, establishing the benefit of "the most favoured nation" for them, the Portuguese attempted to conclude a similar treaty in 1862, but the Chinese refused, owing to a misunderstanding over the sovereignty of Macau. In 1887 the Portuguese finally managed to secure an agreement from China that Macau was Portuguese territory. In 1999 it was handed over to China. Macau was the last extant European territory in continental Asia.
Macau is a Special Administrative Region on the southern coast of China. It is located at the south of Guangdong Province, on the tip of the peninsula formed by the Zhujiang estuary on the east and the Xijiang on the west. Macau is situated 60 km (37 mi) west of Hong Kong, and 145 km (90 mi) southwest of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province. It is situated immediately east and south of Zhuhai.
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 which opened for commercial operations on 9 November 1995, during Portuguese administration of the region.
Taipa is an area in Macau, connected to Coloane through the area known as Cotai, which is largely built from reclaimed land. Located on the northern half of the island, Taipa’s population is mostly suburban. Administratively, the boundaries of the traditional civil parish Freguesia de Nossa Senhora do Carmo are mostly coterminous with that of the former Taipa Island, except for a portion of the parish that lies on the island of Hengqin (Montanha), housing the campus of the University of Macau.
Coloane is the southernmost area in Macau, connected to Taipa through the area known as Cotai, which is largely built from reclaimed land. Known as “Lou Wan” in Cantonese, Coloane forms the southern part of Macau. Its population consists of several settlements dotted around the parish, such as Vila de Coloane, Hac Sa, Ká-Hó, and Cheoc Van. Administratively, the boundaries of the traditional civil parish of São Francisco Xavier are coterminous with that of Coloane.
The Macau Peninsula is the most populous and historical part of Macau. It has an area of 8.5 square kilometers (3.3 sq mi) and is geographically connected to Guangdong Province at the northeast through an isthmus 200 meters (660 ft) wide. The peninsula, together with downtown Zhuhai, sits on an island separated from the continent by distributaries of the Pearl River. The Border Gate was built on the northern isthmus. At the south, the peninsula is connected to Taipa Island by three bridges, the Friendship Bridge ; the Macau-Taipa Bridge ; and the Sai Van Bridge . The longest axis extends 4 kilometers (2.5 mi) from the Border Gate to the southwestern edge, Barra (媽閣嘴). There is a western "Inner Harbor" (內港) paralleled by an "Outer Harbor" (外港) to the east. The 93 meters (305 ft) Guia Hill (松山) is the highest point on the peninsula, which has an average elevation of 50 to 75 meters. Many coastal places are reclaimed from the sea. The Historic Centre of Macau, which is entirely on the Macau Peninsula, became a World Heritage Site in 2005.
By the end of Portuguese rule, Macau was administratively divided into two municipalities and seven civil parishes. Parishes were administrative subdivisions of the municipalities. After the 1999 handover to China, parishes are still officially recognized divisions but for symbolic reasons only.
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.
Tourism is a major industry in Macau. It is famous for the blend of Portuguese and Chinese cultures and its gambling industry, which includes Casino Lisboa, Macau, Sands Macau, The Venetian Macao, and Wynn Macau.
Cotai is a 5.2-square-kilometer (2.0 sq mi) piece of reclaimed land on the top of the Seac Pai Bay between Taipa and Coloane islands in Macau that has connected two independent islands since 2005. The name, which is a portmanteau of Coloane and Taipa, can also refer to the island formed by the reclaimation. In the second sense, the Special Administrative Region of Macau now consists of the Macau Peninsula, plus Cotai Island, about a mile to the south.
The Cotai Strip is the central area of Cotai, mostly known for its cluster of resort hotels and casinos. The term was first coined by Las Vegas Sands Corporation regarding its building of a strip of hotel-casinos in the Cotai section of Macau.
The Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau, SA is a company in Macau owned by the family of Stanley Ho. Historically, it held a monopoly to Macau's gambling industry as the only licensee for casinos. In 2002, the government of Macau began issuing more licenses and the monopoly was broken. Still, of the 41 operating casinos in Macau, 22 are owned by STDM, as of 2019.
The Macau Light Rapid Transit is a mass transit system in Macau and is also the first railway system in Macau. The first phase of the project started construction in February 2012, and the first section of the Taipa line was opened to the public on 10 December 2019, followed by the Barra Station Extend Line on 8 December 2023. MLRT is operated by MTR (Macau), a wholly-owned subsidiary of MTR.
Cotai Water Jet is a company that operates high-speed ferry services between the special administrative regions of Macau and Hong Kong. It is one of the two companies operating high-speed ferry services between the two territories – the other one being TurboJET.
Wanzai, Small Hengqin and Great Hengqin are three islands located to the west of the Macau Peninsula and the Macau islands of Taipa and Coloane that were under Portuguese influence. They were inhabited by a very small Chinese population in its early history.
Freguesia de Nossa Senhora do Carmo is a civil parish in Macao Special Administrative Region. The major part of the freguesia is located in Taipa but it runs through to Hengqin Island in mainland China. The freguesia is named after the Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Carmo. It is the largest freguesia in Macau with an area of 7.9 square kilometers.
The architecture of Macau is the architecture that is found in Macau. Macau has diverse architecture from the casinos in its casino region to its tallest building, Grand Lisboa. Macau is influenced by both Cantonese and Portuguese cultures.
