Macau is located on the southeastern coast of China, at latitude 22° 14' North and longitude 113° 35' East. The territory comprises a peninsula and two islands in the Pearl River delta of Guangdong Province. Some 60 kms to the northeast, across the mouth of the river, is HongKong, an important financial and trading centre. 
The city of Macau is built on the peninsula; two bridges of 2.5 kms and 4.5 kms respectively link it to its nearest island of Taipa, which in turn is joined to Coloane by a 2.2 km-long causeway. At the extreme northern end of the peninsula, on a narrow isthmus, is the imposing gateway (Portas do Cerco, or Border Gate), which leads to the Zhuhai and Zhongshan areas of China.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Area
The territory has a total area of 21.09 sq. km. The peninsula is 7.49 sq. km, including the Praia Grande reclamation project. Taipa island, including the airport, is 5.79 sq. km. and Coloane is 7.81 sq. km. 
Climate
The climate is moderate to hot, with an average annual temperature of just over 20°C (68°F) and a yearly mean variation between 16°C (50°F) and 25°C (77°F). The humidity is high with an average range between 75% and 90%. Rainfall is also high with the yearly total between 40 and 80 ins. The best season is autumn (October - December) when days are sunny and warm and the humidity is low. The winter (January March) is cold but sunny. In April, the humidity starts to build up and from May to September the climate is hot and humid with rain and occasional tropical storms (typhoons).
Government
Macau is officially a territory under Portuguese administration. It enjoys administrative and financial autonomy under the Organic Statutes published in 1976 and revised in May 1990. The Governor is appointed by the President of the Portuguese Republic and is aided by an Advisory Council and, in his executive functions, by the maximum of seven Under-Secretaries in charge of relevant sectors of the administration. There is a Legislative Assembly of 23 members, 16 of them being elected (eight by direct suffrage and eight by indirect suffrage) and the remainder being appointed by the Governor. The Chairman of the Legislative Assembly is elected from among its members.
In accordance with the Joint Luso-Chinese Declaration, China will resume sovereignty over Macau on December 21, 1999 and the territory will become a Special Administrative Region.
Population
The total population is estimated at approximately 455,000 with about 95% of the population Chinese and 5% Portuguese, Europeans and from other regions.
Language
Potuguese and Chinese are the two official languages, with Cantonese the most widely spoken. English is Macau's third language and is generally used in trade, tourism and commerce.
Currency
The pataca (composed of 100 avos) is the of ficial unit of currency in Macau. It is available in coins and banknotes in denominations of:
Coins: 10, 20, 50, avos; 1 & 5 patacas.
Banknotes: 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, & 1000 patacas.
The Macau pataca can be freely converted into Portuguese escudos or Chinese yuan. It is pegged to the Hong Kong dollar - which is circulated freely in Macau at the rate of 103.20 patacas =HK$100.00, with a permissible variation of up to 10%.
Religion
There is complete freedom of worship in Macau. The main religion are Buddhism, Catholicism and Protestantism. The majority are Buddhists while 7% are Catholics.
History
The Portuguese settled in Macau between 1554 and 1557 during the great era of Portuguese exploration initiated by Prince Henry the Navigator. Vasco da Gama made his historic voyage to India at the end of the 15th century, and early in the 16th century the Portuguese explorers moved further east and then turned north.
Jorge Alvares became the first Portuguese to set foot in Southern China in 1513 and this visit was followed by the establishment of a number of Portuguese trading centres in the area. These were eventually consolidated at Macau which boomed with a virtual monopoly on trade between China and Japan and between both nations and Europe.
Macau also served as a vital base for the introduction of Christianity to China and Japan, an activity which provided the city with some of the most glorious, and tempestuous, moments in its history. Because of the prosperity it was enjoying and its privileged location, other European nations began casting covetous looks at Macau and plotted to seize it from Portugal. The Dutch actually tried to invade the city in 1622 but were repulsed.
As time passed and other trading nations from the west sent missions to China, Macau became the summer residence for the taipans (great traders) who retreated from their "factories" in Guangzhou (better known perhaps as Canton) to await the opening of the trading season.
Then in 1841, the British settled in HongKong, an island 40 miles east-northeast of Macau. Its deep-water attracted ships and trade shifted to the Crown Colony. The economic importance of Macau declined as Hong Kong developed into one of the world's major commercial centres. Nevertheless, Macau is still regarded as an important distribution outlet for rice, fish, piece goods and other Chinese products and enjoys an active manufacturing and exporting business, mainly of textiles and garments, toys, electronics and footwear. 
Although it has witnessed many changes during its 440 years of existence, Macau has always been a stronghold of Portuguese presence and culture in the Far East. Macau has proudly flown Portugal's flag continuously even when the Motherland's throne was occupied by a foreign king, in the 17th century. When Portuguese rule was re-established, 60 years later, the city of Macau was granted the official name of:
CIDADE DO NOME DE DEUS DE MACAU, NAO HA OUTRAMAIS LEAL
(City of the Name of God, Macau, There is None More Loyal).
The Name of Macau
Macau is derived from the name of a Chinese goddess, popular with seafarers and fishermen, known as A-Ma or Ling Ma. The village where Macau now stands was previously known to the Chinese as Hou Kong or Hoi Keang.
According to legend, a junk sailing across the South China Sea one clear day found itself in a sudden storm. Everybody on board was about to give up all hope of surviving this natural calamity, when an attractive young woman, who had boarded the ship at the very last minute, stood up and ordered the elements to calm down. Miraculously, the gale winds stopped blowing and the sea became calm. Without further incident, the junk arrived safely at the port of Hoi Keang. The young woman stepped ashore and walked to the crest of the nearby Barra Hill where, in a glowing halo of light and perfume, she ascended into heaven. On the particular spot where she set foot on land, a temple was built in homage to her. Centuries later, when Portuguese sailors landed and asked the name of the place, the natives replied A-Ma-Gao (Bay of A-Ma). And so the peninsula was renamed. In modern usage, Amagao was shortened to Macau.
