About Macao

Geography and Population Geographical Location

The Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR) is a part of China’s territory. It is located on the Southeast coast of China to the west of the Pearl River Delta. Bordering on Guangdong Province, it locates 60km from Hong Kong and 145km from the city of Guangzhou. Local time is eight hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time.

Area
Due to land reclamation along its coastline, Macao has grown in land area from 10.28km2 in the 19th century to 29.2 km2 today, which is equal to one-fortieth of Hong Kong and one twenty-third of Singapore. Macao consists of the Macao peninsula and the two islands of Taipa and Coloane. Three bridges, Nobre de Carvalho Bridge, Friendship Bridge (Ponte da Amizade) and Sai Van Bridge, link the peninsula to Taipa, while the two islands are linked by the six-lane 2.2km Taipa-Coloane Causeway.

Population
The population of Macao is estimated to be 541,200 . Population density is 18535/km2, and the northern part of the peninsula is one of the most densely populated areas in the world.

According to the results of the by-census 2006, as at 19 August 2006, 48.8% of the resident population were male and 51.2% were female. In terms of age structure, the youth population aged under 15 shared 15.2% of the total, and 77.7% are aged between 15 and 64. Those aged 65 years and older accounts for 7% of the population. Average life span for both sexes is over 79 years old.

Chinese and Portuguese are the official languages of Macao, and more than 95% of the population speak Chinese. Portuguese is spoken by about 0.6% and the remainder speak English, Filipino or other languages.

According to the results of the by-census 2006, more than 78% of Macao’s population have been living in the territory for more than 10 years. Meanwhile, 42.5% of the population were born in Macao and 47.1% were born in the Mainland, while 10.4% of residents are from other regions.

Climate
Macao’s climate is warm and humid with a fairly wide variation in temperature over the year. From June to September, the temperature can rise to over 30ºC while it can drop to less than 10ºC from November to February. The average temperature seldom falls below 14ºC. Macao’s weather is also influenced by tropical cyclones from the South China Sea and North Western Pacific Ocean during the typhoon season between May and September.

Source: www.gov.mo