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 11.6 square kilometres in 1912 to 30.3 square kilometres. 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 COTAI Reclamation Area.

Population

The population of Macao is estimated to be 631,000 . Population density is 20826/square kilometre, and the northern part of the peninsula is one of the most densely populated areas in the world.

The population has increased rapidly over the past 20 years, with an annual growth of four percent. In 2013, the growth rate was 4.4 percent. The natural growth rate was 0.78 percent in 2013. The number of net immigrants was 20,900, a year-on-year rise of 8.9 percent. The increase was mainly attributed to the influx of non-resident workers.

Population estimate of Macao as at 31 December 2013: 48.6 percent of the resident population were male and 51.4 percent were female. In terms of age structure, the youth population aged under 14 makes up 11.3 percent of the total, and 80.7 percent are aged between 15 and 64. Those aged 65 years and older accounts for eight percent of the population.

The results of the Census 2011 also indicated that among the population of 582,000, 92.3 percent was Chinese, 0.9 percent was Portuguese, and 2.7 percent was Filipino.

Chinese and Portuguese are the official languages of Macao, and more than 94 percent of the population speak Chinese. Portuguese is spoken by about 0.7 percent and the remainder speak English or other languages.

According to the results of the Census 2011, more than 50 percent of Macao’s population have been living in the territory for more than 15 years. Meanwhile, 40.9 percent of the population were born in Macao and 46.2 percent were born in the Mainland, while more than 10 percent of residents are from other regions.

Climate

Macao is situated in a subtropical zone, with the Asian continent to the north and a wide tropical sea to the south. In winter, Macao experiences a north wind, cold and dry weather and low rainfall, due to a cold continental high-pressure system at medium and high latitudes. In summer, Macao is mainly subject to southwesterly winds, hot and wet weather and heavy rainfall, due to the influence of oceanic tropical weather systems.

Macao has an average annual temperature of 22.6ºC. The coolest month is January, when it averages 15.1ºC. Most years, Macao has a short, cold weather period when temperatures fall below 5ºC. The average monthly temperature exceeds 22ºC during seven months of the year.

Macao is frequently hit by typhoons. The typhoon season starts in May and ends in October, with July and August as its peak period.

More information: Statistics and Census Service (http://www.dsec.gov.mo) / Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (http://www.smg.gov.mo) 

(Source: www.gov.mo)