Macao Location:
22°10'00'N, 113°33'00'E
Macao Geography:
Macau is 60 kilometres (37 miles) southwest of Hong Kong and 145 kilometres (90 miles) from Guangzhou. It consists of a peninsula, and the islands of Taipa and Coloane. The peninsula is formed by the Zhujiang (Pearl River) estuary on the east and the Xijiang (West River) on the west. It borders the Zhuhai Special Economic Zone in mainland China. Macau has a generally flat terrain resulting from extensive land reclamation, but numerous steep hills mark the original natural land mass. The Macau peninsula was originally an island, but gradually a connecting sandbar turned into a narrow isthmus. Land reclamation in the seventeenth century made Macau into a peninsula. With a dense urban environment, Macau has no arable land, pastures, forest, or woodland. Because of this deficiency, Macau's people traditionally have looked to the sea for their livelihood.
Macau has a humid subtropical climate. Seasonal climate is greatly influenced by the monsoons and therefore temperature difference between summer and winter is fairly noticeable. The average annual temperature of Macau is 22.3 °C.[24] July is the hottest month, with average monthly temperature being 28.6 °C (daytime temperatures are usually above 30 °C). The coldest month is January, with average monthly temperature 14.5 °C (occasionally temperature drops below 10 °C). Located in the coastal region of south the People's Republic of China, Macau has ample rainfall, with average annual precipitation being 2,030 millimetres. However, winter is mostly dry due to the monsoon from mainland China. The humidity is high with an average range between 75% and 90%. The best season in Macau is autumn (i.e. October - December) when days are sunny & warm and the humidity is basically low. Winter (i.e. January - March) is relatively cold but sunny. In spring (i.e. start from April), the humidity starts to increase and in summer (i.e. May to September) the climate is hot and humid with rain and casual typhoons.
Macao People:
Population
- 2007 (1st qtr) estimate 520,400[2] (167th)
- 2000 census 431,000
- Density 17,310 /km2 (2nd)
44,784 /sq mi
Macao Government:
Government
- Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau-wah
The status of Macau since reverting to People's Republic of China sovereignty on 20 December 1999 is defined in the Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration and the Basic Law, Macau's constitution promulgated by China's National People's Congress in 1993. The Joint Declaration and the Basic Law specify that Macau's social and economic system, lifestyle, rights, and freedoms are to remain unchanged for at least 50 years.
Macao Economy:
Macau's economy is based largely on tourism, much of it geared toward gambling. In view of Macau's small population and limited land resources, the Government of Macau has launched a policy of close cooperation with the Pearl River Delta and the neighboring Guangdong province while expanding trade contacts with the rest of the world. Other chief economic activities in Macau are export-geared textile and garment manufacturing, banking and other financial services. The clothing industry has provided about three quarters of export earnings, and the gaming, tourism and hospitality industry is estimated to contribute more than 50% of Macau's GDP, and 70% of Macau government revenue. Macau is a founding member of the WTO and has a representative office at the organization's headquarters in Geneva. Market-opening pledges largely in the sphere of financial services has been made at the WTO[27] and Macau has maintained sound economic and trade relations with more than 120 countries and regions with European Union and Portuguese-speaking countries in particular. Macau currently participates in the IMF[28] and the World Bank classifies it as a high income economy along with developed economies and some developing economies as Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.[29] The average growth rate of economy in Macau between 2001 and 2006 were approximately 13.1% annually. In last two quarter of 2006, the GDP of Macao was grown by 22.05%. The GDP per capita in 2006 was USD $28,436. In the fourth quarter of 2006, the unemployment rate stood at 3.5%.[30]
From 9.1 million visitors in 2000, arrivals to Macau has grown to 18.7 million visitors in 2005,[31] 21.98 million visitors in 2006 and is expected to receive between 24 and 25 million visitors in 2007,[32] with over 50% of the arrivals coming from mainland China. This recent growth has been driven by gambling and related tourism. Tourists from Hong Kong remain numerous, representing about 30% of arrivals. Since the 1999 return to Chinese rule, Triad underworld violence, a dark spot on the economy, has virtually disappeared, to the benefit of the tourism sector. Macau also received the Future Award 2007, for being regarded the most promising future tourism destination in Asia, voted by 26,000 German travel trade members of GoAsia; an association that includes tour operators, airline companies, among many others.[33] Macau has been currently rated as one of the world's top tourism destinations by the World Tourism Organization.[34]
Since 1850, gambling has been licensed and has always been an important source of earning for the government. In the early 1960s, gambling provided 50 percent of official revenue. Starting in 1962, the gambling industry has been operated under a government-issued monopoly license by the Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau. With the opening of the Sands Macau, the largest casino in the world as measured by total number of table games,[35][36] in 2004 and Wynn Macau[37] in 2006, gambling revenues from Macau's casinos were for the first time greater than those of Las Vegas Strip (each about $6 billion),[38][39] making Macau the highest-volume gambling centre in the world.[40] Other casinos and hotels slated to be opened through 2009 are: The Venetian Macao (2007), Four Seasons (2008), MGM Grand Macau (2007), Ponte 16 (2007), Far East Consortium Complex (2007), Grand Hyatt (2009), Galaxy Cotai Megaresort (2008), City of Dreams (2008), Oceanus (2008), Mandarin Oriental (2009). The first Phase of Macau's Cotai Strip is scheduled to open in 2007 and will include 19,000 guest rooms throughout seven resort hotels,[41] with the $1.8 billion Venetian Macao serving as the anchor.[42] The head of Virgin Group Sir Richard Branson is in the latter stage of negotiation to secure land in Macau, where he is going to set up a US$3 billion casino resort complex.[43] As a result, Macau's economy is growing rapidly due to gambling related tourism and construction from the new casino entrants.
Along with Bermuda, British Virgin Islands or Bahamas, Macau is one of the best known offshore financial centres[44] and tax havens in a worldwide sense.[45] Banco Nacional Ultramarino, Bank of China, Seng Heng Bank and Tai Fung Bank are among the most influential banks. There are also many foreign banks registered and established in Macau as well, including Bank of America - Macau and HSBC - Macau. Macau is a free port with low-taxes and no monetary control policy imposed.[46] Operations of offshore service businesses are feasible in Macau because of related offshore law that has been in effect since 1999. The offshore finance business is regulated and supervised by the Monetary Authority of Macao,[47] while the regulation and supervision of the offshore non-finance business is mainly controlled by the Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute.
Macao More Information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macao |
