Macau really surprises and amazes many. This area until 1999 was a Portuguese colony. And today it is a modern and quite famous Asian region, chosen by tourists and travelers from around the world. This is where masses of people come together - especially fans of all kinds of casinos.
This place consists of three parts - Macau itself (Aomyn), located on the territory of the mainland and the islands of Koloan and Taipa. At the last is the international airport.
What is this Chinese area? What nations represent its population? What is the name of the monetary unit Macau (Macau)? All answers to these and many other questions can be found in this article.
A Brief History of Macau
The Portuguese in 1553 bribed the local authorities of Guangdong, thereby gaining the right to anchor and trade near Macau. Since 1557, they slowly began to settle more firmly in it. In the XVI – XVIII centuries, the Portuguese completely leased Macau from China and began to use it as a transshipment base in trade with Japan and China. As a result, the Qing Empire transferred the Macau to Portugal under an agreement of 1887.
In late summer 1979, Portugal restored diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China and recognized that Macau (Macau) is part of China and is only temporarily under Portuguese control. According to the Sino-Portuguese Declaration signed in the spring of 1987, the dates for the return of the Aomin region to China's jurisdiction were determined. This is December 1999.
Composition of the population
Before turning to the answer to the question about which capital of Macau country, we will consider the composition of the population of this amazing place. The population density here is the highest in the world (17 531 people per 1 square kilometer). The average age is 35.2 years, life expectancy is on average 82.03 years (for women - almost 85 years, for men - 79.2 years).
Most of the population (approximately 95%) are Chinese (Hakka, Cantonese, etc.), the rest are Portuguese, people of Chinese-Portuguese descent (Macao), Japanese (including descendants of Japanese Catholics who were expelled after the 17th century), English, etc. .
The official languages are Chinese, Portuguese. The population speaks Cantonese (South Chinese) and other dialects of the Chinese language, as well as the Creole dialect of the Portuguese language. The language of business communication is English.
Buddhism is practiced by 50% of the district’s inhabitants, Catholics make up 15% of the population and the remaining 35% are either unbelievers or other denominations.
Characteristics of the Macau region
Macau is a special administrative region, an autonomous territory that is part of the PRC. Location - East Asia, South China, coast of the South China Sea. This place is located at the mouth of the river. Pearl River. From the north, it borders with Guangdong (a Chinese province).
The length of the entire coastline is 41 kilometers. The area of the district is 25.4 square kilometers. The administrative center or capital is Macau (Macau). The population as of 2004 is more than 445 thousand people.
Features
The territory of the district is divided into two districts - Ostrovnoy and Severny. Each has municipal councils and assemblies. This peculiar administrative district is located 75 km from the city of Hong Kong (or Hong Kong).
Being part of the Republic of China, the Macau region has autonomy, having its own laws, monetary, legal, emigration and customs systems. The central government of China is in charge of diplomatic relations and defense. Macau will maintain its autonomy status until 2049.
The monetary unit of Macau (Macau) is Pataca.
Nature and climate
The peninsula is formed by an estuary (a mouth expanding in the direction of the sea) of the Pearl River in the east and the Xijiang River in the west. The territory has a predominantly flat surface, formed as a result of the gradual capture of land by the sea. The numerous remains of the former relief are steep hills.
Previously, the peninsula was an island, but in the XVII century it was combined with the mainland. The other two islands are connected to the main part of the area by two bridges and a road.
Basically, the territory is built up with various structures, agricultural land, forests and pastures are absent. And yet, more than 22% of the territory is occupied by green spaces. The highest point is Coloan Alto (172.4 meters).
The climate of the region is tropical marine, with dry and cool winters, rainy and hot summers. The average annual temperature is +25 ° , winter - +14 ° , from summer to early autumn - +30 ° . Macau is subject to severe tropical storms, which most often come from the South Pacific during the summer.
Capital
Quite unusual is the fact that the former colony of Portugal Macau (Aomin) has its capital, Aomin. That is, the state and the capital are of the same name. This is the official name of the capital of the region, mired in European gambling.
Today, this city-state is one of the most densely populated in the world, as well as the largest gambling den on the entire planet. Here is the world's largest casino "Venice". When walking around the Old Town, it seems that this place is somewhere in a European state (if you do not pay attention to street signs with Chinese characters). Here you can see temples and fortresses. This is an extraordinary city in which the East and the West, modern skyscrapers and ancient temples of different faiths are combined in a strange way. It is a city of casinos and big money.
The city of Macau, as noted above, can be divided into several zones: the Macau Peninsula and two interconnected islands - Koloan and Taipa. On the mainland of Macau is the old part of the city - the Portuguese, and on the island of Taipa there are casinos, huge skyscrapers and residential buildings. Koloan Island, located at some distance from the hustle and bustle, borders on China. That is, from China, if you cross the border on foot, you get to this island.
Macau is a developing modern coastal city with an interesting history, diverse architecture and lots of attractions. Relatively close to it are such major cities of China as Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
Architecture features
The central part of the capital of Macau, which is the most interesting and attractive for tourists, is located on the peninsula of the same name. This large section of the peninsula, with 25 historical and architectural buildings on its territory, has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
This small piece of land (30 sq. Km.) In the middle of the XVI century was captured by a Portuguese expedition from the Ming Empire. Since then, forts were built here, the peninsula began to be actively built up, moreover in the European style.
In the port city, the capital of Macau, neighborhoods with Western European buildings side by side with traditionally Chinese houses. Despite such an unusual mixture of styles, the village looks quite cozy, organic and attractive. He has his own face.
sights
More than 25 million visitors from China and many other countries arrive in Macau annually. Without a doubt, such an unusual city - the capital of Macau - deserves respect and attention. For tourists and travelers interested in architecture and history, there is something to see and learn.
The main attractions of Macau:
- Largo del Senado (Senate Square);
- the surviving ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral;
- Macau Cathedral Church;
- a tower in shape resembling the Ostankino (southern part of the peninsula);
- the bishop's palace and church on Peña (top of the hill);
- Protestant Chapel (1922 building);
- Koloan village;
- St. Paul's Fortress;
- Maritime Museum (250 exhibits);
- A-Ma Temple (building of 1448);
- Church of St. Domingo;
- Camoens Grotto.
While in the capital of Macau, you should definitely visit the famous and popular among tourists “Fishermen's Wharf”. This area is a masterpiece of architecture of various countries and eras. There is also a Wine Museum in these places (an area of 1,400 square meters).
This city is especially attracted by passionate gambling enthusiasts. This is the only place in China where gambling is legal. The largest and most chic place for this is the Venetian Palace. The grandiose complex, which began operations in 2007, is not inferior in its luxury to the famous Las Vegas casinos. In addition to Venetian, there are 27 more such establishments in the city.
Industry and Agriculture
In the city of Macau (China), the clothing and textile industries, the production of optics, radio electronics, footwear, artificial flowers, leather products, food products, and others are quite widely developed. Clothing and textile products in 1999 accounted for approximately 84% of the total exports of this region. Then many private entrepreneurs moved their enterprises to mainland China, and production began to gradually decline.
Vegetables and rice are grown in Macau. Most of the food products of the population are fish and oysters. Due to the decline in catches, fishing was discontinued in 1996.
Economic development
The economy of the capital of Macau and the entire region is largely based on tourism, the production of fireworks and textiles, as well as on gambling. Recently, small enterprises for the production of children's toys have arisen here. The supply of drinking water, food and electricity is mainly from mainland China.
The country's economy suffered significantly from the financial crisis that occurred in Asia in 1998, but by 2002 it had grown by 9.5% due to the growth of tourism (due to the removal of some restrictions on travel from China).
Services sector
In 1999, the capital of Macau was visited by more than 7 million tourists, and after the return of this territory to the PRC, this figure increased to 8 million people in 2000 and continues to grow. The bulk of the guests come to Macau from China and from Hong Kong (the administrative district of the same name in China).
Gambling, carried out since 1850 under the license of local authorities, in the early sixties of the XX century already accounted for 50% of the income of the entire territory. At that time (1962), there were 9 casinos in Macau, and the gambling business brought up to 25% of GDP, and taxes collected from it generated more than 40% of income. In connection with the 1999 wars between gangsters and political instability, there was a decline in activity in this direction. But in 2001, gambling was liberalized, and the three largest companies pledged to invest 2.2 billion US dollars for the further development of this territory.
The role of this region is growing as a financial center. Macau has 5 of the 500 leading Asian commercial banks, including Senheng and Typhoon.
In conclusion, some interesting facts.
- The name of the local currency, as noted above, is Pataca. It comes from the name of the silver Mexican or Portuguese peso (or "Mexican Pataca"). Such coins were widely used in the 17th century throughout South Asia.
- According to the World Book of Facts, Macau is in second place in the world in terms of life expectancy of its inhabitants - 84.5 years. The first place is occupied by Monaco (89 years), and the third place is occupied by Japan (83 years). On the other hand, in the list of regions and countries with the lowest birth rate in the world, Macau is in fifth place after the following countries: Germany, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore. Due to the rapid aging of the inhabitants of this unique region, the authorities are increasingly attracting young people from other Asian countries to work at the enterprises of this city-state.
The history of this Chinese region, as well as its culture, is quite diverse and interesting. The history of Aomin carries with it a lot of good things, and not so much. Its uniqueness is undeniable. The special Chinese administrative region of Macau is the first and last colony of Europeans in a huge state - in China.