Macau - Country information


		Macau	Population Government Economy Geography Communication Transportation

Population		Top of page

Inhabitants		Life expectancy
456,989 (July 2007 est.)		total population: 82.27 years male: 79.44 years female: 85.25 years (2007 est.)

Ethnic groups		Religions
Chinese 95.7%, Macanese (mixed Portuguese and Asian ancestry) 1%, other 3.3% (2001 census)		Buddhist 50%, Roman Catholic 15%, none and other 35% (1997 est.)

Languages		Literacy
Cantonese 87.9%, Hokkien 4.4%, Mandarin 1.6%, other Chinese dialects 3.1%, other 3% (2001 census)		definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 94.5% male: 97.2% female: 92% (2003 est.)

Government		Top of page

Government type		Capital
limited democracy

Independance		National day
none (special administrative region of China)		National Day (Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China), 1 October (1949); note - 20 December 1999 is celebrated as Macau Special Administrative Region Establishment Day

Constitution		Legal system
Basic Law, approved on 31 March 1993 by China's National People's Congress, is Macau's "mini-constitution"		based on Portuguese civil law system

Economy		Top of page

GDP (purchasing power parity)		Growth rate
$11.56 billion (2005)		6.7% (2005)

GDP per inhabitant		Unemployment rate
$24,300 (2005)		4.1% (2005)

Population below poverty line		Inflation rate
NA%		4.4% (2005)

Exports		Imports
$3.156 billion f.o.b. (2005)		$3.912 billion c.i.f. (2005)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold		Currency
		pataca (MOP)

Military expenditures

Geography		Top of page

Location		Area
Eastern Asia, bordering the South China Sea and China		28.2 sq km

Climate		Natural resources
subtropical; marine with cool winters, warm summers		NEGL

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