Macau (2001) | Reunion (2003) | |
Administrative divisions | none (special administrative region of China) | none (overseas department of France); there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 4 arrondissements, 24 communes, and 47 cantons |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
22.68% (male 53,291; female 49,615) 15-64 years: 70.08% (male 150,538; female 167,431) 65 years and over: 7.24% (male 13,287; female 19,571) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 31.3% (male 121,119; female 115,501)
15-64 years: 62.8% (male 233,607; female 240,502) 65 years and over: 5.9% (male 18,036; female 26,406) (2003 est.) |
Agriculture - products | rice, vegetables | sugarcane, vanilla, tobacco, tropical fruits, vegetables, corn |
Airports | 1 (2000 est.) | 2 (2002) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
1 over 3,047 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
total: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2002) |
Area | total:
21 sq km land: 21 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 2,517 sq km
land: 2,507 sq km water: 10 sq km |
Area - comparative | about 0.1 times the size of Washington, DC | slightly smaller than Rhode Island |
Background | Colonized by the Portuguese in the 16th century, Macau was the first European settlement in the Far East. Pursuant to an agreement signed by China and Portugal on 13 April 1987, Macau became the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China on 20 December 1999. China has promised that, under its "one country, two systems" formula, China's socialist economic system will not be practiced in Macau and that Macau will enjoy a high degree of autonomy in all matters except foreign and defense affairs. | The Portuguese discovered the uninhabited island in 1513. From the 17th to the 19th centuries, French immigration, supplemented by influxes of Africans, Chinese, Malays, and Malabar Indians, gave the island its ethnic mix. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 cost the island its importance as a stopover on the East Indies trade route. |
Birth rate | 12.36 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 20.17 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$1.26 billion expenditures: $1.22 billion, including capital expenditures of $175 million (1999 est.) |
revenues: $1.26 billion
expenditures: $2.62 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1998) |
Capital | - | Saint-Denis |
Climate | subtropical; marine with cool winters, warm summers | tropical, but temperature moderates with elevation; cool and dry from May to November, hot and rainy from November to April |
Coastline | 40 km | 207 km |
Constitution | Basic Law, approved in March 1993 by China's National People's Congress, is Macau's "mini-constitution" | 28 September 1958 (French Constitution) |
Country name | conventional long form:
Macau Special Administrative Region conventional short form: Macau local long form: Aomen Tebie Xingzhengqu (Chinese); Regiao Administrativa Especial de Macau (Portuguese) local short form: Aomen (Chinese); Macau (Portuguese) |
conventional long form: Department of Reunion
conventional short form: Reunion local long form: none local short form: Ile de la Reunion former: Bourbon Island |
Currency | pataca (MOP) | euro (EUR) |
Death rate | 3.71 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 5.49 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Debt - external | $1.7 billion (1997) | $NA |
Dependency status | special administrative region of China | overseas department of France |
Diplomatic representation from the US | the US has no offices in Macau, and US interests are monitored by the US Consulate General in Hong Kong | none (overseas department of France) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (special administrative region of China) | none (overseas department of France) |
Disputes - international | none | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $NA | $NA; note - substantial annual subsidies from France |
Economy - overview | The economy is based largely on tourism (including gambling) and textile and fireworks manufacturing. Efforts to diversify have spawned other small industries - toys, artificial flowers, and electronics. The tourist sector has accounted for roughly 25% of GDP, and the clothing industry has provided about three-fourths of export earnings; the gambling industry probably represents over 40% of GDP. More than 8 million tourists visited Macau in 2000. Macau depends on China for most of its food, fresh water, and energy imports. Japan and Hong Kong are the main suppliers of raw materials and capital goods. Output dropped 5% in 1998 and 3% in 1999, with a small 2% gain in 2000. Macau reverted to Chinese administration on 20 December 1999. Gang violence, a dark spot in the economy, probably will be reduced in 2000-01 to the advantage of the tourism sector. | The economy has traditionally been based on agriculture, but services now dominate. Sugarcane has been the primary crop for more than a century, and in some years it accounts for 85% of exports. The government has been pushing the development of a tourist industry to relieve high unemployment, which amounts to one-third of the labor force. The gap in Reunion between the well-off and the poor is extraordinary and accounts for the persistent social tensions. The white and Indian communities are substantially better off than other segments of the population, often approaching European standards, whereas minority groups suffer the poverty and unemployment typical of the poorer nations of the African continent. The outbreak of severe rioting in February 1991 illustrates the seriousness of socioeconomic tensions. The economic well-being of Reunion depends heavily on continued financial assistance from France. |
Electricity - consumption | 1.422 billion kWh (1999) | 1.005 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - exports | 3 million kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | 165 million kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production | 1.355 billion kWh (1999) | 1.08 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
fossil fuel: 55.5%
hydro: 44.5% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
South China Sea 0 m highest point: Coloane Alto 174 m |
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Piton des Neiges 3,069 m |
Environment - current issues | NA | NA |
Ethnic groups | Chinese 95%, Macanese (mixed Portuguese and Asian ancestry), Portuguese, other | French, African, Malagasy, Chinese, Pakistani, Indian |
Exchange rates | patacas per US dollar - 8.033 (January 2001), 8.025 (2000), 7.990 (1999), 7.978 (1998), 7.974 (1997), 7.966 (1996); note - linked to the Hong Kong dollar at the rate of 1.03 patacas per Hong Kong dollar | euros per US dollar - 1.06 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000), 0.9386 (1999); French francs per US dollar - 5.8995 (1998) |
Executive branch | chief of state:
President of China JIANG Zemin (since 27 March 1993) head of government: Chief Executive Edmund HO Hau-wah (since 20 December 1999) cabinet: Executive Council consists of all five government secretaries, three legislators, and two businessmen elections: NA |
chief of state: President Jacques CHIRAC of France (since 17 May 1995), represented by Prefect Gonthier FRIEDERICI (since NA)
head of government: President of the General Council Jean-Luc POUDROUX (since NA March 1998) and President of the Regional Council Paul VERGES (since NA March 1993) cabinet: NA elections: French president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; prefect appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of the Interior; the presidents of the General and Regional Councils are elected by the members of those councils |
Exports | $2.6 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | NA (2001) |
Exports - commodities | textiles, clothing, toys, electronics, cement, footwear, machinery | sugar 63%, rum and molasses 4%, perfume essences 2%, lobster 3%, (1993) |
Exports - partners | US 47%, EU 30%, China 9.2%, Hong Kong 6.7% (1999) | France 74%, Japan 6%, Comoros 4% (2000) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | light green with a lotus flower above a stylized bridge and water in white, beneath an arc of five gold, five-pointed stars: one large in center of arc and four smaller | the flag of France is used |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $7.82 billion (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $4.174 billion (1999 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
1% industry: 25% services: 74% (2000 est.) |
agriculture: 8%
industry: 19% services: 73% (2000 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $17,500 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $5,600 (2002 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 2% (2000 est.) | 2.5% (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 22 10 N, 113 33 E | 21 06 S, 55 36 E |
Geography - note | essentially urban; one causeway and two bridges connect the two islands of Coloane and Taipa to the peninsula on mainland | this mountainous, volcanic island has an active volcano, Piton de la Fournaise; there is a tropical cyclone center at Saint-Denis, which is the monitoring station for the whole of the Indian Ocean |
Highways | total:
50 km paved: 50 km unpaved: 0 km (2001) |
total: 2,724 km
paved: 1,300 km (including 73 km of four-lane road) unpaved: 1,424 km (1994) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | $2.4 billion (c.i.f., 2000 est.) | NA (2001) |
Imports - commodities | raw materials, foodstuffs, capital goods, fuels, consumer goods | manufactured goods, food, beverages, tobacco, machinery and transportation equipment, raw materials, and petroleum products |
Imports - partners | China 36%, Hong Kong 18%, EU 13%, Taiwan 10%, Japan 7% (1999) | France 64%, Bahrain 3%, Germany 3%, Italy 3% (2000) |
Independence | none (special administrative region of China) | none (overseas department of France) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | NA% |
Industries | clothing, textiles, toys, electronics, footwear, tourism, gambling | sugar, rum, cigarettes, handicraft items, flower oil extraction |
Infant mortality rate | 4.47 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 8.13 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 8.89 deaths/1,000 live births female: 7.34 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | -1.8% (2000 est.) | NA% |
International organization participation | CCC, ESCAP (associate), IMO (associate), Interpol (subbureau), UNESCO (associate), WMO, WToO (associate), WTrO | FZ, InOC, WFTU |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | 1 (2000) |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | 120 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | The Court of Final Appeal in the Macau Special Administrative Region | Court of Appeals or Cour d'Appel |
Labor force | 283,450 (1999) | 309,900 (2000) |
Labor force - by occupation | restaurants and hotels 26%, manufacturing 22%, other services 52% (2000 est.) | agriculture 13%, industry 12%, services 75% (2000) |
Land boundaries | total:
0.34 km border countries: China 0.34 km |
0 km |
Land use | arable land:
0% permanent crops: 2% permanent pastures: 0% forests and woodland: 0% other: 98% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 13.2%
permanent crops: 2% other: 84.8% (1998 est.) |
Languages | Portuguese, Chinese (Cantonese) | French (official), Creole widely used |
Legal system | based on Portuguese civil law system | French law |
Legislative branch | unicameral Legislative Council or LEGCO (23 seats; 8 elected by popular vote, 8 by indirect vote, and 7 appointed by the chief executive; members serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 22 September 1996 (next to be held by 15 October 2001) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - APPEM 2, UNIPRO 2, CODEM 1, UDM 1, UPD 1, ANMD 1 |
unicameral General Council (49 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve six-year terms) and a unicameral Regional Council (45 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve six-year terms)
elections: General Council - last held 15 and 22 March 1998 (next to be held NA 2004); Regional Council - last held 15 March 1998 (next to be held NA 2004) election results: General Council - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - various right-wing candidates 13, PCR 10, PS 10, UDF 8, RPR 6, other left-wing candidates 2; Regional Council - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PCR 19, UDF 9, RPR 8, various right-wing candidates 4, various left-wing candidates 5 note: Reunion elects three representatives to the French Senate; elections last held NA 2001 (next to be held NA 2006); results - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA; Reunion also elects five deputies to the French National Assembly; elections last held 9 June-16 June 2002 (next to be held NA 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - UMP-RPR 1, UMP 1, PCR 1 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
81.69 years male: 78.88 years female: 84.64 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 73.43 years
male: 70.03 years female: 77 years (2003 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 90% male: 93% female: 86% (1981 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 88.9% male: 87% female: 90.8% (2003 est.) |
Location | Eastern Asia, bordering the South China Sea and China | Southern Africa, island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar |
Map references | Southeast Asia | World |
Maritime claims | not specified | exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | none (2000 est.) | - |
Military - note | responsibility for defense reverted to China on 20 December 1999 | defense is the responsibility of France |
Military branches | Macau garrison of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) includes about 500 troops | no regular indigenous military forces; French forces (including Army, Navy, Air Force, and Gendarmerie) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
125,737 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49: 198,341 (2003 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
69,191 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49: 101,116 (2003 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 18 years of age (2003 est.) |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males: 6,795 (2003 est.) |
National holiday | 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 | Bastille Day, 14 July (1789) |
Nationality | noun:
Chinese adjective: Chinese |
noun: Reunionese (singular and plural)
adjective: Reunionese |
Natural hazards | typhoons | periodic, devastating cyclones (December to April); Piton de la Fournaise on the southeastern coast is an active volcano |
Natural resources | NEGL | fish, arable land, hydropower |
Net migration rate | 9.25 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | the following is a listing of those associations that participated in the last legislative elections: Associacao de Novo Macau Democratico or ANMD [leader NA]; Associacao Promotora para a Economia de Macau or APPEM [leader NA]; Convergencia para o Desenvolvimento or CODEM [leader NA]; Uniao Geral para o Desenvolvimento de Macau or UDM [leader NA]; Uniao para o Desenvolvimento or UPD [leader NA]; Uniao Promotora para o Progresso or UNIPRO [leader NA]
note: there are no formal political parties, but civic associations are used instead |
Communist Party of Reunion or PCR [Paul VERGES]; Rally for the Republic or RPR [Andre Maurice PIHOUEE]; Socialist Party or PS [Jean-Claude FRUTEAU]; Union for French Democracy or UDF [Gilbert GERARD] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Catholic Church [Domingos LAM, bishop]; Macau Society of Tourism and Entertainment or STDM [Stanley HO, managing director]; Union for Democracy Development [Antonio NG Kuok-cheong, leader] | NA |
Population | 453,733 (July 2001 est.) | 755,171 (July 2003 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | NA% |
Population growth rate | 1.79% (2001 est.) | 1.47% (2003 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Macau | Le Port, Pointe des Galets |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 0, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 2, FM 55, shortwave 0 (2001) |
Radios | 160,000 (1997) | - |
Railways | 0 km | 0 km |
Religions | Buddhist 50%, Roman Catholic 15%, none and other 35% (1997 est.) | Roman Catholic 86%, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist (1995) |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.07 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.9 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female total population: 0.92 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
Suffrage | direct election 18 years of age, universal for permanent residents living in Macau for the past seven years; indirect election limited to organizations registered as "corporate voters" (257 are currently registered) and a 300-member Election Committee drawn from broad regional groupings, municipal organizations, and central government bodies | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment:
fairly modern communication facilities maintained for domestic and international services domestic: NA international: HF radiotelephone communication facility; access to international communications carriers provided via Hong Kong and China; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) |
general assessment: adequate system; principal center is Saint-Denis
domestic: modern open-wire and microwave radio relay network international: radiotelephone communication to Comoros, France, Madagascar; new microwave route to Mauritius; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 176,837 (2000) | 268,500 (1999) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 120,957 (2000) | 197,000 (September 2000) |
Television broadcast stations | 0 (receives Hong Kong broadcasts) (1997) | 35 (plus 18 low-power repeaters) (2001) |
Terrain | generally flat | mostly rugged and mountainous; fertile lowlands along coast |
Total fertility rate | 1.31 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 2.53 children born/woman (2003 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 6.6% (2000) | 36% (1999 est.) |
Waterways | none | none |