Macau (2002) | Tokelau (2005) | |
Administrative divisions | none (special administrative region of China) | none (territory of New Zealand) |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 21.8% (male 52,262; female 48,439)
15-64 years: 70.9% (male 154,942; female 172,647) 65 years and over: 7.3% (male 13,616; female 19,927) (2002 est.) |
0-14 years: 42%
15-64 years: 53% 65 years and over: 5% (2005 est.) |
Agriculture - products | rice, vegetables | coconuts, copra, breadfruit, papayas, bananas; pigs, poultry, goats |
Airports | 1 (2001) | none; lagoon landings are possible by amphibious aircraft (2004 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 1
over 3,047 m: 1 (2002) |
- |
Area | total: 25.4 sq km
land: 25.4 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 10 sq km
land: 10 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | about 0.1 times the size of Washington, DC | about 17 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC |
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. | Originally settled by Polynesian emigrants from surrounding island groups, the Tokelau Islands were made a British protectorate in 1889. They were transferred to New Zealand administration in 1925. |
Birth rate | 12.19 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | NA |
Budget | revenues: $1.15 billion
expenditures: $1.03 billion, including capital expenditures of $166 million (2000 est.) |
revenues: $430,800
expenditures: $2.8 million, including capital expenditures of $37,300 (1987 est.) |
Capital | - | none; each atoll has its own administrative center |
Climate | subtropical; marine with cool winters, warm summers | tropical; moderated by trade winds (April to November) |
Coastline | 41 km | 101 km |
Constitution | Basic Law, approved in March 1993 by China's National People's Congress, is Macau's "mini-constitution" | administered under the Tokelau Islands Act of 1948; amended in 1970 |
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: none
conventional short form: Tokelau |
Currency | pataca (MOP) | - |
Death rate | 3.78 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | NA |
Debt - external | $1.5 billion (1998) | $0 |
Dependency status | special administrative region of China | self-administering territory of New Zealand; note - Tokelauans are drafting a constitution and developing institutions and patterns of self-government as Tokelau moves toward free association with New Zealand |
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 (territory of New Zealand) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (special administrative region of China) | none (territory of New Zealand) |
Disputes - international | none | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $NA | from New Zealand about $4 million annually |
Economy - overview | Macau's economy two years after reversion to China remains one of the most open in the world, according to the World Trade Organization. The government collects no duty on imports and sets no restrictions on exports beyond those required by international agreements. The territory's net exports of goods and services account for 35% of GDP, with tourism and apparel exports as the mainstays. The territory therefore has been hit hard by the 2001 downturn in its key US and EU export markets. Tourism remained strong, however, driven by a surge in visitors from mainland China. In response to the expected contraction of the economy in 2002, the government has announced a stimulative income tax cut and public works program that will push the budget into deficit. China already has extended support by easing restrictions on travel to Macau and is proposing a China-Hong Kong-Macau free trade area. China's economic weight is increasingly felt, with the mainland now holding more than 50% of assets in the financial, real estate, and construction sectors. Mainlanders, however, have been excluded from bidding on the gambling industry licenses that Macau is offering to break up the territory's four-decade-old gambling monopoly. Gambling taxes account for up to 60% of revenue, and the government with Beijing's backing intends to revitalize the industry. | Tokelau's small size (three villages), isolation, and lack of resources greatly restrain economic development and confine agriculture to the subsistence level. The people rely heavily on aid from New Zealand - about $4 million annually - to maintain public services, with annual aid being substantially greater than GDP. The principal sources of revenue come from sales of copra, postage stamps, souvenir coins, and handicrafts. Money is also remitted to families from relatives in New Zealand. |
Electricity - consumption | 1.476 billion kWh (2000) | NA kWh |
Electricity - exports | 1 million kWh (2000) | - |
Electricity - imports | 175 million kWh (2000) | - |
Electricity - production | 1.4 billion kWh (2000) | NA kWh |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: South China Sea 0 m
highest point: Coloane Alto 172.4 m |
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location 5 m |
Environment - current issues | NA | very limited natural resources and overcrowding are contributing to emigration to New Zealand |
Ethnic groups | Chinese 95%, Macanese (mixed Portuguese and Asian ancestry), Portuguese, other | Polynesian |
Exchange rates | patacas per US dollar - 8.033 (January 2002), 8.034 (2001), 8.026 (2000), 7.992 (1999), 7.979 (1998), 7.975 (1997); note - linked to the Hong Kong dollar at the rate of 1.03 patacas per Hong Kong dollar | New Zealand dollars per US dollar - 1.5087 (2004), 1.7221 (2003), 2.1622 (2002), 2.3788 (2001), 2.2012 (2000) |
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: chief executive chosen by a 200-member selection committee for up to two five-year terms |
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General of New Zealand Dame Silvia CARTWRIGHT (since 4 April 2001); New Zealand is represented by Administrator Neil WALTER (since 1 March 2003)
head of government: Pio TUIA (since February 2005); note - position rotates annually among the three Faipule (village leaders) cabinet: the Council for the Ongoing Government of Tokelau, consisting of three Faipule (village leaders) and three Pulenuku (village mayors) functions as a cabinet elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; administrator appointed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade in New Zealand; the head of government is chosen from the Council of Faipule and serves a one-year term |
Exports | $2.5 billion f.o.b. (2000) | $98,000 f.o.b. (1983) |
Exports - commodities | clothing, textiles, cement, electronics, cameras | stamps, copra, handicrafts |
Exports - partners | US 48%, EU 28%, China 10%, Hong Kong 7% (2000) | New Zealand (2000) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | 1 April - 31 March |
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 New Zealand is used |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $8 billion (2001 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 1%
industry: 25% services: 74% (2000 est.) |
agriculture: NA%
industry: NA% services: NA% |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $17,600 (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $1,000 (1993 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 0.5% (2001 est.) | NA |
Geographic coordinates | 22 10 N, 113 33 E | 9 00 S, 172 00 W |
Geography - note | essentially urban; one causeway and two bridges connect the two islands of Coloane and Taipa to the peninsula on mainland | consists of three atolls, each with a lagoon surrounded by a number of reef-bound islets of varying length and rising to over three meters above sea level |
Highways | total: 50 km
paved: 50 km unpaved: 0 km (2001) |
total: NA
paved: NA unpaved: NA |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
Imports | $2.3 billion c.i.f. (2000) | $323,000 c.i.f. (1983) |
Imports - commodities | clothing, textiles, yarn, minerals, electrical machinery, fuel, livestock | foodstuffs, building materials, fuel |
Imports - partners | China 41%, Hong Kong 15%, EU 10%, Taiwan 10%, Japan 6% (2000) | New Zealand (2000) |
Independence | none (special administrative region of China) | none (territory of New Zealand) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | NA% |
Industries | tourism, gambling, clothing, textiles, electronics, footwear, toys | small-scale enterprises for copra production, woodworking, plaited craft goods; stamps, coins; fishing |
Infant mortality rate | 4.44 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | total: NA
male: NA female: NA |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | -2% (2001 est.) | NA% |
International organization participation | CCC, ESCAP (associate), IHO, IMO (associate), Interpol (subbureau), ISO (correspondent), UNESCO (associate), WMO, WToO (associate), WTrO | UNESCO (associate), UPU |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | NA sq km |
Judicial branch | The Court of Final Appeal in the Macau Special Administrative Region | Supreme Court in New Zealand exercises civil and criminal jurisdiction in Tokelau |
Labor force | 218,000 (2001) | NA |
Labor force - by occupation | restaurants and hotels 26%, manufacturing 20%, other services and agriculture 54% (2000 est.) | - |
Land boundaries | total: 0.34 km
border countries: China 0.34 km |
0 km |
Land use | arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% note: "green areas" represent 22.4% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 0% (soil is thin and infertile)
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2001) |
Languages | Portuguese, Chinese (Cantonese) | Tokelauan (a Polynesian language), English |
Legal system | based on Portuguese civil law system | New Zealand and local statutes |
Legislative branch | unicameral Legislative Council or LEGCO (27 seats; 10 elected by popular vote, 10 by indirect vote, and 7 appointed by the chief executive; members serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 23 September 2001 (next to be held NA 2005) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats by political bloc - Entertainment Industry 3, pro-democracy 2, pro-Beijing Labor Union 2, pro-Beijing Neighborhood Association 2, pro-business 1 |
unicameral General Fono (21 seats; based upon proportional representation from the three islands elected by popular vote to serve three-year terms; Nukunonu has 6 seats, Fakaofo has 7 seats, Atafu has 8 seats); note - the Tokelau Amendment Act of 1996 confers limited legislative power on the General Fono
elections: last held January 2002 (next to be held January 2005) |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 81.78 years
male: 78.97 years female: 84.73 years (2002 est.) |
total population: NA
male: -9 years female: -9 years (2005 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 90% male: 93% female: 86% (1981 est.) |
NA |
Location | Eastern Asia, bordering the South China Sea and China | Oceania, group of three atolls in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand |
Map references | Southeast Asia | Oceania |
Maritime claims | not specified | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
Merchant marine | none (2002 est.) | - |
Military - note | responsibility for defense reverted to China on 20 December 1999 | defense is the responsibility of New Zealand |
Military branches | no regular indigenous military forces; responsibility for defense reverted to China on 20 December 1999; there is a local police force | - |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 128,005 (2002 est.) | - |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 70,508 (2002 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 | Waitangi Day (Treaty of Waitangi established British sovereignty over New Zealand), 6 February (1840) |
Nationality | noun: Chinese
adjective: Chinese |
noun: Tokelauan(s)
adjective: Tokelauan |
Natural hazards | typhoons | lies in Pacific typhoon belt |
Natural resources | NEGL | NEGL |
Net migration rate | 9.08 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) | NA |
Political parties and leaders | there are no formal political parties, however, there are civic associations that, for purposes of legislative voting, join together to form political blocs | none |
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] | none |
Population | 461,833 (July 2002 est.) | 1,405 (July 2005 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | NA |
Population growth rate | 1.75% (2002 est.) | -0.01% (2005 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Macau | none; offshore anchorage only |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 0, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA
note: 1 radio station provides service to all islands (2002) |
Radios | 160,000 (1997) | - |
Railways | 0 km | - |
Religions | Buddhist 50%, Roman Catholic 15%, none and other 35% (1997 est.) | Congregational Christian Church 70%, Roman Catholic 28%, other 2%
note: on Atafu, all Congregational Christian Church of Samoa; on Nukunonu, all Roman Catholic; on Fakaofo, both denominations, with the Congregational Christian Church predominant |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.08 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 (2002 est.) |
NA |
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 | 21 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: modern satellite-based communications system;
domestic: radiotelephone service between islands international: country code - 690; radiotelephone service to Samoa; government-regulated telephone service (TeleTok), with 3 satellite earth stations, established in 1997 |
Telephones - main lines in use | 176,902 (November 2001) | 300 (2002) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 158,251 (November 2001) | 0 (2001) |
Television broadcast stations | 0 (receives Hong Kong broadcasts) (1997) | - |
Terrain | generally flat | low-lying coral atolls enclosing large lagoons |
Total fertility rate | 1.31 children born/woman (2002 est.) | NA |
Unemployment rate | 6.5% (2001 est.) | NA% |
Waterways | none | - |