IEEE NAS 2010

JULY 15-17
Macau, Macau SAR, China

Geography and Populations

The Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) is a part of China's territory. It is located on the Southeast coast of China to the west of the Pearl River Delta. Bordering on Guangdong Province, it locates 60 km from Hong Kong and 145 km from the city of Guangzhou. Local time is eight hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time.

Area

Due to land reclamation along its coastline, Macau has grown in land area from 10.28km2 in the 19th century to 29.2 km2 today, which is equal to one-fortieth of Hong Kong and one twenty-third of Singapore. Macau consists of the Macau peninsula and the two islands of Taipa and Coloane. Three bridges, Nobre de Carvalho Bridge, Friendship Bridge (Ponte da Amizade) and Sai Van Bridge, link the peninsula to Taipa, while the two islands are linked by the six-lane 2.2km Taipa-Coloane Causeway.

Population

The population of Macau is estimated to be 542,200. Population density is 18569/km2, and the northern part of the peninsula is one of the most densely populated areas in the world.

According to the results of the by-census 2006, 48.8% of the resident population were male and 51.2% were female. In terms of age structure, the youth population aged under 15 shared 15.2% of the total, and 77.7% are aged between 15 and 64. Those aged 65 years and older accounts for 7% of the population. Average life span for both sexes is over 79 years old.

Chinese and Portuguese are the official languages of Macau, and more than 95% of the population speak Chinese. Portuguese is spoken by about 0.6% and the remainder speak English, Filipino or other languages.

According to the results of the by-census 2006, more than 78% of Macau's population have been living in the territory for more than 10 years. Meanwhile, 42.5% of the population were born in Macau and 47.1% were born in the Mainland, while 10.4% of residents are from other regions.

Climate

Macau's climate is warm and humid with a fairly wide variation in temperature over the year. From June to September, the temperature can rise to over 30°C while it can drop to less than 10°C from November to February. The average temperature seldom falls below 14°C. Macau's weather is also influenced by tropical cyclones from the South China Sea and North Western Pacific Ocean during the typhoon season between May and September.

Note: The above description is copied from http://www.gov.mo