or Macao Chinese Aomen
Special administrative region (pop., 2002 est.: 438,000), southern China.
It lies on the South China Sea coast and consists of a small peninsula, which projects from Guangdong province, and two small islands, about 40 mi (64 km) west of Hong Kong . It occupies a total land area of 8.3 sq mi (21.6 sq km). Macao city is the administrative centre. Portuguese traders first arrived in 1513, and it soon became the chief market centre for the trade between China and Japan. It was declared a Portuguese colony in 1849 and an overseas territory in 1951. In 1999 Portugal returned it to Chinese rule. Tourism and gambling are the mainstays of its economy.