City Asia
Macau
Macau is a small city by the sea in southern China. Old Chinese and Portuguese buildings stand side by side there. A small new train glides over the city.
Macau is a small city on the south coast of China. It was a busy trading port under Portuguese administration from the mid-1500s until 1999, when it came under Chinese sovereignty. Its historic center, where Chinese and Portuguese buildings mix, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Macao, a special administrative region of China, became a Portuguese settlement in the mid-16th century and returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1999. UNESCO calls its historic center a testimony to one of the earliest and longest-lasting encounters between China and the West. The Statistics and Census Service counted 686,500 residents at the end of June 2026.
Photo: Charlie fong, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Discover Macau
Macau is a small city by the sea in southern China.
It has a harbor with many boats. Old Chinese and Portuguese buildings stand close together there.
Macau, also spelled Macao, is a small city on the south coast of China. For hundreds of years it was a busy trading port. It was run by Portugal from the middle of the 1500s until 1999, when it came under Chinese sovereignty, and today it is a special administrative region of China.
Macau's Statistics and Census Service counted 686,500 people living there at the end of June 2026. Since the 1800s, new land has been made by filling in parts of the sea.
Macao is a special administrative region (SAR) of China. UNESCO describes it as a lucrative port of strategic importance in international trade that became a Portuguese settlement in the mid-16th century and returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1999, and its historic center, inscribed in 2005, as bearing witness to one of the earliest and longest-lasting encounters between China and the West.
The Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) put the population at 686,500 at the end of the first half of 2026, up 600 in a year; women (371,000) made up 54.0 percent. Land reclamation, begun in the 19th century, has changed the original coastline, though UNESCO notes that the historic center still keeps its views to the sea and river.
- Status
- special administrative region of China (since 1999)
- People (end of June 2026)
- 686,500
- Historic Centre of Macao
- UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2005
A meeting of East and West
In Macau there is a tall stone wall that was once the front of a big church.
The rest of the church burned down long ago. Wide steps lead up to it. On a hill stands the oldest lighthouse in China.
Macau's most famous sight is the Ruins of St. Paul's: the carved stone front and grand stairway of the Church of Mater Dei, built between 1602 and 1640. A fire in 1835 destroyed the church and the college beside it, but the front wall still stands. The college was the first Western-style university-level school in the Far East.
UNESCO's World Heritage Site includes 22 important buildings and squares, Chinese and Portuguese, along old streets. It also includes a fortress and the Guia Lighthouse, the oldest lighthouse in China.
The Ruins of St. Paul's are the façade and stairway of the Church of Mater Dei (built 1602–1640) and the remains of St. Paul's College beside it, both destroyed by fire in 1835. The Cultural Affairs Bureau calls the college the first Western-style institution of university level in the Far East. Archaeological work from 1990 to 1996 recovered objects and studied the church's layout, and a museum and crypt opened on the site in October 1996.
The Historic Centre of Macao, inscribed by UNESCO in 2005, groups 22 principal buildings and public spaces, residential, religious and public, Portuguese and Chinese, along a historic route linking the ancient Chinese port with the Portuguese city. It includes Mount Fortress, the Guia Fortress and the Guia Lighthouse, which UNESCO calls the oldest in China.
- Ruins of St. Paul's
- the façade and stairway of the Church of Mater Dei (1602–1640)
- Historic Centre of Macao
- 22 principal buildings and public spaces
- Guia Lighthouse
- the oldest lighthouse in China
Four and a half centuries of trade
Long ago, ships came to Macau from far away to trade.
People from Portugal and China lived and worked there together. They built churches, temples, forts and houses.
Macau became a Portuguese settlement in the middle of the 1500s, on Chinese territory. It grew into a rich trading port, where merchants and scholars from Europe and China met. From the 1500s to the 1900s it was a meeting point for traders and for different kinds of learning, from science to art.
Over about four and a half centuries, Chinese and Portuguese buildings grew up side by side. In 1999 Macau returned to Chinese sovereignty, and in 2005 its historic center became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
UNESCO dates Macao's Portuguese settlement to the mid-16th century and describes a special relationship between Chinese and Portuguese authorities that favored an exchange of ideas in culture, science, technology, art and architecture over several centuries. From the 16th to the 20th century it was a focal point for traders, missionaries and scholars, and UNESCO links those exchanges to later changes in China.
The Portuguese and the Jesuits built St. Paul's College and Mount Fortress together, the so-called 'Acropolis' of Macao, says the Cultural Affairs Bureau. Land reclamation from the 19th century onward reshaped the coast. Macao returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1999, and the Historic Centre was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2005.
A light rail over the water
Macau has a light rail, a quiet electric train.
It runs high above the streets and even crosses the water inside a bridge!
Macau's first electric railway, the Light Rapid Transit or LRT, began carrying passengers in December 2019. Its Taipa Line runs 9.3 kilometers with 11 stations. An extension of 3.4 kilometers carries trains across the water to the Macao Peninsula, inside the closed lower deck of the Sai Van Bridge, to a new station at Barra.
In 2024 two short lines opened: the Seac Pai Van Line toward Coloane on November 1 and the Hengqin Line, across the water to Hengqin, on December 2. A longer East Line was being built.
Macao's Light Rapid Transit, its first electric railway, opened with the 9.3 km, 11-station Taipa Line in December 2019, from Ocean Station at the Taipa end of the Sai Van Bridge to the Taipa Ferry Terminal. The 3.4 km Taipa-Barra extension, through the enclosed lower deck of the Sai Van Bridge, later linked the LRT to the Macao Peninsula.
The Macao Yearbook 2025 records the 1.6 km Seac Pai Van Line opening on November 1, 2024 and the 2.2 km Hengqin Line, with Lotus and Hengqin stations, on December 2, 2024; the Hengqin Line crosses the Shizimen waterway to the mainland in an underwater tunnel. Construction of the East Line, about 7.7 km, linking New Urban Zone Areas A and E with the Taipa Line, began in 2023, and Macao Magazine put the eventual network at about 24 km.
- Taipa Line (LRT)
- opened December 2019, 9.3 km and 11 stations
- Taipa-Barra extension
- 3.4 km, through the lower deck of the Sai Van Bridge
- Planned light rail network
- about 24 km
Warm, wet summers
Macau is warm for most of the year.
Summer is hot and very rainy. Winter is cooler and drier.
Macau has hot, wet summers and mild winters. At the World Meteorological Organization's Macao station, July days averaged about 32 °C and nights about 26 °C between 1971 and 2000. January was much cooler, with days about 18 °C and nights about 12 °C.
Macau is very rainy: about 2,120 millimeters fall in an average year. May and August are the wettest months, with more than 350 millimeters each, while December and January get only a little rain.
WMO normals for Macao (Macao Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau, 1971–2000) give average highs and lows of 17.7 °C and 12.2 °C in January and 31.5 °C and 26.3 °C in July; nights stay above 25 °C from June to August.
The monthly averages sum to about 2,123 mm. May (361.9 mm) and August (351.6 mm) are the wettest months, and April to September together bring about 1,764 mm, 83 percent of the year's rain, with 12 to 17 rain days a month; January has only about 32 mm and 6 rain days.
- January, average daily high and low (WMO Macao station, 1971–2000)
- about 18 °C and 12 °C
- July, average daily high and low (same station and period)
- about 32 °C and 26 °C
- Rain in a year (sum of the monthly averages)
- about 2,120 mm
Living in Macau
Lots of people live close together in Macau.
Visitors come to see the old church front and the lighthouse. Families can climb the wide steps for free.
In mid-2026 there were 371,000 women and 315,500 men living in Macau, so women made up 54 percent of residents. In the first half of 2026, 1,466 people arrived from the Chinese mainland to live there.
Macau's heritage is part of everyday life. The front of the Church of Mater Dei is open all day and night, and visiting the Ruins of St. Paul's is free. Behind it, a small museum shows religious art, and visitors can still see where the old church stood.
DSEC's demographic statistics for the first half of 2026 recorded 1,340 live births and 1,329 deaths, 1,466 new arrivals from the Chinese mainland on one-way permits, and 1,447 marriage registrations. Women outnumbered men, 371,000 to 315,500.
UNESCO notes that many monuments and public squares in the Historic Centre have kept their original functions, with living traditions still practiced, while development threatens some of the views from the old city to the Outer Harbour and the river. The Ruins of St. Paul's are free to visit, and the Museum of Sacred Art and Crypt admits up to 20 visitors at a time.
- Women and men (mid-2026)
- 371,000 women and 315,500 men
- Ruins of St. Paul's
- free to visit; the façade is open 24 hours
- Museum of Sacred Art and Crypt
- opened October 23, 1996
Macau on the map
Find Macau on the globe.
It is on the south coast of China. It is a small place at the edge of the sea.
Macau is on the south coast of China, about 22 degrees north of the equator. It is made up of the Macao Peninsula, where the old town is, and Taipa, Cotai and Coloane. A light rail line crosses the water between Taipa and the peninsula.
On the peninsula, the historic center looks out over the Outer Harbour to the east and the river to the west. The narrow Shizimen waterway separates Macau from Hengqin on the Chinese mainland.
Macao lies at about 22.2° N and 113.5° E on the south China coast. The Macao Peninsula holds the historic center, with the Outer Harbour to the east and the river to the west; Taipa, Cotai and Coloane make up the rest of Macao.
The Shizimen waterway separates Macao from Hengqin, where the Guangdong-Macao Intensive Cooperation Zone lies; the LRT's Hengqin Line, opened in December 2024, crosses it in an underwater tunnel.
- Latitude
- about 22.2° north
- Longitude
- about 113.5° east
- Parts
- the Macao Peninsula, Taipa, Cotai and Coloane
Amazing facts
-
Macau's most famous church is just a front wall with no building behind it.
The Ruins of St. Paul's are the stone front and stairway of a church built between 1602 and 1640. A fire in 1835 destroyed the rest.
Only the façade and stairway of the Church of Mater Dei (1602–1640) survived the 1835 fire that also destroyed St. Paul's College, the first Western-style institution of university level in the Far East.
-
Macau has the oldest lighthouse in China.
UNESCO says the Guia Lighthouse in Macau is the oldest lighthouse in China.
The Historic Centre of Macao includes a fortress and a lighthouse that UNESCO describes as the oldest in China.
-
Macau's train crosses the water hidden inside a bridge.
Macau's light rail crosses to the Macao Peninsula inside the closed lower deck of the Sai Van Bridge.
The 3.4 km Taipa-Barra extension runs through the enclosed lower deck of the Sai Van Bridge to Barra Station.
-
More women than men live in Macau.
In mid-2026, 371,000 women and 315,500 men lived in Macau, so women made up 54 percent of the people.
DSEC counted 371,000 women and 315,500 men at the end of June 2026: 54.0 percent female.
Words to know
- port
- a town with a harbor where ships load and unload
- sovereignty
- the right of a country to govern a place
- special administrative region
- a part of China with its own system of local government
- façade
- the front wall of a building
- land reclamation
- making new land by filling in parts of the sea or a river
- light rail
- a smaller, lighter kind of electric railway for cities
Discovery challenge
-
Macau is part of which country?
Macau is a special administrative region of which country?
Since 1999, Macao has been a special administrative region of which country?
- China
- Portugal
- Japan
Show the answer
China
China! Macau is on its south coast.
China; Portugal ran Macau from the mid-1500s until 1999.
China; it returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1999 after Portuguese administration since the mid-16th century.
-
What is left of the old church of St. Paul's?
What still stands at the Ruins of St. Paul's?
What survived the 1835 fire at the Church of Mater Dei?
- The front wall and steps
- The roof
- Nothing at all
Show the answer
The front wall and steps
The front wall and the wide steps!
The carved stone front and the stairway; the rest burned in 1835.
The façade and stairway; the church and St. Paul's College were destroyed.
-
What old building on a hill helps ships?
Which building in Macau does UNESCO call the oldest of its kind in China?
Which structure in the Historic Centre of Macao does UNESCO describe as the oldest in China?
- A lighthouse
- A railway station
- A bridge
Show the answer
A lighthouse
A lighthouse! It shines to guide ships.
The Guia Lighthouse, the oldest lighthouse in China.
The Guia Lighthouse, beside the Guia Fortress.
-
How does Macau's new train cross the water?
How does Macau's light rail reach the Macao Peninsula from Taipa?
How does the Taipa-Barra extension of the LRT cross to the Macao Peninsula?
- Inside a bridge
- On a boat
- Through the air on a cable
Show the answer
Inside a bridge
Inside a bridge! The train runs in its lower part.
Inside the closed lower deck of the Sai Van Bridge.
Through the enclosed lower deck of the Sai Van Bridge, 3.4 km to Barra Station.
-
Is Macau hot or cold in July?
About how warm are July days in Macau, on average?
What is the average July high at the WMO Macao station (1971–2000)?
- About 32 °C
- About 12 °C
- About 0 °C
Show the answer
About 32 °C
Hot! July days are about 32 °C.
About 32 °C, with nights about 26 °C.
31.5 °C, with an average low of 26.3 °C.
Nearby places
-
Watch
City
Hong Kong
Hong Kong, on the south coast of China, grew around one of the world's great natural harbors. It was a British colony for 156 years and has been a special administrative region of China since 1997. About 7.5 million people lived there in mid-2026.
-
Watch
City
Guangzhou
Guangzhou, also known as Canton, is the capital of Guangdong Province in southern China. About 19.08 million people lived there in November 2025. For centuries it was a great port, and today its Canton Tower rises 600 meters.
-
Watch
City
Hechi
Hechi is a city in Guangxi, in southern China. China's 2020 census counted 268,122 people living in the city itself, and 3,417,945 in the much larger area it leads, a prefecture-level city of 33,488 square kilometers.
-
Watch
Natural wonder
Ha Long Bay
Ha Long Bay is a bay in northeast Vietnam where more than a thousand limestone islands rise straight out of the sea. Over millions of years, water dissolved the limestone into towers and caves, and then the sea flooded in around them. Together with the nearby Cat Ba Archipelago it is a World Heritage site.
-
Watch
City
Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung is a city on the southwest coast of Taiwan, with the largest international port on the island. The port's history says it began as a small fishing village, and it was opened to trade with other countries in 1863. The census of 1 November 2020 counted 2,734,275 people in Kaohsiung City.
-
Watch
City
Hanoi
Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam, in Southeast Asia. It grew beside the Red River, where a city called Thang Long was founded in 1010. Its old citadel is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and its old quarter is known for its 36 streets. The 2019 census counted about 8 million people in the city and its surrounding districts.
-
Watch
Landmark
Imperial Citadel of Thang Long
The Imperial Citadel of Thang Long is in the heart of Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. It was built in the 11th century by the Ly dynasty, on the remains of a 7th-century fortress. For almost 13 centuries it was a center of power. Its gates, old palace foundations and an archaeological site are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
-
Watch
City
Guiyang
Guiyang is a big city in southern China and the capital of Guizhou Province, 320 kilometers south of Chongqing. It is a meeting point of roads and railways and a city of industry. China's 2020 census counted 4,021,275 people in its urban districts.
Explore next
-
Watch
Country
China
China is the largest country in Asia, almost as big as all of Europe. The land steps down from the high, cold Plateau of Tibet in the west to plains and coasts in the east, and about 1.4 billion people live there, along with giant pandas in the mountains of south-central China.
-
Watch
City
Hong Kong
Hong Kong, on the south coast of China, grew around one of the world's great natural harbors. It was a British colony for 156 years and has been a special administrative region of China since 1997. About 7.5 million people lived there in mid-2026.
-
Watch
Country
Portugal
Portugal is a country on the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe, with Spain as its only land neighbor. It also includes the Azores and Madeira islands far out in the ocean. About 11.4 million people lived there at the start of 2026, and its capital is Lisbon, on the Tagus River.
-
Watch
City
Lisbon
Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, is the westernmost capital in mainland Europe, on the hills above the Tagus River near the Atlantic. By the 1400s it was the base for Portugal's voyages of exploration. Destroyed by an earthquake in 1755 and rebuilt, it is a city of steep streets, viewpoints and a famous tower at Belém. About 546,000 people lived there in 2021.
- Watch Geography Islands An island is a piece of land surrounded by water that is smaller than a continent. Islands form in different ways: some broke away from continents, some were built by volcanoes on the sea floor, and some were made by corals or by waves piling up sand. Because they are cut off by water, islands often have unusual plants and animals.
-
Watch
City
Guangzhou
Guangzhou, also known as Canton, is the capital of Guangdong Province in southern China. About 19.08 million people lived there in November 2025. For centuries it was a great port, and today its Canton Tower rises 600 meters.
-
Watch
City
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates. It began in the 1700s as a small settlement around fresh water on an island, guarded by a coral-stone watchtower. Before oil, it relied on fishing and pearl diving; since the 1960s, money from oil has turned it into a city of towers. An official estimate gave the city about 1.75 million people in 2023.
-
Watch
City
Almaty
Almaty is the main city of Kazakhstan, in the southeast of the country at the foot of the Ala-Tau mountains. It was founded in 1854 where a Kazakh village called Almaty, 'village of apple trees', stood. It was the capital until 1998, and about 2,387,900 people lived there on 1 September 2026.
For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Locate Macau on the south coast of China.
- Explain how a trading port brought Chinese and Portuguese cultures together over centuries.
- Describe how land reclamation changes a coastline.
- Read temperature and rainfall averages to describe a warm, wet climate.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- In Macau, Chinese and Portuguese buildings stand side by side. What buildings in your town show where people or ideas came from?
- Only the front wall of St. Paul's church survived a fire. Why do you think people chose to keep the ruin instead of rebuilding?
- Macau made new land from the sea. What could be good, and what could be hard, about making new land?
Try at home or in class
- Draw a building front (a façade) on card, cut out the windows and door, and stand it up with a box behind it; then take the box away to see how the Ruins of St. Paul's look.
- Make a land-reclamation tray: put water in a baking tray, add sand along one side bit by bit, and watch the shoreline move.
Key vocabulary: port, sovereignty, special administrative region, façade, land reclamation, light rail
Where these facts come from
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Natural Earth vector data , Natural Earth (NACIS) (Public domain)
- Historic Centre of Macao , UNESCO World Heritage Centre
- Demographic statistics for the first half of 2026 , Government Information Bureau of the Macao SAR (Statistics and Census Service data)
- Ruins of St. Paul's College , Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao SAR
- Macao's LRT: past, present and future , Government Information Bureau of the Macao SAR (Macao Magazine)
- Macao: climatological information , World Meteorological Organization, World Weather Information Service
- Macao Yearbook 2025: Transport (LRT development enters a new phase) , Government Information Bureau of the Macao SAR
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA); see each media record)
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated November 1, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.