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{{History of Macau}}
{{Culture of Macau}}
[[File:Saopaulo Chinnery.jpg|thumb|right|[[Ruins of St. Paul's|St. Paul's Cathedral]] in the 19th century by [[George Chinnery]] (1774–1852)]]

[[Macau]] is a [[Special administrative regions of China|special administrative region]] (SAR) of the [[China|People's Republic of China]]. It was leased to [[Portugal]] in 1557 as a [[trading post]] in exchange for a symbolic annual rent of 500 [[tael]]. Despite remaining under Chinese sovereignty and authority, the Portuguese came to consider and administer Macau as a ''[[de facto]]'' [[colony]]. Following the signing of the [[Treaty of Nanking]] between [[Qing dynasty|China]] and [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]] in 1842, and the signing of treaties between China and foreign powers during the 1860s, establishing the benefit of "the most favoured nation" for them, the Portuguese attempted to conclude a similar treaty in 1862, but the Chinese refused, owing to a misunderstanding over the sovereignty of Macau. In 1887 the Portuguese finally managed to secure an agreement from China that Macau was Portuguese territory.<ref>Robert Nield, "Treaty Ports and Other Foreign Stations in China", ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'', Hong Kong Branch, Vol.&nbsp;50,
(2010), p.&nbsp;127.</ref> In 1999 it was handed over to China. Macau was the last extant European territory in continental Asia.

==Early history==
{{Further|Europeans in Medieval China}}
The human history of Macau stretches back up to 6,000 years, and includes many different and diverse civilisations and periods of existence. Evidence of human and culture dating back 3,500 to 4,000 years has been discovered on the [[Macau Peninsula]] on [[Coloane Island]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=文章内容 |url=https://www.macaudata.mo/macaubook/book085/html/18101.htm |access-date=27 January 2023 |website=www.macaudata.mo}}</ref>

During the [[Qin dynasty]] (221–206 BC), the region was under the jurisdiction of [[Panyu County]], [[Nanhai District|Nanhai Prefecture]] of the province of [[Guangdong]].<ref name="Macau history in Macau encyclopaedia">{{cite web|url=http://www.macaudata.com/macauweb/Encyclopedia/html/44907.htm|title=Macau history in Macau Encyclopedia|access-date=12 January 2008|publisher=Macau Foundation|language=zh|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013210914/http://macaudata.com/macauweb/Encyclopedia/html/44907.htm|archive-date=13 October 2007}}</ref><ref name="Macau-yearbook">{{cite web |url=https://yearbook.gcs.gov.mo/uploads/yearbook_pdf/2019/myb2019ePA01CH22.pdf |publisher=Government Information Bureau of the MSAR |title=15: History |quote=Historical records show that Macao has been Chinese territory since long ago. When Qinshihuang (the first emperor of the Qin dynasty) unified China in 221 BC, Macao came under the jurisdiction of Panyu County, Nanhai Prefecture. Administratively, it was part of Dongguan Prefecture in the Jin dynasty (AD 266–420), then Nanhai County during the Sui dynasty (AD 581–618), and Dongguan County in the Tang dynasty (AD 618–907). In 1152, during the Southern Song dynasty, the Guangdong administration joined the coastal areas of Nanhai, Panyu, Xinhui and Dongguan Counties to establish Xiangshan County, thus bringing Macao under its jurisdiction.}}</ref><ref name="ethnic-encyclopedia">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oZCOAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA169 |title=Ethnic Groups of North, East, and Central Asia: An Encyclopedia |first=James B. |last=Minahan |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-61069-018-8 |page=169}}</ref> The region is first known to have been settled during the [[Han dynasty]].<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = Hong Kong University Press| isbn = 978-988-8028-54-2| last = Hao| first = Zhidong| title = Macau History and Society | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LP9q1dzVRYQC&pg=PA15 | date = 2011|page = 15}}</ref> It was administratively part of [[Dongguan Prefecture]] in the [[Jin dynasty (266–420)|Jin dynasty]] (266–420 AD), and alternated under the control of Nanhai and Dongguan in later dynasties.<ref name="ethnic-encyclopedia"/><ref name="handbook">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nF-zCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA32 |title=Macao Electoral, Political Parties Laws and Regulations Handbook – Strategic Information, Regulations, Procedures |publisher=IBP. Inc. |year=2015 |page=32|isbn=978-1-5145-1727-7 }}</ref>

Since the 5th century, merchant ships travelling between Southeast Asia and [[Guangzhou]] used the region as a port for refuge, fresh water, and food.<ref>{{Cite web|last=davide|title=Macau's Early History|url=https://www.portuguesemuseum.org/?page_id=1808&category=3&exhibit=&event=154|access-date=25 March 2021|language=en-US}}</ref> In 1152, during the [[Song dynasty]] (960–1279 AD), it was under the jurisdiction of the new [[Zhongshan|Xiangshan County]].<ref name="Macau history in Macau encyclopaedia"/><ref name="Macau-yearbook"/><ref name="handbook"/> In 1277, approximately 50,000 refugees fleeing the [[Mongol conquest of China]] settled in the coastal area.<ref name="ethnic-encyclopedia"/><ref name="handbook"/><ref name="Brief History of Macau">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3N9JAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA2|title=Background Notes, Macau |publisher=Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, U.S. Department of State |year=1994 |access-date=22 April 2020 |page=2}}</ref>

[[Mong Há]] has long been the centre of Chinese life in Macau and the site of what may be the region's oldest temple, a shrine devoted to the [[Buddhist]] [[Guanyin]] (Goddess of Mercy).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ride |first=Lindsay |display-authors=etal |title=The Voices of Macao Stones: The Nanjing Massacre Witnessed by American and British Nationals |publisher=Hong Kong University Press |year=1999 |isbn=978-962-209-487-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CTLxAQAAQBAJ&dq=mong+H%C3%A1+budhist+goddess+of+mercy+temple&pg=PT64 |pages=42}}</ref> Later in the [[Ming dynasty]] (1368–1644 AD), fishermen migrated to Macau from various parts of Guangdong and [[Fujian]] provinces and built the [[A-Ma Temple]] where they prayed for safety on the sea. The [[Hoklo people|Hoklo Boat people]] were the first to show interest in Macau as a trading centre for the southern provinces. However, Macau did not develop as a major settlement until the Portuguese arrived in the 16th century.<ref name="Brief History of Macau" />

==Portuguese settlement==
{{Main|Portuguese Macau}}
[[File:Macau in Livro das Plantas de Todas as Fortalezas.jpg|thumb|right|Map of the [[Macau Peninsula]], [[1635]].]]
During the [[Portugal in the Age of Discovery|age of discovery]] Portuguese sailors explored the coasts of Africa and Asia. The sailors later established posts at [[Old Goa|Goa]] in 1510, and  [[Capture of Malacca (1511)|conquered Malacca in 1511]], driving the [[Sultan Mahmud Shah|Sultan]] to the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula from where he kept making raids on the Portuguese. The Portuguese under [[Jorge Álvares]] landed at [[Lintin Island]] in the [[Pearl River Delta]] of China in 1513 with a hired junk sailing from [[Portuguese Malacca]]. They erected a stone marker at Lintin Island claiming it for the [[King of Portugal]], [[Manuel I of Portugal|Manuel I]]. In the same year, the Indian Viceroy [[Afonso de Albuquerque]] commissioned [[Rafael Perestrello]]—a cousin of [[Christopher Columbus]]–to sail to China in order to open up trade relations. Rafael traded with the Chinese merchants in [[Guangzhou]] in that year and in 1516, but was not allowed to move further.

Portugal's king [[Manuel I of Portugal|Manuel I]] in 1517 commissioned a diplomatic and trade mission to Guangzhou headed by [[Tomé Pires]] and [[Fernão Pires de Andrade]]. The embassy lasted until the death of the [[Zhengde Emperor]] in [[Nanjing]]. The embassy was further rejected by the Chinese [[Ming dynasty|Ming]] court, which now became less interested in new foreign contacts. The Ming Court was also influenced by reports of misbehaviour of Portuguese elsewhere in China, and by the deposed Sultan of Malacca seeking Chinese assistance to drive the Portuguese out of Malacca.

In 1521 and 1522 several more Portuguese ships reached the trading island [[Tamão]] off the coast near Guangzhou, but were driven away by the now-hostile Ming authorities. Pires was imprisoned and died in Canton.

In their first attempts at obtaining trading posts by force, the Portuguese were defeated by the Ming Chinese at the [[Battle of Tunmen]] in [[Tamão]] or [[Tuen Mun]] in 1521 where the Portuguese lost two ships, and [[Battle of Sincouwaan]] in [[Lantau Island]] where the Portuguese also lost two ships, and [[Shuangyu]] in 1548 where several Portuguese were captured and near the [[Dongshan County|Dongshan Peninsula]] in 1549, where two Portuguese junks and [[Galeote Pereira]] were captured. During these battles the Ming Chinese captured weapons from the defeated Portuguese which they then reverse engineered and mass-produced in China such as [[matchlock]] [[musket]] [[arquebus]]es which they named [[Gun control in China#History|bird guns]] and [[Breech-loading swivel gun#Use|breech loading swivel guns]] which they named as Folangji ([[Franks#Crusaders and other Western Europeans as "Franks"|Frankish]]) cannon because the Portuguese were known to the Chinese under the name of Franks at this time. The Portuguese eventually returned to Cantonese waters and established trade at the offshore [[Shangchuan Island]] in 1549. A few years later, [[Lampacau]] Island, closer to the [[Pearl River Delta]], became the main base of the Portuguese trade in the region.<ref>{{citation |last=Ptak |first=Roderich |title=Early Sino-Portuguese relations up to the Foundation of Macao |journal=Mare Liberum, Revista de História dos Mares |issue=4 |year=1992 |url=http://www.library.gov.mo/macreturn/DATA/PP205/index.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303231338/http://www.library.gov.mo/macreturn/DATA/PP205/index.htm |archive-date=3 March 2016 |url-status=dead |place=Lisbon}}</ref> Relations between the Portuguese and Cantonese authorities improved after the Portuguese aided the latter in eliminating coastal pirates, and, the two parties were able to come to a [[Luso-Chinese agreement (1554)|Luso-Chinese agreement]] in 1554 where the Portuguese secured Macau as a trading post from China.<ref>p. 343-344, Denis Crispin Twitchett, John King Fairbank, [https://books.google.com/books?id=tVhvh6ibLJcC&dq=Leonel+de+Sousa+Macau&pg=PA344 The Cambridge history of China, Volume 2; Volume 8], Cambridge University Press, 1978, {{ISBN|0-521-24333-5}}</ref>

The Portuguese later built some rudimentary stone-houses around the area now called [[Nam Van Lake|Nam Van]].  It was not until 1557 did the Portuguese establish a permanent settlement in Macau, at an annual rent of 500 [[tael]]s (~{{convert|20|kg|lb}}) of silver.<ref name="Macau a General Introduction">{{cite book |title=Macau: a General Introduction |last=Fung |first=Bong Yin|year=1999|publisher=Joint Publishing (H.K.) Co. Ltd. |location=Hong Kong |isbn=962-04-1642-2|language =zh}}</ref> Later that year, the Portuguese established a walled village there. Ground rent payments began in 1573. China retained sovereignty and Chinese residents were subject to Chinese law, but the territory was under Portuguese administration. In 1582 a land lease was signed, and annual rent was paid to [[Xiangshan County, Guangdong|Xiangshan County]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2008}} The Portuguese continued to pay an annual tribute up to 1863 in order to stay in Macau.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CioAAAAAQAAJ&q=parthian+despatch+macao&pg=PA522|title=Dictionary of dates, and universal reference. [With]|year=1885|edition=18|page=522|quote=MACAO (in Quang-tong, S. China) was given to the Portuguese as a commercial station in 1586 (in return for their assistance against pirates), subject to an annual tribute, which was remitted in 1863. Here Camoens composed part of the " Lusiad."|author=Joseph Timothy Haydn|access-date=4 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605111451/http://books.google.com/books?id=CioAAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA522&dq=parthian+despatch+macao&hl=en&ei=5Kq5TomRIKiOSQLe3oWlCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDwQ6AEwAw|archive-date=5 June 2013|url-status=live}}(Oxford University)</ref>[[File:Merchant from Penang in Festive Dress, Woman from Macao.JPG|thumb|220px|A Chinese official and a woman from [[Macau]], 1880.]]

The Portuguese often married [[Tanka people|Tanka]] women since Han Chinese women would not have relations with them. Some of the Tanka's descendants became [[Macanese people]]. Some Tanka children were enslaved by Portuguese raiders.<ref>Indiana University{{cite book|author=Charles Ralph Boxer|title=Fidalgos in the Far East, 1550–1770: fact and fancy in the history of Macao|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kePUAAAAMAAJ|access-date=1 March 2012|year=1948|publisher=M. Nijhoff|page=224|quote=Some of these wants and strays found themselves in queer company and places in the course of their enforced sojourn in the Portuguese colonial empire. The Ming Shih's complain that the Portuguese kidnapped not only coolie or Tanka children but even those of educated persons, to their piratical lairs at Lintin and Castle Peak, is borne out by the fate of Barros' Chinese slave already|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140707001922/http://books.google.com/books?ei=r-NOT8r_JoaQ0QGBhYzdDQ&id=kePUAAAAMAAJ|archive-date=7 July 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> The Chinese poet [[Wu Li]] wrote a poem, which included a line about the Portuguese in Macau being supplied with fish by the Tanka.<ref>{{cite book|author=Jonathan Chaves|title=Singing of the source: nature and god in the poetry of the Chinese painter Wu Li|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IbAjJ0B2OGoC&q=portuguese+slave+tanka&pg=PA53|access-date=1 March 2012|edition=illustrated|year=1993|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=0-8248-1485-1|page=53|quote=Wu Li, like Bocarro, noted the presence in Macao both of black slaves and of non-Han Chinese such as the Tanka boat people, and in the third poem of his sequence he combines references to these two groups: Yellow sand, whitewashed houses: here the black men live; willows at the gates like sedge, still not sparse in autumn.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140707002010/http://books.google.com/books?id=IbAjJ0B2OGoC&pg=PA53&dq=portuguese+slave+tanka&hl=en&sa=X&ei=r-NOT8r_JoaQ0QGBhYzdDQ&ved=0CEEQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=portuguese%20slave%20tanka&f=false|archive-date=7 July 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Jonathan Chaves|title=Singing of the source: nature and god in the poetry of the Chinese painter Wu Li|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IbAjJ0B2OGoC&q=portuguese+slave+tanka&pg=PA53|access-date=1 March 2012|edition=illustrated|year=1993|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=0-8248-1485-1|page=54|quote=Midnight's when the Tanka come and make their harbor here; fasting kitchens for noonday meals have plenty of fresh fish&nbsp;... The second half of the poem unfolds a scene of Tanka boat people bringing in fish to supply the needs of fasting Christians.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140707002010/http://books.google.com/books?id=IbAjJ0B2OGoC&pg=PA53&dq=portuguese+slave+tanka&hl=en&sa=X&ei=r-NOT8r_JoaQ0QGBhYzdDQ&ved=0CEEQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=Midnight's%20Tanka%20come%20harbor%20fasting%20noonday%20fresh%20fish%20actual&f=false|archive-date=7 July 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Jonathan Chaves|title=Singing of the source: nature and god in the poetry of the Chinese painter Wu Li|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IbAjJ0B2OGoC&q=portuguese+slave+tanka&pg=PA53|access-date=1 March 2012|edition=illustrated|year=1993|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=0-8248-1485-1|page=141|quote=3 Yellow sand, whitewashed houses: here the black men live; willows at the gates like sedge, still not sparse in autumn. Midnight's when the Tanka come and make their harbor here; fasting kitchens for noonday meals have plenty of fresh fish.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140707002010/http://books.google.com/books?id=IbAjJ0B2OGoC&pg=PA53&dq=portuguese+slave+tanka&hl=en&sa=X&ei=r-NOT8r_JoaQ0QGBhYzdDQ&ved=0CEEQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=Midnight's%20Tanka%20come%20harbor%20fasting%20noonday%20fresh%20fish%20%20holograph&f=false|archive-date=7 July 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Jonathan Chaves|title=Singing of the source: nature and god in the poetry of the Chinese painter Wu Li|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IbAjJ0B2OGoC&q=portuguese+slave+tanka&pg=PA53|access-date=1 March 2012|edition=illustrated|year=1993|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=0-8248-1485-1|page=53|quote=The residents Wu Li strives to reassure (in the third line of this poem) consisted – at least in 1635 when Antonio Bocarro, Chronicler-in-Chief of the State of India, wrote his detailed account of Macao (without actually having visited there) — of some 850 Portuguese families with "on the average about six slaves capable of bearing arms, amongst whom the majority and the best are negroes and such like," as well as a like number of "native families, including Chinese Christians&nbsp;... who form the majority [of the non-Portuguese residents] and other nations, all Christians." 146 (Bocarro may have been mistaken in declaring that all the Chinese in Macao were Christians.)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140707002010/http://books.google.com/books?id=IbAjJ0B2OGoC&pg=PA53&dq=portuguese+slave+tanka&hl=en&sa=X&ei=r-NOT8r_JoaQ0QGBhYzdDQ&ved=0CEEQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=portuguese%20slave%20tanka&f=false|archive-date=7 July 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Macau's golden age==
[[File:Macau Trade Routes.png|thumb|right|Macau and its position in Portuguese and Spanish global trade routes]]
[[File:Jesuites en chine.jpg|thumb|right|The mission of the [[Jesuit]]s used Macau as a point of departure & formation during the 16th century.]]
Both Chinese and Portuguese merchants flocked to Macau, although the Portuguese were never numerous (numbering just 900 in 1583 and 1200 out of 26,000 in 1640).<ref>Porter, Jonathan. ''Macau, the Imaginary City: Culture and Society, 1557 to the Present''. Westview Press, 1999. {{ISBN|978-0-8133-3749-4}}</ref> It quickly became an important node in the development of Portugal's trade along three major routes: Macau–Malacca–Goa–Lisbon, Guangzhou–Macau–Nagasaki and Macau–Manila–Mexico. The Guangzhou–Macau–Nagasaki route was particularly profitable because the Portuguese acted as middlemen, shipping Chinese silks to Japan and Japanese silver to China, pocketing huge markups in the process. This already lucrative trade became even more so when Chinese officials handed Macau's Portuguese traders a monopoly by banning direct trade with Japan in 1547, due to piracy by Chinese and Japanese nationals.<ref name="TouristGuideHistory">{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070520084736/http://www.macautouristguide.com/en/history.html|url=http://www.macautouristguide.com/en/history.html|archive-date=20 May 2007 |title=Macau – a unique city|publisher=Macau Tourist Guide|url-status=usurped|access-date=19 January 2015}}</ref>

Macau's golden age coincided with the [[Iberian Union|union]] of the Spanish and Portuguese crowns, between 1580 and 1640. King [[Philip II of Spain]] was encouraged to not harm the status quo, to allow trade to continue between Portuguese Macau and Spanish Manila, and to not interfere with Portuguese trade with China. In 1587, Philip promoted Macau from "Settlement or Port of the Name of God" to "City of the Name of God" (Cidade do Nome de Deus de Macau).<ref>[[C. R. Boxer]], ''Fidalgos in the Far East, 1550–1770''. Martinus Nijhoff (The Hague), 1948. p. 4</ref>

The alliance of Portugal with Spain meant that Portuguese colonies became targets for the Netherlands, which was embroiled at the time in a lengthy struggle for its independence from Spain, the [[Eighty Years' War]]. After the [[Dutch East India Company]] was founded in 1602, the Dutch unsuccessfully attacked Macau several times, culminating in a [[Battle of Macau|full-scale invasion attempt in 1622]], when 800 attackers were successfully repelled by 150 Macanese and Portuguese defenders and a large number of African slaves.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nsh8NHDQHlcC&q=african+slaves+macau&pg=PA238|title=Slavery and South Asian history|publisher=Indiana University Press|year=2006|isbn=0-253-21873-X|edition=illustrated|page=238|quote=Portuguese,"he concluded;"The Portuguese beat us off from Macao with their slaves."10 The same year as the Dutch&nbsp;... an English witness recorded that the Portuguese defence was conducted primarily by their African slaves, who threw|author=Indrani Chatterjee, Richard Maxwell Eaton|editor=Indrani Chatterjee, Richard Maxwell Eaton|access-date=4 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130529082146/http://books.google.com/books?id=Nsh8NHDQHlcC&pg=PA238&dq=african+slaves+macau&hl=en&ei=jfe6Tr-9LOfV0QGJ4cXfCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CEAQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=african%20slaves%20macau&f=false|archive-date=29 May 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> One of the first actions of Macau's next governor [[Francisco Mascarenhas (Governor of Macau)|Francisco Mascarenhas]], who arrived the following year, was to strengthen the city's defences, which included the construction of the [[Guia Fortress]].<ref>Boxer, p. 99</ref>

===Religious activity===
As well as being an important trading post, Macau was a centre of activity for Catholic missionaries, as it was seen as a gateway for the conversion of the vast populations of China and Japan.  [[Jesuit]]s had first arrived in the 1560s and were followed by [[Dominican Order|Dominican]]s in the 1580s. Both orders soon set about constructing churches and schools, the most notable of which were the Jesuit [[Ruins of St. Paul's|Cathedral of Saint Paul]] and the [[St. Dominic's Church (Macao)|St. Dominic's Church]] built by the Dominicans. In 1576, Macau was established as an [[episcopal see]] by [[Pope Gregory XIII]] with [[Melchior Carneiro]] appointed as the first bishop.<ref name="Archdiocese of Goa">{{CathEncy|wstitle=Archdiocese of Goa}}</ref><ref name="Catholic in Macau Encyclopedia">{{cite web|url=http://www.macaudata.com/macauweb/Encyclopedia/html/11502.htm|title=The Catholic entry in Macau Encyclopedia|publisher=Macau Foundation|access-date=6 January 2008|language=zh|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071224173753/http://www.macaudata.com/macauweb/Encyclopedia/html/11502.htm <!--Added by H3llBot-->|archive-date=24 December 2007}}</ref>

==1637–1844: Decline==
[[File:Cidade do Nome De Deus Nao Ha Outra Mais Leal.jpg|thumb|The full title awarded to Macau by King [[Joao IV]] is still displayed to this day inside the [[Leal Senado]], though the building and emblem itself date from the 19th century.]]
[[File:Le port de Macao en 1787 expedition La Perouse.jpg|thumb|Macao harbour, 1787]]
[[File:View of the Praya Grande, Macau, unknown artist, Guangzhou, China, c. 1830, oil on canvas - Peabody Essex Museum - DSC07303.jpg|thumb|View of the Praia Grande, Macau, unknown artist, {{circa|1830}}]]

In 1637, increasing suspicion of the intentions of Spanish and Portuguese Catholic missionaries in Japan finally led the ''[[shōgun]]'' to seal Japan off from foreign influence. Later named the [[sakoku]] period, this meant that no Japanese were allowed to leave the country (or return if they were living abroad), and no foreign ship was allowed to dock in a Japanese port. An exception was made for the Protestant Dutch, who were allowed to continue to trade with Japan from the confines of a small man-made island in Nagasaki, [[Deshima]]. Macau's most profitable trade route, that between Japan and China, had been severed. The crisis was compounded two years later by the loss of Malacca to the Dutch in 1641, damaging the link with Goa.

The news that the Portuguese [[House of Braganza]] had [[Portuguese Restoration War|regained control of the Crown]] from the [[Spanish Habsburgs]] took two years to reach Macau, arriving in 1642. A ten-week celebration ensued, and despite its new-found poverty, Macau sent gifts to the new King [[João IV]] along with expressions of loyalty. In return, the King rewarded Macau with the addition of the words "There is none more Loyal" to its existing title. Macau was now "City of the Name of God, Macau, There is none more loyal".  ("Cidade do Nome de Deus, Macau, Nao Ha Outra Mais Leal" <nowiki>[</nowiki>{{Audio|Portuguese-Cidade do Santo Nome de Deus de Macau, Nao ha outra mais Leal.ogg|Listen}}<nowiki>]</nowiki>).<ref>{{cite news|title=Step onto Senado Square and into the past: Walking tours bring Macau's Chinese, Portuguese history in focus|url=https://www.scmp.com/native/lifestyle/topics/experience-macau/article/1848586/step-senado-square-and-past-walking-tours|publisher=South China Morning Post}}</ref>

[[File:Lai Afong, view of Macau, 1870s-1890s.jpg|thumb|left|Macau, ''ca''. 1870]]

In 1685, the privileged position of the Portuguese in trade with China ended, following a decision by the [[Kangxi Emperor]] of China to allow trade with all foreign countries. Over the next century, Britain, the Dutch Republic, France, Denmark, Sweden, the United States and Russia moved in, establishing factories and offices in [[Guangzhou]] and Macau. British trading dominance in the 1790s was unsuccessfully challenged by a combined French and Spanish naval squadron at the [[Macau Incident (1799)|Macau Incident]] of 27 January 1799.
[[File:Praia Grande, Macau (gravura de W. H. Capone).png|thumb|Macau in the 19th century; ''Praia Grande,'' painted by W. H. Capone]]
Until 20 April 1844 Macau was under the jurisdiction of Portugal's Indian colonies, the so-called "Estado português da India" ([[Portuguese State of India]]), but after this date, it, along with [[East Timor]], was accorded recognition by Lisbon (but not by Beijing) as an overseas province of Portugal.

The [[Treaty of Wanghia|Treaty of Peace, Amity, and Commerce between China and the United States]] was signed in the [[Kun Iam Temple]] of Macau on 3 July 1844. The temple was used by a Chinese judicial administrator, who also oversaw matters concerning foreigners, and was located in the village of Mong Há. This marked the official beginning of Sino-US relations.

==1844–1938: The Hong Kong effect==
[[File:Macao Street Scene.jpg|thumb|Street scene in Macau in the 1840s, by [[George Chinnery]].]]
[[File:Canton Macau and Hong Kong MKL Bd. 9 1890 (130810410).jpg|thumb|1890 German map of Hong Kong, Macau, and Canton (now [[Guangzhou]])]]
After China ceded Hong Kong to the British in 1842, Macau's position as a major regional trading centre declined further still because larger ships were drawn to the deep-water port of [[Victoria Harbour]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Mirza, Rocky M.|title=Understanding the global shift, the popularity of Donald Trump, Brexit and discontent in the West : rise of the emerging economies: 1980 to 2018|year=2019|isbn=978-1-4907-9327-6|location=[Bloomington, IN]|oclc=1117312614}}</ref> In 1846, Portugal dispatched [[João Maria Ferreira do Amaral]] to serve as governor of Macau.<ref name=":132">{{Cite book |last=Simpson |first=Tim |title=Betting on Macau: Casino Capitalism and China's Consumer Revolution |date=2023 |publisher=[[University of Minnesota Press]] |isbn=978-1-5179-0031-1 |series=Globalization and Community series |location=Minneapolis}}</ref>{{Rp|page=81}} He unilaterally declared Macau a Portuguese colony, stopped annual rent payments to China, occupied the nearby Island of [[Taipa]] (which had never been Portuguese territory), and imposed a new series of taxes on Macau residents.<ref name=":132" />{{Rp|page=81}} In 1846, there was a [[Revolt of the Faitiões|revolt of the boatmen]] that was put down.

While supervising road construction, Amaral ordered the destruction of Chinese tombs in the area. In the [[Passaleão incident|Baishaling incident]], Amaral was ambushed and killed by a group of Chinese villagers he encountered while riding outside the city gates.<ref name=":132" />{{Rp|page=81}} The Portuguese responded with a surprise attack on a nearby Chinese fort, forcing the Chinese to retreat.<ref name=":132" />{{Rp|page=81}} This was a milestone in the Portugal's assertion of sovereignty over Macau.<ref name=":132" />{{Rp|pages=81–82}} Portugal gained control of the island of Wanzai ([[Lapa, Dom João e Montanha|Lapa]] by the Portuguese and now as Wanzaizhen), to the northwest of Macau and which now is under the jurisdiction of [[Zhuhai]] ([[Xiangzhou District, Zhuhai|Xiangzhou District]]), in 1849 but relinquished it in 1887. Control over Taipa and [[Coloane]], two islands south of Macau, was obtained between 1851 and 1864. Macau and East Timor were again combined as an overseas province of Portugal under control of Goa in 1883. The Protocol Respecting the Relations Between the Two Countries (signed in Lisbon 26 March 1887) and the [[Sino-Portuguese Treaty of Peking|Beijing Treaty]] (signed in Beijing on 1 December 1887) confirmed "perpetual occupation and government" of Macau by Portugal (with Portugal's promise "never to alienate Macau and dependencies without agreement with China" in the treaty). Taipa and Coloane were also ceded to Portugal, but the border with the mainland was not delimited. [[Ilha Verde]] was incorporated into Macau's territory in 1890, and, once a kilometre offshore, by 1923 it had been absorbed into peninsula Macau through [[land reclamation]].{{citation needed|date = December 2012}}

In 1871, the [[Hospital Kiang Wu]] was founded as a traditional Chinese medical hospital. It was in 1892 that doctor [[Sun Yat-sen]] brought Western medicine services to the hospital.<ref name=GovernmentPublication>As published on IACM Macau government publication "Footprints of Painter Gao Jianhu"</ref>

In the 1930s, Macau's traditional income streams related to illegal opium sales dried up, as the [[Royal Navy]]'s [[Far East Fleet (United Kingdom)|Eastern Fleet]] suppressed piracy and smuggling in support of Hong Kong's growing commercial status. Traditional local industries of fishing, firecrackers and incense, as well as tea and tobacco processing, were all small scale, while Macau government income from '[[Fan-Tan]]' gambling was only around US$5000 (about US$100,000 in modern money) per day. So the financially pressed Portuguese government urged the colony's administrators to develop greater economic self-sufficiency. One channel that bore fruit was as a transit point for the new trans-Pacific passenger and postal flights, for competing airlines from the US and Japan – which was at the time engaged in [[Japanese invasion of Manchuria|conflict with China]]. In 1935, [[Pan American World Airways|Pan-Am]] secured sea-landing rights in Macau and immediately set about building related communications infrastructure in the enclave, allowing a service from [[San Francisco]] to begin in November that year.<ref name=100mOffer>[https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3049322/did-japan-really-offer-portugal-us100-million Did Japan really offer Portugal US$100 million for Macau in 1935?], SCMP by Paul French, 8 February 2020</ref>
[[File:Macau c1870 by W.P. Floyd 3.jpg|thumb|287x287px|Macau harbour c1870 by W.P. Floyd. Different types of boat traffic visible. Some are small and local, others for long distance travel.]]
Intertwined with this economic progress was an alleged and much discussed offer (never officially confirmed) in 1935 by Japan to buy Macau from Portugal, for US$100 million. Concerns were raised by the British, and others. In May, the Portuguese government twice denied that it would accept any such offer, and the matter was closed.<ref name=100mOffer/>

===1848–1870s: Slave trade===

From 1848 to about the early 1870s, Macau was the infamous transit port of a trade of [[coolies]] (or slave labourers) from southern China. Between 1851 and 1874 approximately 215,000 Chinese were shipped from Macau overseas, primarily to [[Cuba]] and [[Peru]], with some being shipped to [[The Guianas|Guiana]], [[Suriname]], and [[Costa Rica]].<ref name=":132" />{{Rp|page=82}} Coolies were obtained via variety of sources, including some who were entrapped by brokers in Macau through loans for gambling, and others who were kidnapped or coerced.<ref name=":132" />{{Rp|page=82}}

== 1938–1949: World War II ==

Macau became a refugee centre during World War II, causing its population to climb from about 200,000 to about 700,000 people within a few years.<ref name=MacauDailyInterview1>{{cite web | author=Paulo Barbosa | title=Q&A: "Macau was safe haven" during WWII | url=http://www.macaudailytimes.com.mo/interview/35537-q&a:-%E2%80%9Cmacau-was-safe-haven%E2%80%9D-during-wwii.html | date=2 May 2012 | access-date=7 January 2014 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20140107112427/http://www.macaudailytimes.com.mo/interview/35537-q&a:-%E2%80%9Cmacau-was-safe-haven%E2%80%9D-during-wwii.html | archive-date=7 January 2014 | url-status=live}}</ref> Refugee operations were organised through the Santa Casa da Misericordia.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Wartime Macau: Under the Japanese Shadow|last=Gunn|first=Geoffrey|publisher=Hong Kong University Press|year=2016|isbn=978-988-8390-51-9|location=Hong Kong|pages=105}}</ref>

Unlike in the case of [[Portuguese Timor]], which was occupied by the Japanese in 1942 along with Dutch Timor, the Japanese respected Portuguese neutrality in Macau, but only up to a point.<ref name=MacauDailyInterview1/> As such, Macau enjoyed a brief period of economic prosperity, being the only neutral port in South China, after the Japanese had occupied Guangzhou (Canton) and [[Japanese occupation of Hong Kong|Hong Kong]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ptak |first=Roderich |date=2017 |title=Review of Wartime Macau: Under the Japanese Shadow |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.13173/jasiahist.51.2.0328 |journal=Journal of Asian History |volume=51 |issue=2 |pages=328–333 |doi=10.13173/jasiahist.51.2.0328 |jstor=10.13173/jasiahist.51.2.0328 |issn=0021-910X|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In August 1943, Japanese troops seized the British steamer ''Sian'' in Macau and killed about 20 guards. The next month, they demanded the installation of Japanese "advisors" under the alternative of military occupation. The result was that a virtual Japanese [[protectorate]] was created over Macau.

On June 26, 1942, a [[Hawker Hart|Hawker Osprey III]] (6) of [[Portuguese Naval Aviation|Aeronáutica Naval]] crashed into a residential area in Macau, killing both occupants as well as one person on the ground.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Accident Hawker Ospray III 6 |url=https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/215072 |access-date=2023-10-04 |website=aviation-safety.net}}</ref> This is the only fatal aircraft accident to have taken place in Macau.

Having been neutral during World War II, Portugal was not a signatory to the 1944 [[Bretton-Woods Agreement|Bretton Woods Agreement]].<ref name=":132" />{{Rp|page=87}} Combined with its geographical location, this meant that Macau was an ideal hub for the illicit gold trade among those seeking to avoid the price controls on gold imposed by the Bretton Woods Agreement.<ref name=":132" />{{Rp|page=87}} Following the 1971 U.S. abandonment of the Bretton Woods System through the [[Nixon shock]], Macau's significance to the gold trade declined, and its illicit gold trade ended in 1974.<ref name=":132" />{{Rp|page=88}}

When it was discovered that neutral Macau was planning to sell aviation fuel to Japan, aircraft from the ''[[USS Enterprise (CV-6)|USS Enterprise]]'' bombed and strafed the hangar of the Naval Aviation Centre on 16 January 1945 to destroy the fuel. American air raids on targets in Macau were also made on 25 February and 11 June 1945. Following Portuguese government protest in 1950, the United States paid US$20,255,952 compensation to the government of Portugal.<ref>p.116 Garrett, Richard J. ''The Defences of Macau: Forts, Ships and Weapons Over 450 Years'' Hong Kong University Press, 1 February 2010</ref>

== 1949–1999: Macau and the People's Republic of China ==

When the [[Chinese Communist Party]] (CCP) came to power in 1949, the CCP declared the Protocol of Lisbon to be invalid as an "[[unequal treaties|unequal treaty]]" imposed by foreigners on China. However, Beijing was not ready to settle the treaty question, leaving the maintenance of "the status quo" until a more appropriate time. Beijing took a similar position on treaties relating to the Hong Kong territories of the United Kingdom.

Following World War II, the United Nations expected its member states to relinquish any colonies. Portuguese Prime Minister [[António de Oliveira Salazar|Antonio Salazar]] sought to resist UN pressure to relinquish Macau.<ref name=":132" />{{Rp|page=84}} In 1951, the Salazar regime eliminated the phrase "colonial empire" from its constitution and sought to re-characterize Macau not as a colony but as an [[Political divisions of Portugal#Former regions|overseas province]] of Portugal, which it viewed as part of a plural-continental but nonetheless unified and indivisible Portuguese state.<ref name=":132" />{{Rp|page=84}}

During the [[Korean War]], Macau was a major site for the smuggling of arms into China to avoid United Nations mandates.<ref name=":132" />{{Rp|page=82}} After the [[Korean Armistice Agreement|armistice]], Macau became a semi-official gateway for [[North Korea]]'s diplomatic and financial interests, with a Macau trading company serving as North Korea's de facto consulate in Macau.<ref name=":132" />{{Rp|page=82}}

During the 1950s and 1960s Macau's border crossing to China [[Portas do Cerco]] was also referred to as ''Far Eastern Checkpoint Charlie'' with a major border incident happening in 1952 with Portuguese African Troops exchanging fire with Chinese Communist border guards.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wordie |first=Jason |year=2013 |title=Macao – People and Places, Past and Present |location=Hong Kong |publisher=Angsana Limited |isbn=978-988-12696-0-7 | pages =6–7 | chapter=1. Portas do Cerco }}</ref> According to reports, the exchange lasted for one-and-three-quarter hours, leaving one dead and several dozens injured on the Macau side and more than 100 casualties claimed on the Communist Chinese side.<ref>{{cite news |date=31 July 1952 |title=Macao Portuguese Fire Over Border |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article49044158 |newspaper=The West Australian |location=Perth |publisher=Perth, W. A. : A. Davidson, for the West Australian, 1879 |access-date=2 December 2013 }}</ref>

In 1954, the [[Macau Grand Prix]] was established, first as a treasure hunt throughout the city, and in later years as a formal car racing event.<ref>{{cite web | author=Grand Prix Macau | url=http://archive.grandprix.gov.mo/mgpc/subpage.php?id=528&lang=en | title=THE 50s: All THAT BEGINS | access-date=30 December 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131226022048/http://archive.grandprix.gov.mo/mgpc/subpage.php?id=528&lang=en | archive-date=26 December 2013 | url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1962, the gambling industry of Macau saw a major breakthrough when the government granted the ''[[Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau]]'' (STDM), a syndicate jointly formed by Hong Kong and Macau businessmen, the monopoly rights to all forms of gambling. The STDM introduced western-style games and modernised the marine transport between Macau and Hong Kong, bringing millions of gamblers from Hong Kong every year.<ref name="Macau economy">{{cite book |title=The Macau Economy|last=Chan|first=S. S.|year=2000|publisher=Publications Centre, University of Macau|location=Macau|isbn=99937-26-03-6}}</ref>

Riots broke out in 1966 during the [[Cultural Revolution]], when local Chinese and the Macau authority clashed, the most serious one being the [[12-3 incident]].<ref name=":132" />{{Rp|page=84}} This was prompted by government delays in approving a new wing for a Communist Party elementary school in Taipa.<ref name=":132" />{{Rp|page=84}} The school board illegally commenced construction, the colonial government sent police to stop the workers, and several people were injured in the conflict.<ref name=":132" />{{Rp|page=84}} On December 3, 1966, two days of rioting occurred in which hundreds were injured and six<ref name=":132" />{{Rp|page=84}} to eight people were killed, leading also to a total deescalation by the Portuguese government.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=kebmyB-5-IYC&q=de+facto&pg=PA34  ''Portugal, China and the Macau Negotiations, 1986–1999''], Carmen Amado Mendes, Hong Kong University Press, 2013, page 34</ref>  The event set in motion de facto abdication of Portuguese control over Macau, putting it on the path to eventual decolonization.<ref name=":132" />{{Rp|page=84–85}}

[[File:12-3 Incident Apology.jpg|thumb|220px|The Portuguese governor of Macau signing a statement of apology under a portrait of Mao Zedong.]]
On 29 January 1967, the Portuguese governor, José Manuel de Sousa e Faro Nobre de Carvalho, with the endorsement of Portuguese prime minister Salazar, signed a statement of apology at the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, under a portrait of [[Mao Zedong]], with [[Ho Yin]], the chamber's president, presiding.<ref name="Maxwell">[https://books.google.com/books?id=99mDi7KYa1oC&dq=kuomintang+macau+1967&pg=PA279 ''Naked Tropics: Essays on Empire and Other Rogues''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160321220809/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=99mDi7KYa1oC&lpg=PA279&ots=1ElNjmIq6u&dq=kuomintang%20macau%201967&pg=PA279#v=onepage&q=kuomintang%20macau%201967&f=false |date=21 March 2016 }}, Kenneth Maxwell, Psychology Press, 2003, page 279</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=A guerra e as respostas militar e política 5.Macau: Fim da ocupação perpétua (War and Military and Political Responses 5.Macau: Ending Perpetual Occupation) |url=http://media.rtp.pt/descolonizacaoportuguesa/pecas/macau-fim-da-ocupacao-perpetua/ |website=RTP.pt |publisher=RTP |access-date=1 January 2020}}</ref> Two agreements were signed, one with Macau's Chinese community, and the other with mainland China. The latter committed the government to compensate local Chinese community leaders with as much as 2 million [[Macanese pataca|Macau pataca]]s and to prohibit all [[Kuomintang]] activities in Macau.<ref name=":132" />{{Rp|page=85}} This move ended the conflict, and relations between the government and the leftist organisations remained largely peaceful.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Macau (09/08) |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/outofdate/bgn/macau/101177.htm |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=U.S. Department of State}}</ref> This success in Macau encouraged leftists in Hong Kong to "do the same", leading to riots by leftists in Hong Kong in 1967.

After the 1974 [[Carnation Revolution]] overthrew the dictatorship of [[Marcelo Caetano]], Portugal began a formal process of decolonization.<ref name=":132" />{{Rp|page=85}} Over the next several years, it made two offers to return Macau and China rejected both.<ref name=":132" />{{Rp|page=85}} In 1979, Portugal and China established formal diplomatic relations and reached a secret agreement to characterize Macau as a Chinese territory under Portuguese administration.<ref name=":132" />{{Rp|page=85}}

In 1994, the [[Ponte de Amizade|Bridge of Friendship]] was completed, the second bridge connecting Macau and Taipa.<ref name=MacauMuseum/> In November 1995, the [[Macau International Airport]] was inaugurated.<ref name=MacauMuseum/> Before then the territory only had 2 temporary airports for small aeroplanes, in addition to several permanent heliports. In 1997, the [[Estádio Campo Desportivo|Macau Stadium]] was completed in Taipa.<ref name=MacauMuseum/>

Over a three year period in the late 1990s, as wave of gang violence referred to as the casino wars occurred in Macau.<ref name=":132" />{{Rp|page=11}} The casino wars were largely attributable to rival [[Triad (organized crime)|Triad]] groups who sought to gain control of Macau's illicit industries before Portugal transferred the territory back to China.<ref name=":132" />{{Rp|page=11}} The Portuguese authorities of Macau mostly failed to address the violence, which resulted in 122 deaths, or to catch those responsible.<ref name=":132" />{{Rp|page=11}}

==1999: Handover to the People's Republic of China==
{{Unreferenced section|date=December 2021}}
{{Main|Transfer of sovereignty over Macau}}

Portugal and the People's Republic of China established diplomatic relations on 8 February 1979, and Beijing acknowledged Macau as "Chinese territory under Portuguese administration."  A year later, Gen. [[Melo Egidio]] became the first governor of Macau to pay an official visit to Beijing.

The visit underscored both parties' interest in finding a mutually agreeable solution to Macau's status. A joint communique signed 20 May 1986 called for negotiations on the Macau question, and four rounds of talks followed between 30 June 1986 and 26 March 1987. The [[Joint Declaration on the Question of Macau]] was signed in Beijing on 13 April 1987, setting the stage for the return of Macau to full Chinese sovereignty as a [[Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China|Special Administrative Region]] on 20 December 1999.

[[File:PLA Enter Macau.jpg|thumb|right|The [[People's Liberation Army]] enters Macau for the first time]]

After four rounds of talks, "the Joint Declaration of the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Republic of Portugal on the Question of Macau" was officially signed in April 1987. The two sides exchanged instruments of [[ratification]] on 15 January 1988 and the Joint Declaration entered into force. During the transitional period, between the date of the entry into force of the Joint Declaration and 19 December 1999, the Portuguese government was responsible for the administration of Macau.

The [[Macau Basic Law|Basic Law of the Macau Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China]], was adopted by the [[National People's Congress]] (NPC) on 31 March 1993 as the constitutional law for Macau, taking effect on 20 December 1999.

The PRC has promised that, under its "[[one country, two systems]]" formula, China's socialist economic system will not be practised in Macau and that Macau will enjoy a high degree of autonomy in all matters except foreign and defence affairs until, at least, 2049, fifty years after the handover.

Upon the handover of Macau [[Western imperialism in Asia|European colonisation of Asia]] ended.

== Recent history of Macau (1999–present) ==

===1999–2007: The rise of Macau as the Las Vegas of Asia===

In 2002, the Macau government ended the [[Gambling in Macau|gambling monopoly system]] and 3 (later 6) casino operating concessions (and subconcessions) were granted to [[Sociedade de Jogos de Macau]] (SJM, an 80% owned subsidiary of STDM), [[Wynn Resorts]], [[Las Vegas Sands]], [[Galaxy entertainment|Galaxy Entertainment Group]], the partnership of [[MGM Mirage]] and [[Pansy Ho Chiu-king]], and the partnership of Melco and PBL, thus marking the begin of the rise of Macau as the new gambling hub in Asia.

As one of the measures to develop the gambling industry, the Cotai reclamation was completed after the handover to China, with construction of the hotel and casino industry starting in 2004. In 2007, the first of many resorts opened, [[The Venetian Macao]]. Many other resorts followed, both in Cotai and on Macau island, providing for a major tax income stream to Macau government and a drop in overall unemployment over the years down to a mere 2% in 2013.<ref>{{cite web | author=Max-Leonhard von Schaper | title=Macau: Unemployment Rates during the past 8 years | url=http://mlvonschaper.wordpress.com/2013/11/03/macau-unemployment-rates-during-the-past-8-years/ | date=3 November 2013 | access-date=7 December 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131126153504/http://mlvonschaper.wordpress.com/2013/11/03/macau-unemployment-rates-during-the-past-8-years/ | archive-date=26 November 2013 | url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2004, the [[Sai Van Bridge]] was completed, the third bridge between Macau island and Taipa island.<ref name=MacauMuseum/>

In 2005, the [[Macau East Asian Games Dome]], the principal venue for the 4th East Asian Games, was inaugurated.<ref name=MacauMuseum>As displayed on the official timeline of Macau at the Museum of History in Taipa</ref>

Also in 2005, the Macau government started a wave of social housing construction (lasting until 2013 at least), constructing over 8000 apartment units in the process.<ref>{{cite web | author=Insituto de Habitacao | title=Social Housing | url=http://www.ihm.gov.mo/en/page/index.php?id=102 | access-date=30 December 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231000107/http://www.ihm.gov.mo/en/page/index.php?id=102 | archive-date=31 December 2013 | url-status=dead}}</ref>

===2008 financial crisis===
Similar to other economies in the world, the [[2008 financial crisis]] hit Macau, leading to a stall in construction of major construction works ([[Sands Cotai Central]]<ref name=HsinChong1>{{cite web | author=Hsin Chong Construction Group Ltd. | title=Sands Cotai Central Opens in Macau | url=http://www.hsinchong.com/en-US/Pages/what-new-details/75 | date=12 April 2012 | access-date=1 December 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304041400/http://www.hsinchong.com/en-US/Pages/what-new-details/75 | archive-date=4 March 2016 | url-status=dead}}</ref>) and a spike in unemployment.<ref>{{cite web | author=Max-Leonhard von Schaper | title=Macau: Unemployment in Total Figures | url=http://mlvonschaper.wordpress.com/2013/11/05/macau-unemployment-in-total-figures/ | date=7 November 2013 | access-date=7 December 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131127042853/http://mlvonschaper.wordpress.com/2013/11/05/macau-unemployment-in-total-figures/ | archive-date=27 November 2013 | url-status=dead}}</ref>

===2008–2013: Expansion into Hengqin and further casino boom===

With residential and development space being sparse, Macau government officially announced on 27 June 2009 that the [[University of Macau]] will build its new campus on [[Hengqin]] island, in a stretch directly facing the [[Cotai]] area, south of the current border post. Along with this development, several other residential and business development projects on Hengqin are in the planning.

In 2011 to 2013, further major construction on several planned mega-resorts in [[Cotai]] commenced.<ref>{{cite web | author=Kelvin Chan, AP (Macau Daily Times) | url=http://www.macaudailytimes.com.mo/macau/35539-wynn-macau-gets-ok-for-cotai-casino-development.html | title=Wynn Macau gets OK for Cotai casino development | date=2 May 2012 | access-date=29 December 2013 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20131229093345/http://www.macaudailytimes.com.mo/macau/35539-wynn-macau-gets-ok-for-cotai-casino-development.html | archive-date=29 December 2013 | url-status=live}}</ref>

===2014–present: Slowing down of the gambling industry and diversification of economy===

2014 marked the first time that the gambling revenues in Macau declined on a year-to-year basis. Starting in June 2014, gambling revenues declined for the second half of the year on a month-to-month basis (compared with 2013) causing the Macau Daily Times to announce that the "Decade of gambling expansion end[ed]".<ref>{{cite web | author=Macau Daily Times | url=http://macaudailytimes.com.mo/decade-gambling-expansion-ends.html | title=A DECADE OF GAMBLING EXPANSION ENDS | date=5 January 2015 | access-date=18 January 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402100250/http://macaudailytimes.com.mo/decade-gambling-expansion-ends.html | archive-date=2 April 2015 | url-status=dead}}</ref> Some reasons for the slowdown are China's anti-corruption drive reaching Macau, China's economy slowing down and changes of Mainland Chinese tourists' preference of visiting other countries as a travel destination.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ejinsight.com/20151017-macau-economy-undergoing-great-reconstruction/ |title=Macau economy undergoing great reconstruction |last=Feng |first=Xiaoyun |date=17 October 2015 |website=Ejinsight |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160208144148/http://www.ejinsight.com/20151017-macau-economy-undergoing-great-reconstruction/ |archive-date=8 February 2016 |access-date=9 February 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2027105/chinese-tourists-skipped-hong-kong-taiwan-and-headed-farther |title=Chinese tourists skipped Hong Kong, Taiwan and headed farther afield during Golden Week |last=Ge |first=Celine |date=11 October 2016 |work=South China Morning Post |access-date=20 October 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018104301/http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2027105/chinese-tourists-skipped-hong-kong-taiwan-and-headed-farther |archive-date=18 October 2016}}</ref>

This led the Macau government to attempt to reconstruct the economy, to depend less on gambling revenues and focus on building world-class non-gambling tourism and leisure centres, as well as developing itself as a platform for economic and trade cooperation between China and [[Community of Portuguese Language Countries|Portuguese-speaking countries]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.worldfinance.com/banking/macau-bridges-the-gap-between-chinese-and-portuguese-markets |title=Macau bridges the gap between Chinese and Portuguese markets |last=Cardoso |first=Pedro |date=16 October 2017 |work=World Finance |access-date=16 October 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171016174745/https://www.worldfinance.com/banking/macau-bridges-the-gap-between-chinese-and-portuguese-markets |archive-date=16 October 2017}}</ref>

In 2015, the borders of Macau were redrawn by the state council, shifting the land border north to the [[Canal dos Patos (Macau)|Canal dos Patos]] and expanding the maritime border significantly. The changes increased the size of Macau's maritime territory by 85 square kilometres.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1892248/green-light-given-extend-macau-administrative-area |title=Macau to extend land and sea administrative area |website=South China Morning Post |date=17 December 2015 |access-date=10 November 2019}}</ref>

[[Typhoon Hato]] hit Southern China in August 2017, causing widespread damage to Macau, never before experienced – major flooding and property damages, with citywide power and water outages lasting for at least 24 hours after the passage of the storm. Overall, 10 deaths and at least 200 injuries were reported. This caused widespread anger against the Macau government, accused of being unprepared for the typhoon as well as the delay of raising the No. 10 tropical cyclone signal; this caused the head of the [[Macao Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau]] to resign.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2108164/macau-observatory-chief-resigns-government-slammed|title=Macau observatory chief resigns as government slammed for response to deadly typhoon|first1=Raquel|last1=Carvalho|first2=Danny|last2=Mok|newspaper=South China Morning Post|access-date=27 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170903230527/http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2108164/macau-observatory-chief-resigns-government-slammed|archive-date=3 September 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> At the request of the Macau government, the [[People's Liberation Army Macau Garrison|Chinese People's Liberation Army Macau Garrison]] (for the first time in Macau's history) deployed around 1,000 troops to assist in disaster relief and cleaning up.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2108227/pla-aid-macau-rescue-and-recovery-efforts-local|title=Up to 10 people feared trapped in flooded underground car parks after Typhoon Hato devastates Macau|first1=Raymond|last1=Yeung|first2=Raquel|last2=Carvelho|newspaper=South China Morning Post|access-date=27 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170827211206/http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2108227/pla-aid-macau-rescue-and-recovery-efforts-local|archive-date=27 August 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 12 December 2019, Macau officially opened its first rail transit system: the [[Macau Light Rapid Transit]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scmp.com/video/china/3041762/macaus-long-delayed-light-rail-service-begins-carrying-passengers|title=Macau's long-delayed light rail or tram service begins carrying passengers|website=South China Morning Post|access-date=23 December 2019}}</ref>

Overall, Macau was among the safest places in the world during the [[COVID-19 pandemic in Macau|COVID-19 pandemic]], with relatively few infections and a large array of medical, social, and financial response measures.<ref name=":132" />{{Rp|page=298}} Macau's casino-reliant economy was greatly slowed by the pandemic.<ref name=":132" />{{Rp|page=298}}

==See also==
* [[Anders Ljungstedt]]
* [[Culture of Macau]]
* [[Gambling in Macau]]
* [[Lisbon-Macau Raid]]
* [[Military of Macau under Portuguese rule]]
* [[Jorge Álvares]]
* [[Names of Macau]]
* [[Religion in Macau]]
* [[History of Hong Kong]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|33em}}

==Further reading==
* Collis, Maurice. "Macao: The City of the Name of God." ''History Today'' (Apr 1951) 1#4 pp 42–49 online. 
* Gunn, Geoffrey C. ''Encountering Macau, A Portuguese City-State on the Periphery of China, 1557–1999'' (Boulder: Westview Press, 1996) {{ISBN|0-8133-8970-4}} In Portuguese (1998) ''Ao Encontro de Macau: Uma cidade-estado portuguesa a periferia da China, 1557–1999'' (Macau:  Fundação Macau]. {{ISBN|972-658-074-9}} In Chinese (2009) ''澳门史：1557～1999'' (中央编译出版社).
* Gunn, Geoffrey C. (ed.) ''[[Wartime Macau]]: Under the Japanese Shadow'' (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2016). {{ISBN|978-988-8390-51-9}}
*Porter, Jonathan. "'The Past Is Present': The Construction of Macau's Historical Legacy," ''History and Memory'' Volume 21, Number 1, Spring/Summer 2009 pp.&nbsp;63–100
*Porter, Jonathan. '' Macau: The Imaginary City, Culture and Society, 1557 to the Present'' (Boulder: Westview Press, 1996)
* {{Cite book |publisher = Routledge |isbn = 978-1-884964-04-6 |title = International Dictionary of Historic Places: Asia and Oceania |year = 1996 |editor=Schellinger and Salkin |location=UK |chapter=Macau }}
* Souza, George Bryan. ''The Survival of Empire: Portuguese Trade and Society in China and the South China Sea, 1630–1754'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986)
* [[Austin Coates|Coates, Austin]]: ''A Macao Narrative''
* Shipp, Steve: ''Macau, China: A Political History of the Portuguese Colony's Transition to Chinese Rule''
* {{cite book|last=Clayton|first=Cathryn|editor1-first=Bryna|editor1-last=Goodman|editor2-first=David|editor2-last=Goodman|url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9780203125458/chapters/10.4324/9780203125458-18|chapter=The hapless imperialist? Portuguese rule in 1960s Macau|title=Twentieth Century Colonialism and China|edition=1|year=2012|publisher=[[Routledge]]|doi=10.4324/9780203125458|isbn=978-0-203-12545-8}}

{{Macauafter1999}}
{{China political divisions histories}}
{{History of Asia}}
{{Portuguese overseas empire}}
{{Foreign trade in Imperial China |state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Macau}}
[[Category:History of Macau| ]]
[[Category:European colonisation in Asia]]