The History of Macau

Podcast Transcript

Located in the Pearl River Delta, off the mainland of the People’s Republic of China, is Macau.

Macau is often overlooked due to its larger neighbor, Hong Kong, but Macau, despite being similar, has had its own unique history.

What began as a fishing village evolved into a major trading port, and in the 21st century, it has become a popular entertainment center.

It remains unlike any other place in Asia, and indeed, the entire world.

Learn more about Macau and its history on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

I’m guessing that many of you have heard of Macau, but might not be as familiar with it as you are with some of its neighbors.

Macau is currently classified as a Special Administrative Region of China. It isn’t quite a territory of the country, but it also isn’t quite integrated with the rest of the country.

For all practical purposes, it is a part of China, but it is also often listed separately when you see world data listed by country, even though it is not, and has never been, independent.

It is located on the southern coast of China, at the mouth of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong Province. It lies directly to the southwest of Hong Kong, across the Pearl River Estuary, and is bordered to the north by the Chinese city of Zhuhai in mainland China.

Macau isn’t very big. It has an area of only 33 square kilometers or 13 square miles. Because of its small area, it is today the most densely populated place on the planet with a density of 22,000 people per square kilometer or 57,000 per square mile.

To compare this to nearby Hong Kong, it has about one-tenth the population, with approximately 720,000 people, and one-thirty-third the area.

Macau is geographically divided into two separate parts: a peninsular part, which is connected to mainland China, and an island part.

The northern part of the territory is the peninsula. It is the oldest and most historically significant part of Macau, where the original Portuguese settlement was located.

To the south lie the islands of Taipa and Coloane. Taipa was once a separate island but has been joined to both Macau and Coloane by land reclamation and bridges. It is home to Macau’s international airport and many residential and university districts.

The southernmost part of Macau is Coloane, which retains more natural scenery and is less urbanized than other parts. Historically, it was a base for pirates, and now it contains parks, beaches, and temples.

There is also a small man-made area called the Cotai Strip, which was created by land reclamation between Taipa and Coloane. It is now the site of massive casino and resort developments, including some of the world’s largest gambling complexes.

So, the big question is, why is Macau even a thing? To understand this, we must first grasp the history of this small region.

The earliest known human settlement in Macau dates back 4,000 to 6,000 years. Archaeological evidence suggests that the area was inhabited during the Neolithic period.

By the Qin dynasty in the 3rd century BC, the region was part of Panyu County, and later under the control of the Han dynasty. Macau, then known as A-Ma-Gao or the Bay of A-Ma, was named after the sea goddess Mazu. It remained a relatively quiet fishing village for centuries, under the jurisdiction of various Chinese dynasties.

Mazu eventually was butchered in translation and became the word “Macau.”

It was part of Xiangshan County during the Song and Ming dynasties and played absolutely no significant political or commercial role in the Chinese imperial system.

However, in 1277, it was the destination for 50,000 refugees fleeing the Mongols as they invaded China.

The turning point came in 1517 when Portuguese explorer Jorge Álvares became the first European to land in the Pearl River Delta region. However, the real foundation of Portuguese Macau began about 40 years later around 1557, though the exact circumstances remain historically debated.

Here’s where the story becomes particularly interesting: rather than a military conquest, Portuguese settlement in Macau emerged through a complex arrangement with Chinese authorities.

Portuguese traders, seeking a permanent base for their lucrative trade with China and Japan, negotiated for the right to establish a settlement. They paid annual rent to Chinese officials and acknowledged Chinese sovereignty—a crucial detail that would shape Macau’s unique status for centuries.

The Chinese regarded the Portuguese presence as a commercial concession, not a colonial handover. Despite this, the Portuguese, however, built permanent settlements and fortifications and administered the city largely autonomously.

This made Macau the first European settlement in East Asia.

During this period, Macau became the crown jewel of Asian trade networks. Portuguese merchants used it as their base for the incredibly profitable “Great Ship Trade” between China, Japan, and Europe.

Silver from the Americas flowed through Macau to China in exchange for silk, porcelain, and tea, while Japanese silver also entered this complex trading system.

Macau also became a major religious center. The Jesuits used the city as a base to launch missions into China and Japan. Famous missionaries such as Matteo Ricci passed through or lived in Macau. The city hosted numerous churches and religious schools and became a melting pot of European and Asian cultures.

The city’s population grew to include not just Portuguese administrators and traders, but also Chinese merchants, Macanese, who were mixed Portuguese-Chinese families, enslaved Africans, and traders from across Asia. This created Macau’s distinctive multicultural character that persists today.

This was revolutionary for the time. In an era when most of Asia remained closed to European trade, Macau served as virtually the only bridge between East and West. For nearly two centuries, it was Europe’s primary window into China.

The Dutch attempted to seize Macau in 1622 but were repelled in the Battle of Macau—a rare Portuguese victory that helped preserve the colony.

When Canton, now known as Guangzhou, became the primary Chinese port for foreign trade under the Canton System, which lasted from 1757 to 1842, Macau’s influence began to wane. It remained significant in the religious and cultural spheres but was eclipsed economically.

The 19th century brought further challenges that forced Macau to reinvent itself. The opening of other Chinese ports to European trade after the Opium Wars, which I covered in a previous episode, broke Macau’s monopoly position. Hong Kong’s establishment as a British colony in 1842 changed the fortunes of Macau.

Hong Kong became a more attractive port than Macau because it had a deep natural harbor that could accommodate large, modern ships.

Additionally, after Britain took control, Hong Kong offered greater political and economic stability, more openness to foreign trade, and better infrastructure, which made it more appealing to global merchants and shipping companies than the older, more constrained Portuguese-run Macau.

During this period, Portugal formalized its control over Macau through the 1887 Sino-Portuguese Treaty of Peking, which gave Portugal perpetual occupation rights while maintaining Chinese sovereignty—a legal arrangement that would prove crucial in the 20th century. More on that in a bit.

Facing declining economic fortunes, Macau shifted its focus toward new industries. It became a haven for Chinese refugees fleeing political turmoil, developed light manufacturing, and began exploring what would become its most famous industry: gambling.

The 20th century saw Macau navigate between multiple worlds. During World War II, despite Portugal’s neutrality, the territory served as a refuge for both Chinese fleeing Japanese occupation and Europeans escaping Nazi persecution. This reinforced Macau’s reputation as a cosmopolitan sanctuary.

The real transformation began in the 1960s, when Stanley Ho was granted a monopoly gambling license, laying the foundation for modern Macau’s casino industry. Unlike the informal gambling that had existed for decades, this created a regulated, tourism-focused industry that would eventually rival Las Vegas.

On December 3, 1966, riots known as the “12-3 incident” erupted between pro-Communist Chinese factions and the Portuguese colonial government.

The immediate trigger was a dispute over the construction of a school by leftist organizations in Taipa, which was halted by colonial officials. This escalated into widespread anti-Portuguese protests, vandalism, and violence across the territory.

The situation quickly spiraled, with thousands protesting, and pro-Beijing groups seizing the moment to challenge colonial rule. Portuguese police responded with force, causing several deaths and injuries. Under intense pressure, the colonial government issued a formal apology and agreed to many of the protesters’ demands, effectively conceding significant influence to mainland China within Macau.

The official change in the status of Macau began in 1974, not in China, but in Portugal.

In 1974, Portugal experienced the Carnation Revolution, which overthrew the dictatorship, introduced democracy, and significantly altered the country’s approach to its overseas territories.

The new Portuguese government adopted a policy of decolonization and began seeking to divest itself of its remaining colonies.

This created a very unusual situation: Portugal actually wanted to return Macau to China, but China wasn’t immediately interested in taking it back.

The Communist government in Beijing was focused on more pressing concerns, such as economic development and the complex situation in Hong Kong. Chinese leaders viewed Macau as stable and valuable, serving as a window to the West and a source of foreign exchange.

During this period, several informal understandings emerged. The biggest of which was that Portugal would continue administering Macau as a “Chinese territory under Portuguese administration” rather than a Portuguese colony. This subtle but important distinction acknowledged Chinese sovereignty while maintaining Portuguese governance.

Official administrative control of Macau was transferred from Portugal to China on December 20th, 1999. It marked the end of 442 years of Portuguese administration, and Macau became a Special Administrative Region of China under the “One Country, Two Systems” framework.

Under this system, Macau maintains its own legal system, its own currency, the pataca, and significant autonomy in most areas except defense and foreign affairs. The arrangement is guaranteed until the year 2049.

The most significant post-transfer change in Macau occurred in 2002, when the government ended the gambling monopoly and opened the market to international competition.

American casino giants like Sands, Wynn, and MGM entered the market, transforming Macau into the world’s largest gambling destination by revenue, surpassing Las Vegas by 2006.

In 2024, the gambling revenues of Macau were almost four times greater than those of Las Vegas.

So, it would be wrong at this point to say that Macau is the Las Vegas of Asia. Las Vegas is actually the Macau of the Americas.

This boom brought unprecedented growth but also new challenges. The economy became heavily dependent on gambling revenue, primarily from mainland Chinese visitors.

Unlike Vegas, which is reliant on shows and other attractions, Macau is mostly about gambling.

What makes Macau’s history particularly fascinating is how it developed a distinct identity that’s neither fully Chinese nor Portuguese, but something uniquely its own. The Macanese culture, Macanese cuisine, and architectural heritage, reflect this blending.

The most iconic landmark of Macau is the Ruins of Saint Paul’s, a Portuguese Catholic church of which only the facade of the structure remains.

One of the most iconic foods in Macau is egg tarts, another Portuguese dish.

Street signs in Macau are still written in both Portuguese and Chinese. Very little Portuguese is spoken anymore. The overwhelmingly dominant language is Cantonese, though English has gained widespread adoption.

I visited Macau on Christmas Day 2007 on a day trip from Hong Kong. It was well worth the ferry ride to experience such a unique city.

Macau’s history is a layered story of global commerce, religious exchange, and geopolitical transition. From a minor fishing village to a linchpin of the Portuguese maritime empire, to a gambling mecca, Macau embodies a rare synthesis of Chinese and European influences.

The Executive Producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The Associate Producers are Austin Oetken and Cameron Kieffer.

A quick reminder that I will be hosting a 5th anniversary event for the podcast on July 19th. If you would like to attend, information and an RSVP is available in a link in the show notes.

Today’s review comes from listener IH8poodlez over on Apple Podcasts in the United States. They write.

I’m in love!

With the show (and possibly you). Seriously, I’m thrilled to have found this podcast, it is exactly perfect for my curious, intelligent, ADHD brain.

Little nuggets of extremely interesting, well-researched, completely random topics. Just long enough to hold the attention of a scattered mind before it jumps off to something else.

I still have about 1,300 episodes to make it to the completionist’s club, but I have no doubt I’ll get there.

I do have a topic suggestion- my personal hero, Grandma Gatewood, the woman who saved the Appalachian Trail. If you’ve never heard of her, please read Grandma Gatewood’s Walk. She inspired me to get out into the wilderness in my 50s, finally, and it’s been transformative!!

Thank you for all you do!!

Jenni Bell

Thanks, Jenni! I have to admit I’ve never heard of Grandma Gatewood, but I will check her out….and thank you for the kind words.

Remember, if you leave a review or send me a boostagram, you, too, can have it read on the show.