An administrative region of southeast China comprising Macau Peninsula and two offshore islands in the South China Sea west of Hong Kong. A Portuguese trading post was established here in 1557 and became a free port in 1849. Macau was a Portuguese overseas province until 1999, when it reverted to Chinese sovereignty. The city of Macau, coextensive with the peninsula, is the capital.
Guia Lighthouse, the first lighthouse in Far East were built in Macau in 1864. |