MACAO, ma-kow' or ma-ka'6, China, a Portuguese settlement and seaport on the west shore of the mouth of the Canton River, 40 miles west of Hongkong. It occupies a high peninsula, formerly the island of Macao, but now united by a narrow isthmus north of the town with the island of Hiang-shan, and, with the small islands of Taipa and CalOane, forms a province. The settlement is about eight miles in circuit, and its limits landward are defined by a barrier wall stretching across the isthmus, where a guard of Chinese troops is stationed to prevent foreigners from trespassing on the Inner Land. The town occupies a slope grad ually descending to the sea, backed by a range of lofty hills, and having an extensive plain stretching east. It is nearly surrounded with water, and is open to the sea.breezes on every side. The houses occupied by the foreign popu lation are large, roomy and open, and the shops are numerous. The city is divided into two wards, one inhabited by Chinese and the other by non-Chinese, each with its own adminis trator. The quay or Grande' is com modious, forms a pleasant drive and is pro tected by a battery. The harbor is formed be tween the peninsula on which the town stands and the large island of Twee-lien-shan, to the west. Macao is considered the healthiest resi dence in southeast Asia with a mean annual temperature of Near it, in a beautiful garden, is the grotto in which the poet Camoens is said to have finished the The prin cipal exports are tea, cassia and cassia oil, anise and anise oil and opium. The commerce
(mainly in the hands of the Chinese), which is chiefly carried on with Hongkong, Canton, Batavia and Goa, has greatly declined since the opening of the rival free ports, and a consid erable part of the colonial revenue is drawn from a tax on the gambling tables for which Macao is notorious. In 1913, 4,110 merchant steamers entered, with a gross tonnage of 1,008,814 tons, and 13,389 junks, totaling 303,764 tons. The Portuguese first obtained permission to form a settlement and to trade at Macao in 1557. From 1563 they were required to pay a yearly tribute to the Chinese government, and their trading privileges were much restricted till 1844, when they were allowed to carry on commerce with the five ports then open to for eigners. Macao was then declared a free port, but the Chinese continued to ignore the terri torial claims of the Portuguese until 1887, when a treaty was concluded. Macao from its con venient situation was the place of retreat for European merchants and missionaries when threatened by uprisings of race or religious feelings in China. Robert Morrison, the first Protestant missionary in China, was buried. here. Pop. about 74,866 (2,171 Portuguese).