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On December 20th 1999, Macau became China's second SAR. China created Special
Administrative Regions as part of their One Country Two Systems formula. Macau
remains an autonomous region without China's communist system for 50 more
years.
Present day Macau was part of Guangdong province during the Qin empire (221-206)
B.C.). Fishermen from nearby Fujin and Guangdong provinces came to the area to repair their boats and get fresh water. The name Macau came from A-Ma-Gau harbour, named after A-Ma, the goddess of sailors.
Portuguese presence in Macau dates back to 1553 when permanent trade depots
were established. Chinese were forbidden to travel overseas and gladly gave Portugal a
lease to establish a trade port in 1557. Macau was strategically located on trading routes
between China and Japan until the 1630's. After the Dutch attacked Macau and took
over nearby Malacca, the port of Guangzhou in mainland China became off limits for
Portuguese and a long period of decadence followed. Macau was also a very important
place for Catholic missionaries. Macau further declined economically along with Portugal's own decline and after the British colonized Hong Kong in 1841. Macau recovered with an influx of new immigrants after gambling was licensed in 1850.
After a series of treaties and protocols, Macau was declared a portuguese colony in 1887
but not recognized as such by China. Portugal declared Macau a province in 1955 and
again rejected by China. During 1974, Portugal survived a revolution and afterwards
granted independence to all its colonies. In 1987 The Joint Declaration on the Question of Macau was signed and Chinese sovereignty restored effective 1999.
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