Macau's population is 95% Chinese, primarily Cantonese and some Hakka, both from nearby Guangdong Province. The remainder are of Portuguese or mixed Chinese-Portuguese ancestry. Some Japanese, including descendants of Japanese Catholics who were expelled by shoguns, also live.
The official languages are Portuguese and Mandarin Chinese, though the residents commonly (85.7%) speak Cantonese Chinese, Mandarin is spoken by 3.2% at home, about 40% are able to communicate in standard Mandarin. English and Portuguese are spoken as a first language by 1.5% and 0.6% respectively. The other popular dialect is Hokkien (Min Nan), spoken by a small percentage of the population.The creole Macanese language (Patuá or Macaista Chapado) is almost extinct.
Macau has a number of universities.
Demographic statistics from the CIA World Factbook
The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook.
Population
- 503,000 (2006 Qtr2 est.)
Male and Female Pattern
- Male: 245,600 (2006 Qtr2 est.)
- Female: 257,400 (2006 Qtr2 est.)
Age structure
- below age 15: 76,305 15.63%
- age 15-24: 82,547 16.91%
- age 25-34: 70,965 14.54%
- age 35-44: 91,438 18.73%
- age 45-54: 87,616 17.95%
- age 54-64: 38,924 7.97%
- age 65 or above: 40,349 8.27%
Live Birth
- Male: 477 (Qtr2 2006)
- Female: 454 (Qtr2 2006)
Death
- Male: 220
- Female: 156
Population growth rate
- 0.86% (2006 est.)
Birth rate
- 8.48 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Death rate
- 4.47 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Net migration rate
- 4.56 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Infant mortality rate
- 4.35 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
Life expectancy at birth
- total population: 82.19 years
- male: 79.36 years
- female: 85.17 years (2006 est.)
Total fertility rate
- 1.05 children born/woman (2008 est.)
Nationality
- noun: Chinese
- adjective: Chinese
Ethnic groups
- Chinese 95.7%, Macanese (mixed Portuguese and Asian ancestry), Portuguese,
Religions
- Buddhist 85%, Roman Catholic 7%, none and other 8% (2006 est.)
Languages
- Portuguese, Chinese (Cantonese, Mandarin)
Literacy
- definition: age 15 and over can read and write
- total population: 94.5%
- male: 97.2%
- female: 92% (2003 est.)
Immigration and Crime
- Persons authorized to reside in Macau: total: 50,159 (by the end of 2005)
- Non-resident workers authorized to enter Macau: total: 39,411 (by the end of 2005)
- Legal immigrants from Mainland China: 1,133 (Qtr1 2006) 947 (Qtr2 2006)
- No. of criminal cases: 2,634 (Qtr1 2006) 2,708 (Qtr2 2006)
Health
- No. of residents per doctor (excluding dentist): 473
- No. of residents per nurse: 430
- No. of residents per hospital bed: 496
Main causes of death
- Diseases of the circulatory system: 518 cases 32.1%
- Neoplasm: 455 cases 28.2%
- Diseases of the respiratory system: 267 cases 16.5%
References
- ^ (2007) Global Results of By-Census 2006. Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) of the Macau Government.
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