ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief historical background and a description of major events in Macao. It also provides basic political, economic, and social data arranged in the following categories: polity, economy, population, purchasing power parities, life expectancy, ethnic groups, capital, political rights, civil liberties, and status. The chapter discusses the progress and decline of political rights and civil liberties in Macao. Residents of Macao cannot change their government through elections although they do enjoy many basic rights and freedoms. Observers question, however, whether the enclave's legal system is robust enough to protect fundamental liberties should they be threatened. Pro-Beijing and business candidates won the majority of directly elected seats in Macao's September 2001 legislative elections, the first since China regained sovereignty over this former Portuguese colony in 1999. The pro-democracy Association for New Democratic Macao party, however, scored a minor upset by winning the most votes and taking 2 of the 10 directly elected seats in the 27-member body.
