The Macau Peninsula is the most populous and historical part of

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

. It has an area of () and is geographically connected to Guangdong Province at the northeast through an

isthmus An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmus ...

wide. The peninsula, together with downtown

Zhuhai Zhuhai (, ; Yale: ''Jyūhói''), also known as Chuhai is a prefecture-level city located on the west bank of Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern Guangdong province, People's Republic of China, on the southeastern edge of Pear ...

, sits on an island separated from the continent by

distributaries A distributary, or a distributary channel, is a stream that branches off and flows away from a main stream channel. Distributaries are a common feature of river deltas. The phenomenon is known as river bifurcation. The opposite of a distributar ...

of the

Pearl River The Pearl River, also known by its Chinese name Zhujiang or Zhu Jiang in Mandarin pinyin or Chu Kiang and formerly often known as the , is an extensive river system in southern China. The name "Pearl River" is also often used as a catch-a ...

. The Border Gate (; pt, Portas do Cerco) was built on the northern isthmus. At the south, the peninsula is connected to

Taipa Island Taipa ( zh, t=氹仔, ; pt, Taipa, ) was a former island in Macau, presently united with the island of Coloane by reclaimed land known as Cotai. Administratively, the boundaries of the traditional civil parish Freguesia de Nossa Senhora do Ca ...

by three bridges, the Friendship Bridge (''Ponte de Amizade''); the Macau-Taipa Bridge (''Ponte Governador Nobre de Carvalho''); and the Sai Van Bridge (''Ponte de Sai Van''). The longest axis extends from the Border Gate to the southwestern edge, Barra (媽閣嘴). There is a western "Inner Harbor" (內港) paralleled by an "Outer Harbor" (外港) to the east. The Guia Hill (松山) is the highest point on the peninsula, which has an average elevation of . Many coastal places are reclaimed from the sea. The

Historic Centre of Macau The Historic Centre of Macao, pt, Centro Histórico de Macau, , is a collection of over twenty locations that witness the unique assimilation and co-existence of Chinese and Portuguese cultures in Macau, a former Portuguese colony. It represents ...

, which is entirely on the Macau Peninsula, became a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

in 2005.

Early history

In 1513, Portuguese explorer

Jorge Álvares Jorge Álvares (died 8 July 1521) was a Portuguese explorer. He is credited as the first European to have reached China by sea during the Age of Discovery. His starting of settlements on an island in what is now Hong Kong is still considered a sign ...

arrived in the Pearl River Delta, in the

Shenzhen Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...

area, which he called

Tamão Tamão ( zh, 屯門) was a trade settlement set up by the Portuguese on an island in the Pearl River Delta, China. This was the first time Europeans reached China via the sea route around the Cape of Good Hope. The settlement lasted from 1514 ...

. A Portuguese settlement was started there and by 1535 the traders were allowed to anchor their ships in the Macau harbour. In 1887, the

Sino-Portuguese Treaty of Peking The Sino-Portuguese Treaty of Peking was a trade treaty between the Kingdom of Portugal and the Qing dynasty of China, signed on 1 December 1887. It is counted by the Chinese as among the unequal treaties in the aftermath of the Second Opium ...

was signed, allowing "the perpetual occupation and government of Macau by Portugal". According to ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

'', "Macau may never have existed if not for Tamão" where the Portuguese learned "how China, the Pearl River Delta, and the South China Sea worked". The settlement and Jorge Álvares "kickstarted a chain of events that ultimately spawned Macau". A large stone sculpture of Álvares still stands in downtown Macau.

Freguesias

The peninsula corresponds to the historical Municipality of Macau, one of Macau's two municipalities that were abolished on 31 December 2001 by Law No. 17/2001, following the 1999 transfer of sovereignty over Macau from Portugal to China. This municipality was divided into five parishes (freguesia), and while their administrative functions have since been voided, these parishes are still retained nominally.

References

External links

Satellite image of the Macau Peninsula by Google Maps

Macau Peninsula photo gallery
{{Macau Freguesias Peninsulas of China

Early history

Freguesias

See also

References

External links