Macau people ( zh, t=澳門人) are people who originate from or live in
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 ...
.
Besides their use to refer to Macau residents, these terms may also be used more loosely to refer to those who may not be residents, but have lived in the city for an extensive period of time or have a strong cultural connection with Macau. Macau people do not comprise one particular ethnicity, and people that live in Macau are independent of Chinese citizenship and residency status. The majority of Macau people are of Chinese descent and are ethnic
Han Chinese
The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive va ...
(with most having ancestral roots in the province of
Guangdong
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
). Macau people with Portuguese ancestry are known as the
Macanese.
Name
The Chinese terms "" () and "" () refer to the Macau people and the Macanese people, respectively. Attempts by the
Portuguese Macau
Portuguese Macau (officially the Province of Macau until 1976, and then the Autonomous Region of Macau from 1976 to 1999) was a Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colony that existed from the first official Portuguese settlement in 1557 to the ...
government in the mid-1990s to redefine the Portuguese and English term "Macanese" as
Macau Permanent Resident (anyone born in Macau regardless of ethnicity, language, religion or nationality) failed.
Consequently, the Portuguese and English term "Macanese" refers neither to the indigenous people of Macau (
Tanka people
The Tankas or boat people are a sinicised ethnic group in Southern China who have traditionally lived on junks in coastal parts of Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Hainan, Shanghai, Zhejiang and along the Yangtze river, as well as Hong Kong ...
) nor to the
demonym
A demonym (; ) or gentilic () is a word that identifies a group of people (inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place (hamlet, village, town, city, region, province, ...
of Macau, but to a distinctive minority culture (1.2% of all Macau population).
See also
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Demographics of Macau
This article is about the demographic features of the population of Macau, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Macau's ...
*
Cantonese people
The Cantonese people () or Yue people (), are a Yue-speaking Han Chinese subgroup originating from or residing in the provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi (collectively known as Liangguang), in Southern Mainland China. Although more accurately, ...
*
Hongkongers
Hongkongers (), also known as Hong Kongers, Hong Kongese, Hongkongese, Hong Kong citizens and Hong Kong people, typically refers to residents of the territory of Hong Kong; although may also refer to others who were born and/or raised in the ...
*
Hoklo people
*
Tanka people
The Tankas or boat people are a sinicised ethnic group in Southern China who have traditionally lived on junks in coastal parts of Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Hainan, Shanghai, Zhejiang and along the Yangtze river, as well as Hong Kong ...
References
Macau
Demographics of Macau
Ethnic groups in Macau
Macau society
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