s, three legislators, and two businessmen

elections: NA

Legislative branch: unicameral Legislative Council or LEGCO (23
seats; 8 elected by popular vote, 8 by indirect vote, and 7
appointed by the chief executive; members serve four-year terms)

elections: last held 22 September 1996 (next to be held by 15
October 2001)

election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party -
APPEM 2, UNIPRO 2, CODEM 1, UDM 1, UPD 1, ANMD 1

Judicial branch: The Court of Final Appeal in the Macau Special
Administrative Region

Political parties and leaders: the following is a listing of those
associations that participated in the last legislative elections:
Associacao de Novo Macau Democratico or ANMD [leader NA]; Associacao
Promotora para a Economia de Macau or APPEM [leader NA];
Convergencia para o Desenvolvimento or CODEM [leader NA]; Uniao
Geral para o Desenvolvimento de Macau or UDM [leader NA]; Uniao para
o Desenvolvimento or UPD [leader NA]; Uniao Promotora para o
Progresso or UNIPRO [leader NA]

note: there are no formal political parties, but civic associations
are used instead

Political pressure groups and leaders: Catholic Church [Domingos
LAM, bishop]; Macau Society of Tourism and Entertainment or STDM
[Stanley HO, managing director]; Union for Democracy Development
[Antonio NG Kuok-cheong, leader]

International organization participation: CCC, ESCAP (associate),
IMO (associate), Interpol (subbureau), UNESCO (associate), WMO, WToO
(associate), WTrO

Diplomatic representation in the US: none (special administrative
region of China)

Diplomatic representation from the US: the US has no offices in
Macau, and US interests are monitored by the US Consulate General in
Hong Kong

Flag description: light green with a lotus flower above a stylized
bridge and water in white, beneath an arc of five gold, five-pointed
stars: one large in center of arc and four smaller

Macau Economy

Economy - overview: The economy is based largely on tourism
(including gambling) and textile and fireworks manufacturing.
Efforts to diversify have spawned other small industries - toys,
artificial flowers, and electronics. The tourist sector has
accounted for roughly 25% of GDP, and the clothing industry has
provided about three-fourths of export earnings; the gambling
industry probably represents over 40% of GDP. More than 8 million
tourists visited Macau in 2000. Macau depends on China for most of
its food,