, 3% Portuguese, 2% other

Religion: mainly Buddhist; 17,000 Roman Catholics, of whom about half are
Chinese

Language: Portuguese (official); Cantonese is the language of
commerce

Literacy: almost 100% among Portuguese and Macanese; no data on Chinese
population

Labor force: 180,000 (1986)

Organized labor: none

- Government
Long-form name: none

Type: overseas territory of Portugal; scheduled to revert to China
in 1999

Capital: Macau

Administrative divisions: 2 districts (concelhos, singular--concelho);
Ilhas, Macau

Independence: none (territory of Portugal); Portugal signed an agreement
with China on 13 April 1987 to return Macau to China on 20 December 1999; in the
joint declaration, China promises to respect Macau's existing social and
economic systems and lifestyle for 50 years after transition

Constitution: 17 February 1976, Organic Law of Macau

Legal system: Portuguese civil law system

National holiday: Day of Portugal, 10 June

Executive branch: president of Portugal, governor, Consultative Council,
(cabinet)

Legislative branch: Legislative Assembly

Judicial branch: Supreme Court

Leaders:
Chief of State--President (of Portugal) Mario Alberto SOARES (since
9 March 1986);

Head of Government--Governor Carlos MELANCIA (since 3 July 1987)

Political parties and leaders: Association to Defend the Interests of
Macau; Macau Democratic Center; Group to Study the Development of Macau; Macau
Independent Group

Suffrage: universal at age 18

Elections:
Legislative Assembly--last held on 9 November 1988 (next to be
held November 1991);
results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(17 total; 6 elected by universal suffrage, 6 by indirect
suffrage) number of seats by party NA

Other political or pressure groups: wealthy Macanese and Chinese
representing local interests, wealthy pro-Communist merchants representing
China's interests; in January 1967 the Macau Government acceded to Chinese
demands that gave China veto power over administration

Member of: Multifiber Agreement

Diplomatic representation: as Chinese territory under Portuguese
administration, Macanese interests in the US are represented by Portugal;
US--the US has no offices in Macau and US interests are monitored
by the US Consulate General in Hong Kong

Flag: the flag of Portugal is used

- Economy
Overview: The economy is based largely on tourism (including
gambling), and textile and fireworks manufacturing