Macau is located in the Guangdong province, on the western bank of the Pearl River Delta, at latitude 22o 14' North, longitude 113o 35' East and connected to the Gongbei District by the Border Gate (Portas do Cerco) isthmus.

The Macau Special Administrative Region has an area of 27.3 sq. km, comprised of the Macau Peninsula (with 8.7 sq. km and connected to Mainland China), the islands of Taipa (6.3 sq. km) and Coloane (7.6 sq. km and the reclaimed area COTAI (4.7 sq. km). The three bridges connecting Macau to Taipa are Nobre de Carvalho (2.5 km long), the Friendship Bridge (4.5 km long) and Sai Van Bridge (2.2 km long). The longest one (Friendship Bridge) leads directly to Macau International Airport located on the Island of Taipa. The Sai Van Bridge, which was opened on 9 January 2005, is the first cable-stayed bridge in Macau. The double deck bridge has six lanes in the upper deck and four in the lower, which will open when a typhoon hits the city. The islands are connected by a causeway which is 2.2 km long.

Besides the Barrier Gate (Portas do Cerco), the visitor can access Mainland China through the COTAI Frontier Post. Immigration and Customs are located in the reclaimed area between the islands of Taipa and Coloane.

The total population of Macau is around 465,333 residents, about 95% are ethnic Chinese, from different provinces, namely Guangdong and Fujian. The remaining 5% includes Portuguese, Europeans and other regions.

Chinese and Portuguese are the official languages, Cantonese being most widely spoken. The official languages are used in government departments in all official documents and communications. English is generally used in trade, tourism and commerce.

Macau located at the west bank of Pearl River Delta in South China, is the intersection of Mainland China and South China Sea. It is also located at the south of tropic of Cancer. The winds directions in winter and summer are opposite. Therefore, Macau is in the monsoon region and from the climate classification is considered mild and rainy in summer. The most comfortable period begins from the middle of October to December.

The winter season in Macau covers the months January and February. The cold air from north Siberia continuously passes through the Mid and South China into Macau region and brings us cold and dry northerly winds. The urban temperature sometimes drops below 10° C. Therefore, the annual minimum temperature is generally recorded in these two months. When the precipitation and rainy days are less it is because there is lack of water vapour in the atmosphere.

March and April is the seasonal interchange period. The wind direction along the coastal region of South China is mainly easterly to southeasterly, which will increase the temperature and humidity. Beside some occasional wet weather, fog, drizzle and low visibility days, the weather is mainly fine in spring.

The summer in Macau is longer than the other seasons. Because of hot and wet conditions, the bad weather such as thunderstorm and heavy rain always occur from May to September. Waterspout can be seen occasionally.

Meanwhile from May to October, tropical cyclones occur frequently which make the highest records of precipitation, temperature, rainy days and thunderstorms. As local tropical cyclones number 8 typhoon signal is hoisted the sea and air transports are suspended.

The autumn begins at October, at that time the mainland China becomes cool. The autumn season in Macau is very short, the weather is stable and comfortable with clear sky. It finally returns to the cool and dry November. The cold air from the north will intrude periodically in December.

A free port, Macao is a leading trade, tourist, and fishing center, with gambling casinos that account for some 40% of GDP. There are also textile, clothing, toys, plastics, fireworks, electronics, and food-processing industries. Most of Macao's transit trade with China is by way of its shallow harbor on the west side of the peninsula. Tourism is extremely important to the province, with over 80% of the tourists coming from nearby Hong Kong. There is daily ferry and bus service to Guangzhou and ferry, hydrofoil, and helicopter service to Hong Kong. Taipa is connected to Macao city by bridges; Taipa and Coloane islands are connected by a causeway. An airport opened in 1995.