Macau: Introduction

Macau, along with Hong Kong, is one of China's two particular administrative regions in Eastern Asia. It lies on the western side of the Pearl River Delta, bordering Guangdong and facing the South China Sea. Macau is 60 kilometers (37 mi) southwest of Hong Kong and consists of the Macau Peninsula and the islands of Taipa and Coloane. The government system is a limited democracy; the chief of state is the president of China, and the head of government is the chief executive. Under the "one country, two systems" approach, China's socialist economic system is not practiced in Macau. Macau has a market-based, service-oriented economy in which the prices of goods and services are determined in a free price system.