| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| Macao |
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| SYLLABICATION: | Ma·cao |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  m -kou |
| VARIANT FORMS: | also Ma·cau |
| An administrative region of southeast China comprising Macao Peninsula and two offshore islands in the South China Sea west of Hong Kong. A Portuguese trading post was established here in 1557 and became a free port in 1849. Macao was a Portuguese overseas province until 1999, when it reverted to Chinese sovereignty. The city of Macao, coextensive with the peninsula, is the capital. Population: 398,000.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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