"Macau is firecracker headquarters of the world"

"After a good breakfast at the Macau Inn we set off on a rubber-necking tour of the little place. We visited places where firecrackers are made. Macau is firecracker headquarters of the world."

Excerto do livro "Around the World with Elmer... Backwards; Or, How to Haggle in 17 Countries", de Elmer Wheeler, publicado em 1960.

The Portuguese overseas territory of Macau is located in China about 35 miles from Hong Kong. Its land area is about 6 miles. The 1960 census reported a population of 169,299. Due to the mass exodus from the Chinese mainland in 1962 however estimates of the present population now run as high as 250,000.

The Portuguese came into possession of Macau in 1557 and now hold it by virtue of an 1887 treaty with China.Macau is ruled by an appointed Governor who is represented by a deputy in the Portuguese National Assembly .The country is divided into two wards each having its own administrator. The only legal political party is the União Nacional.

The main economic activities include trading particularly in gold and tourism. Imports in 1960 were valued at 158,701 300 patacas (US 30,360,000) exports at one third that amount. Important exports were garments valued at 10,167,120 patacas (US 1,944,000), cloth 7,894,376 patacas (US 1,477 200) and firecrackers 6,860,714 patacas (US 1,311,800).

The chief markets for locally made products are Hong Kong, Angola and Mozambique.

Under the Portuguese 6 year plan 1959-64 Macao is to receive 2.10 million to 220 million escudos (US 7.3 million to 7.65 million) for development.

Most of the inhabitants are Chinese. According to the 1960 census in addition to the Chinese there were 6,796 Portuguese 1,178 persons from Portuguese territories and 561 foreign nationals. Somewhat more than one third of the people are literate. About half of the 48,659 children of primary school age attended school in 1960. Many of the inhabitants are refugees, about 4,840 were registered with the Mainland Refugees Relief Association in 1961. The majority of the population are adherents of Confucianism, the remainder are Catholics, Protestants and Pagans. The official language is Chinese.

in Directory of Labor Organizations, Asia and Australasia. United States. Bureau of International Labor Affairs, 1963.