Portuguese Macau

Macau was under Portuguese rule from the establishment of the first official Portuguese settlement in 1557 until its handover to China in 1999. It comprised the Municipality of Macau and the Municipality of Ilhas. Macau was both the first and last European holding in China.

Macau's history under Portugal can be broadly divided into three distinct political periods. The first was the establishment of the Portuguese settlement in 1557 to 1849. The Portuguese had jurisdiction over the Portuguese community and certain aspects of the territory's administration but no real sovereignty. Next came the colonial period, which scholars generally place from 1849 to 1974. As Macau's importance among other territories grew within the Portuguese Empire, Portuguese sovereignty over Macau strengthened and it became a constitutional part of Portuguese territory. Chinese sovereignty during this era was mainly nominal. Finally, in the aftermath of the 12-3 incident in 1966, the third was the transition period or post-colonial period, after the Carnation Revolution in 1974 until the handover in 1999.

Wu Zhiliang, President of the Macau Foundation, more specifically identified six periods:

Macau was officially known as the Province of Macau (Portuguese: Província de Macau, Chinese: 澳門省) until 1976, and subsequently Territory of Macau (Território de Macau, 澳門地區).

In 1277, about 50,000 supporters and some members of the Song dynasty, fleeing the Mongol invaders, arrived in Macau and built several settlements, the largest and most important being in the Mong-Há region in the north of Macau. It is believed that the oldest temple in Macau, the Temple of Kun Iam (Goddess of Mercy), was located in Mong-Há.^{[citation needed]}

During the Ming dynasty, many fishermen from Guangzhou and Fujian settled in Macau and built the Temple of A-Ma.

The first Portuguese to visit China was Jorge Álvares in 1513, during the Age of Discovery. He erected a padrão with the arms of Portugal in the port of Tamão at the mouth of the Pearl River, near Macau. This visit was followed by the establishment of numerous Portuguese traders in the area, who would erect temporary wooden buildings that would be destroyed when the traders left. The Portuguese were not yet allowed to stay, obtaining only visitor status.^{[citation needed]}

In 1517, Fernão Pires de Andrade, the head of a Portuguese expedition to China, managed to negotiate with the Chinese authorities in Canton for the entry of the Portuguese ambassador Tomé Pires to Beijing and the establishment of a trading post in Tamão. Due to the aggressive attitudes of his brother Simão de Andrade (who built a fortress in Tamão), Tomé Pires was thrown into prison by the Chinese authorities where he died and the Chinese Emperor forbade trade with the Portuguese. The Portuguese were then chased away from Cantonese waters in two successive battles, the 1521 Battle of Tunmen and the 1522 Battle of Sincouwaan, marking the end of the Tamão settlement.