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Geography - History - Politics & Gov. Macau Portal |
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The Basic Law of the Macau Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China is the constitution of Macau, replacing the Estatuto Orgânico de Macau, which was effective since 1976, on 20 December 1999.
In accordance with Article 31 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, Macau has special administrative region status, which provides constitutional guarantees for implementing the policy of "one country, two systems" and the constitutional basis for enacting the Basic Law of the Macau Special Administrative Region. The Macau Special Administrative Region is directly under the authority of the central government of China in Beijing, which controls the foreign affairs and defense of Macau but otherwise grants the region "a high degree of autonomy." The Basic Law took force on 20 December 1999, and is to remain in effect for 50 years.