FUN WITH MAPS – ISSUE 2022-226 DAILY FEATURE:

By Steve Kovacs (Introduction by Chuck Gibson)

LOVELAND, OH (December 20, 2022) – In Issue 2022-226 of Steve Kovacs Fun with Maps, they’re placing a lot of bets in China.         

BIGGER THAN VEGAS

Leased to Portugal by the Ming Dynasty in 1557 as a trading post, and in the late 1800s gained perpetual colonial rights, this compact area on the Pearl River Delta reverted to Chinese control on December 20, 1999.  Similar situation to the nearby Hong Kong.

Astonishingly, its gambling industry is seven times larger than that of Las Vegas.  It has the largest per capita income in the world and the fourth longest life expectancy for its nearly 700,000 residents.  Who says that gambling is not rewarding?

This special administrative region of China is better known as Macau.

Here is Bellin’s map of Macau from 1749.

Steve Kovacs and his wife Theresa reside in Loveland, Ohio where they raised their two children. He is a passionate collector of antique maps.

Visit his antique map boutique world-on-paper online. Watch for his daily feature Steve Kovacs: Fun with Maps here on Loveland Beacon.