Macao vs Macau I am afraid it is the other way round Macao is English and Macau is Portuguese E g look at the cover of a Macao SAR passport the full name of the Macao SAR is written as Regi o Administrativa Especial de Macau in Portuguese and Macao Special Administrative Region in English Macao is the English name and Macau is the Portuguese name this is recognised by Macao and its sovereign state However both are acceptable in English It is just like using Munich or M nchen I am not trying to say that one of us is right and the other is wrong I just want to draw your attention to the origin of Macao and Macau