The Battle of Macau in 1622 was a conflict of the Dutch-Portuguese War fought in the Portuguese settlement of Macau, in southeastern China. The Portuguese, outnumbered and without adequate fortification, managed to repel the Dutch in a much-celebrated victory on June 24 after a three-day battle. To date, the battle remains the only major engagement that was fought between two European powers on the Chinese mainland.

Ever since the Portuguese managed to gain permission from the Ming Chinese mandarins to establish a permanent settlement and trade base in Macau in 1557, the port of Macau benefited greatly from being the intermediary of the lucrative China-Japan trade, since the direct routes were banned by the Ming court due to fears of Japanese pirates. Portugal's success in Macau drew the envy of other European maritime powers who were slower to set a foothold in the Far East. When Philip II of Spain became King of Portugal after the 1580 Portuguese succession crisis, Portuguese colonies came under attack from Spain's enemies, especially the Dutch and the English, who were also hoping to expand their overseas empires. Prior to 1622, Macau had already sustained Dutch raids in 1601, 1603, and 1607, but the Dutch invasion of 1622 represented the first real attempt to capture the city. The Hollanders, frustrated that their trading post at Hirado was unable to compete with the Portuguese traders at Nagasaki due to the latter's easy access with China, hoped that the capture of Macau would grant them a commercial base in China while at the same time deprive the Portuguese of the profitable Macau-Nagasaki route. The fall of Macau would also leave the Spaniards in the Philippines without means of support and make it easier for the Dutch to mount an attack on Manila.

Coordinates: 22°10′N 113°33′E / 22.167°N 113.55°E / 22.167; 113.55

Macau (Chinese: 澳門), also spelled Macao ( /məˈkaʊ/), is one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China, the other being Hong Kong. Macau lies on the western side of the Pearl River Delta across from Hong-Kong which is to the east, bordering Guangdong province to the north and facing the South China Sea to the east and south.

The territory's economy is heavily dependent on gambling and tourism, but also includes manufacturing.

Macau is a former Portuguese colony, and is both the first and last European colony in China. Portuguese traders first settled in Macau in the 16th century and subsequently administered the region until the handover on 20 December 1999. The Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration and the Basic Law of Macau stipulate that Macau operates with a high degree of autonomy until at least 2049, fifty years after the transfer. Macau was first lent by the Chinese empire as a trading port in the 16th century, and had to administer the city under Chinese authority and sovereignty. In 1887, Macau became a colony of the Portuguese empire and its sovereignty transferred to the Portuguese.