Although Chinese has dominated Macau’s linguistic ecology since the 1999 handover of administration of the territory from Portugal to the People’s Republic of China, the historical presence of non-Chinese languages defines much of distinctive character of the territory since 1999. Macau was settled by Portuguese traders, military and clergy as a trading outpost in the middle of the sixteenth century, and the linguistic history of the territory can be described in three periods: (1) 1557–1639, Macau experienced dynamic growth and development as Portugal conducted highly lucrative trade between China and Japan; (2) 1640–1842, Portuguese influence throughout Asia began to wane and Macau became an international hub of European colonial activity in China; and 3) 1843–1999, the establishment of a British colony in Hong Kong diminished the international importance of Macau and drained multilingual resources from the city. Throughout the 450-year history of Portuguese colonialism in Macau a number of colonial languages (most notably Portuguese and English) entered the linguistic ecology along with a number of other languages: Spanish, Dutch, Japanese, Malay, Konkani, Burmese, Timorese, etc. Macau was also the site for the development of two contact varieties: the Portuguese-based creole Makista and the English-based Chinese Pidgin English. The enduring effects of multilingualism within the territory include a tolerance for linguistic pluralism and a reluctance to closely regulate language or educational policy.