Zhongshan Island, formerly also known as Macau Island[1] or Xiangshan Island,[a] is a river island on the west bank of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong, China.[4][1] This area is separated from the rest of the river delta by the Xi River and Shiqi River, and consists of portions of three cities with a combined population of approximately 3.6 million as of 2020: Macau, Zhuhai and Zhongshan.
At the southern tip of the island is the Macau Peninsula, with more than 500 thousand people. The remainder of the island (and more than 80% of the population) is part of Zhongshan (approximately 1.8 million people) and Xiangzhou District of Zhuhai (approximately 1.3 million people).
China considers the island to have been linked to the continent and no longer an island since the time of the Ming dynasty (14-17th century).[5] There are also studies which state the area was a group of islets and shoals by the time of the Ming dynasty.[6] However, this has been debated as Zhongshan Island still remains separated from the continent by the Pearl River from three sides and the ocean from the fourth side. If counted as an island, it is the second most densely populated island in China.
A map of the Pearl River estuary in 1863. Zhongshan Island, on the lower left corner, is labelled as Macao Island, and separated from the mainland by the Shiqi River (labelled as "Hong Shan or Broadway River").Auguste Borget's 1842 ''Macao from the Forts of Heang-shan''View of Zhongshan Island seen from the Zhujiang River Estuary.
