Nam Van Lake is one of two man made lakes in the Macau Peninsula

Macau Peninsula

Macau Peninsula is the oldest and most populous part of Macau. It has an area of 8.5 km² and is geographically connected to Guandong province, at the northeast, through an isthmus 200-metre wide. The peninsula, together with the city centre of Zhuhai, sits on an island separated from the...

. It is located at the southern end of the peninsula.

The lake was once a bay

Bay

A bay is an area of water mostly surrounded by land. Bays generally have calmer waters than the surrounding sea, due to the surrounding land blocking some waves and often reducing winds. Bays also exist as an inlet in a lake or pond. A large bay may be called a gulf, a sea, a sound, or a bight...

 (Bahia Da Praia Grande), created when the causeway (Avenida Dr Sun Yat Sen) partially closed off the bay. The project to close the lake began in 1991 to attract more development in Macau. Nam Van means South Bay in Chinese

Chinese language

The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...

.

Much of the land southwest of the bay was created from landfill.

The Macau Legislative Assembly Building

Macau Legislative Assembly Building

Macau Legislative Assembly Building is the home of the Legislative Assembly of Macau and various government offices.Construction began in 1998 and was completed in 1999 for the handover. The building is triangular in shape and overlooks Nam Van Lake and within the Cathedral Parish. The assembly's...

 and Superior Court of Macau Building

Superior Court of Macau Building

Superior Court of Macau Building is the home of the high courts of Macau.Construction of the court house began in 1997 and was completed in 1999 in time for the handover...

 overlook the lake. The lake is bisected by the Ponte Governador Nobre de Carvalho

Ponte Governador Nobre de Carvalho

Governor Nobre de Carvalho Bridge , also known as the Macau-Taipa Bridge , is a dual-lane two-way bridge connecting Macau Peninsula near Casino Lisboa and the island of Taipa at the northern slope of Taipa Pequena . It is the first bridge in Macau, to connect the peninsula and Taipa...

 or Macau-Taipa Bridge.

There are four man-made islands within Nam Van Lake. Along with Sai Van Lake

Sai Van Lake

Sai Van Lake is one of two man made lakes in the Macau Peninsula. It is located at the southern tip of the peninsula.The lake was once a bay and closed off by infill. Sai Van means West Bay....

, the two artificial lakes cover 80 hectarces of space.