Hong Kong

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This article is about an East Asian city. For other uses, see Hong Kong (disambiguation).

"HK" redirects here. For other uses, see HK (disambiguation).

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the

People's Republic of China

中華人民共和國香港特別行政區
(Chinese in Traditional characters)
Jūng'wàh Yàhnmàhn Guhng'wòhgwok Hēunggóng
Dahkbiht Hàhngjingkēui
(Hong Kong Cantonese in Yale romanisation)

Flag

Emblem

Anthem: "March of the Volunteers"[1]

義勇軍進行曲
Yihyúhnggwān Jeunhàhngkūk
 MENU

0:00

City flower:
Bauhinia blakeana
洋紫荊
Yèuhngjígīng

Show map of China Show globe Show all

Location of Hong Kong

Official languages  Chinese[a]

 English[b]

Regional language Cantonese[a]

Official scripts Traditional Chinese[b]

English alphabet

Ethnic groups 92.0% Chinese

2.5% Filipino
(2016) 2.1% Indonesian
0.8% White
2.6% Other[7]

Demonym(s) Hong Kongese

 Hongkonger

Government Devolvedexecutive-ledsystem within

a socialist republic

• Chief Executive Carrie Lam

• Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung

• Financial Secretary Paul Chan

• Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng

• LegCo President Andrew Leung

• Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma

Legislature Legislative Council

National representation

• National People's Congress 36 deputies (of 2,924)

• Chinese People's Political 203 delegates[8]

Consultative Conference

Special administrative region within the People's Republic of China

• British occupation 26 January 1841

• Treaty of Nanking 29 August 1842

• Convention of Peking 18 October 1860

• Extension of Hong Kong 9 June 1898

Territory Convention

• Imperial Japanese military 25 December 1941

occupation to 30 August 1945

• Transfer of sovereignty
from the United Kingdom 1 July 1997
 Area

• Total 1,108[9] km2(428 sq mi) (168th)

• Water (%) 3.16 (35 km2; 13.51 sq mi)[9]

Population

• 2018 estimate 7,448,900[10](102nd)

• Density 6,777[11]/km2(17,552.3/sq mi) (4th)

GDP (PPP) 2018[12] estimate

• Total $484 billion (44th)

• Per capita $64,794 (10th)

GDP (nominal) 2018[12] estimate

• Total $360 billion (35th)

• Per capita $48,231 (16th)

Gini (2016) 53.9[13]

high

HDI (2017) 0.933[14]

very high · 7th

Currency Hong Kong dollar(HK$) (HKD)

Time zone UTC+8 (Hong Kong Time)

Date format dd-mm-yyyy

yyyy年mm月dd日

Driving side left

Calling code +852

 ISO 3166 code HK

Internet TLD  .hk

 .香港

Website
gov.hk

Hong Kong (Chinese: 香港; pronunciation in Hong Kong Cantonese: [hœ́ːŋ.kɔ̌ːŋ] ( listen)), officially
the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, is a special
administrative region on the eastern side of the Pearl River estuary in southern China. With over 7.4
million people of various nationalities[c] in a 1,104-square-kilometre (426 sq mi) territory, Hong Kong
is the world's fourth-most-densely-populated region.
Hong Kong became a colony of the British Empire after Qing China ceded Hong Kong Island at the
end of the First Opium War in 1842.[16] The colony expanded to the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 after
the Second Opium War, and was further extended when Britain obtained a 99-year lease of the New
Territories in 1898.[17][18] The territory was returned to China when the lease expired in 1997.[19] As a
special administrative region, Hong Kong's system of government is separate from that of mainland
China[20] and its people overwhelmingly identify as Hongkongers rather than Chinese.[21]
Originally a sparsely populated area of farming and fishing villages,[16] the territory has become one
of the world's most significant financial centres and commercial ports.[22] It is the world's seventh-
largest trading entity,[23][24] and its legal tender (the Hong Kong dollar) is the world's 13th-most-traded
currency.[25] Although the city has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world, it has
severe income inequality.[26]
The territory has the largest number of skyscrapers in the world, most surrounding Victoria
Harbour.[27] Hong Kong ranks seventh on the UN Human Development Index, and has the longest life
expectancy in the world.[28][9]Although over 90 per cent of its population uses public
transportation,[29] air pollution from neighbouring industrial areas of mainland China has resulted in a
high level of atmospheric particulates.[30]

Contents

 1Etymology
 2History
 3Government and politics
o 3.1Administrative divisions
o 3.2Political reforms and sociopolitical issues
 4Geography
o 4.1Climate
o 4.2Architecture
 5Demographics
 6Economy
 7Infrastructure
o 7.1Transport
o 7.2Utilities
 8Culture
 o 8.1Cuisine
o 8.2Cinema
o 8.3Music
o 8.4Sport and recreation
 9Education
 10Media
 11See also
 12Notes and references
o 12.1Notes
o 12.2References
o 12.3Sources
 13External links

Etymology

Hong Kong

"Hong Kong" in Chinese characters

Chinese 香港

Cantonese Yale Hēunggóng

or Hèunggóng

Literal meaning Fragrant Harbour,

Incense Harbour[31][32]

showTranscriptions

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

Traditional Chinese 香港特別行政區

(香港特區)

Simplified Chinese 香港特别行政区

(香港特区)
 Cantonese Yale Hēunggóng Dahkbiht Hàhngjingkēui

(Hēunggóng Dahkkēui)

or

Hèunggóng Dahkbiht Hàhngjingkēui

(Hèunggóng Dahkkēui)

showTranscriptions

The name of the territory, first spelled "He-Ong-Kong" in 1780,[33] originally referred to a small inlet
between Aberdeen Island and the southern coast of Hong Kong Island. Aberdeen was an initial point
of contact between British sailors and local fishermen.[34] Although the source of the romanised name
is unknown, it is generally believed to be an early phonetic rendering of
the Cantonese pronunciation hēung góng. The name translates as "fragrant harbour" or "incense
harbour".[31][32][35] "Fragrant" may refer to the sweet taste of the harbour's freshwater influx from
the Pearl River or to the odor from incense factories lining the coast of northern Kowloon. The
incense was stored near Aberdeen Harbour for export before Victoria Harbour developed.[35] Sir John
Davis(the second colonial governor) offered an alternative origin; Davis said that the name derived
from "Hoong-keang" ("red torrent"), reflecting the colour of soil over which a waterfall on the island
flowed.[36]
The simplified name Hong Kong was frequently used by 1810,[37] also written as a single
word. Hongkong was common until 1926, when the government officially adopted the two-word
name.[38] Some corporations founded during the early colonial era still keep this name,
including Hongkong Land, Hongkong Electric, Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels and the Hongkong
and Shanghai Banking Corporation.[39][40]

History
Main articles: History of Hong Kong and History of China

The region is first known to have been occupied by humans during the Neolithic period, about 6,000
years ago.[41] Early Hong Kong settlers were a semi-coastal people[41] who migrated from inland and
brought knowledge of rice cultivation.[42] The Qin dynasty incorporated the Hong Kong area into
China for the first time in 214 BCE, after conquering the indigenous Baiyue.[43] The region was
consolidated under the Nanyue kingdom (a predecessor state of Vietnam) after the Qin
collapse,[44] and recaptured by China after the Han conquest.[45]During the Mongol conquest,
the Southern Song court was briefly located in modern-day Kowloon City (the Sung Wong Toi site)
before its final defeat in the 1279 Battle of Yamen.[46] By the end of the Yuan dynasty, seven large
families had settled in the region and owned most of the land. Settlers from nearby provinces
migrated to Kowloon throughout the Ming dynasty.[47] The earliest European visitor
was Portuguese explorer Jorge Álvares, who arrived in 1513.[48][49] Portuguese merchants established
a trading post called (Tamão) in Hong Kong waters, and began regular trade with southern China.
Although the traders were expelled after military clashes in the 1520s,[50] Portuguese-Chinese trade
relations were reestablished by 1549. Portugal acquired a permanent lease for Macau in 1557.[51]
After the Qing conquest, maritime trade was banned under the Haijin policies. The Kangxi
Emperor lifted the prohibition, allowing foreigners to enter Chinese ports in 1684.[52] Qing authorities
established the Canton System in 1757 to regulate trade more strictly, restricting non-Russian ships
to the port of Canton.[53] Although European demand for Chinese commodities like tea, silk, and
porcelain was high, Chinese interest in European manufactured goods was insignificant. To counter
the trade imbalance, the British sold large amounts of Indian opium to China. Faced with a drug
crisis, Qing officials pursued ever-more-aggressive actions to halt the opium trade.[54] The Daoguang
Emperor rejected proposals to legalise and tax opium, ordering imperial commissioner Lin Zexu to
eradicate the opium trade in 1839. The commissioner destroyed opium stockpiles and halted all
foreign trade,[55] forcing a British military response and triggering the First Opium War. The Qing
surrendered early in the war and ceded Hong Kong Island in the Convention of Chuenpi. However,
both countries were dissatisfied and did not ratify the agreement.[56] After over a year of further
hostilities, Hong Kong Island was formally ceded to the United Kingdom in the 29 August
1842 Treaty of Nanking.[57]

Colonial Hong Kong flag from 1959–1997

Administrative infrastructure was quickly built up by early 1842, but piracy, disease, and hostile Qing
policies towards Hong Kong prevented the government from attracting merchants. The Taiping
Rebellion, when many wealthy Chinese fled mainland turbulence and settled in the colony, improved
conditions on the island.[16] Further tensions between the British and Qing over the opium trade
escalated into the Second Opium War. The defeated Qing were again forced to give up land,
ceding Kowloon Peninsula and Stonecutter's Island in the Convention of Peking.[17] By the end of this
war, Hong Kong had evolved from a transient colonial outpost into a major entrepôt. Rapid economic
improvement during the 1850s attracted foreign investment, as potential stakeholders became more
confident in Hong Kong's future.[58]
The colony was further expanded in 1898, when Britain obtained a 99-year lease of the New
Territories.[18] The University of Hong Kong was established in 1911 as the territory's first higher-
education institute.[59] Kai Tak Airportbegan operation in 1924, and the colony avoided a prolonged
economic downturn after the 1925–26 Canton–Hong Kong strike.[60][61] At the start of the Second
Sino-Japanese War in 1937, Governor Geoffry Northcote declared Hong Kong a neutral zone to
safeguard its status as a free port.[62] The colonial government prepared for a possible attack,
evacuating all British women and children in 1940.[63] The Imperial Japanese Army attacked Hong
Kong on 8 December 1941, the same morning as its attack on Pearl Harbor.[64] Hong Kong
was occupied by Japan for almost four years before Britain resumed control on 30 August 1945.[65]
Its population rebounded quickly after the war as skilled Chinese migrants fled from the Chinese
Civil War, and more refugees crossed the border when the Communist Party took control of
mainland China in 1949.[66] Hong Kong became the first of the Four Asian Tiger economies to
industrialise during the 1950s.[67] With a rapidly increasing population, the colonial government began
reforms to improve infrastructure and public services. The public-housing estate programme,
the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), and Mass Transit Railway were
established during the post-war decades to provide safer housing, integrity in the civil service, and
more-reliable transportation.[68][69] Although the territory's competitiveness in manufacturing gradually
declined due to rising labour and property costs, it transitioned to a service-based economy. By the
early 1990s, Hong Kong had established itself as a global financial centre and shipping hub.[70]
The colony faced an uncertain future as the end of the New Territories lease approached,
and Governor Murray MacLehose raised the question of Hong Kong's status with Deng Xiaoping in
1979.[71] Diplomatic negotiations with China resulted in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, in
which the United Kingdom agreed to transfer the colony in 1997 and China would guarantee Hong
Kong's economic and political systems for 50 years after the transfer.[72]The impending transfer
triggered a wave of mass emigration as residents feared an erosion of civil rights, the rule of law,
and quality of life.[73] Over half a million people left the territory during the peak migration period, from
1987 to 1996.[74] Hong Kong was transferred to China on 1 July 1997, after 156 years of British
rule.[19]
Immediately after the transfer, Hong Kong was severely affected by several crises. The government
was forced to use substantial foreign-exchange reserves to maintain the Hong Kong dollar's
currency peg during the 1997 Asian financial crisis,[66] and the recovery from this was muted by
an H5N1 avian-flu outbreak[75] and a housing surplus.[76] This was followed by the
2003 SARS epidemic, during which the territory experienced its most-serious economic downturn.[77]
Political debates after the transfer of sovereignty have centred around the region's democratic
development and the central government's adherence to the "one country, two systems" principle.
After reversal of the last colonial-era Legislative Council democratic reforms following the
handover,[78] the regional government unsuccessfully attempted to enact national-security
legislation pursuant to Article 23 of the Basic Law.[79] The central-government decision to
implement nominee pre-screening before allowing Chief Executive elections triggered a series
of protests in 2014 which became known as the Umbrella Revolution.[80]Discrepancies in the electoral
registry and disqualification of elected legislators after the 2016 Legislative Council
elections[81][82][83] and enforcement of national law in the West Kowloon high-speed railway
station have raised concerns about the region's autonomy.[84]
since it can be assumed the rebuilt One World Trade Center would have never been built).