Official name: Hong Kong Special Administrative Region [of China]
Internet country code: .hk
Flag description: Red with a stylized, white, five-petal bauhinia flower in the center
Geographical description: Eastern Asia, bordering the South China Sea and China
Total area: 426 sq. mi. (1,104 sq. km.)
Climate: Subtropical monsoon; cool and humid in winter, hot and rainy from spring through summer, warm and sunny in fall
Nationality: noun: Chinese or Hong Konger; adjective: Chinese or Hong Konger
Population: 6,980,412 (July 2007 CIA est.)
Ethnic groups: Chinese 94.9%, Filipino 2.1%, other 3%
Languages spoken: Cantonese (official) 89.2%, other Chinese dialects 6.4%, English (official) 3.2%, other 1.2%
Religions: Indigenous religions 90%, Christian 10%
(Hsiang-kang), a territory in southeastern China, bounded by the South China Sea. A possession of Great Britain, Hong Kong consists of two parts: a colony, comprising the island of Hong Kong and part of the Kowloon Peninsula, and a leased area known as the New Territories, which includes most of the Kowloon Peninsula and the adjacent islands. Area, 1,045 sq km (UN data, 1975). Population, 4.4 million (1975). The administrative center is Hong Kong, called Victoria by the British.
Natural features. The coast is cut by many bays and gulfs and fringed by numerous small rocky islands. Hong Kong’s mountainous terrain has a maximum elevation of 939 m. The climate is monsoonal, with temperatures averaging 15°–16°C in January and 25°–27°C in July. The annual precipitation may be as much as 2,000 mm (summer maximum). Evergreen tropical forests are found on the island.
Population. About 98 percent of the population is Chinese. Among other groups are British, Tibeto-Burmese, Indians, and Portuguese. The religious persuasions of the Chinese include traditional ancestor worship, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism; there are also some Catholics. English and Chinese have been the official languages since 1973. The official calendar is the Gregorian.
Between 1963 and 1974 the population increased at an average annual rate of 2 percent. Of the total work force (1971), about 43 percent are employed in industry, 23.3 percent in the service sector, 13.2 percent in commerce, 7 percent in transportation and communications, and 4 percent in agriculture and the fishing industry. The population density exceeds 4,000 persons per sq km. More than 60 percent of the population lives in urban areas.
Historical survey. The area of modern Hong Kong became part of the Chinese state at the end of the third century B.C., although Chinese farming peoples settled here only in the 11th century. During the Opium War of 1840–42, the island of Hong Kong was occupied by the British, and by the Treaty of Nanking (1842) it was ceded to Great Britain “in perpetuity.” As a result of the Second Opium War (1856–60), the southern tip of Kowloon Peninsula was taken from the Chinese and added to the British holdings. The annexation increased the importance of the island of Hong Kong, which was located on the maritime routes linking the countries of the Pacific and Indian oceans, and the island became a major commercial center. After the British opened the Hong Kong-Shanghai Bank in Hong Kong in 1865, the bank subsequently played a large role in China’s financial enslavement by the imperialist powers. Under a convention imposed on China and signed in Peking in June 1898, Great Britain obtained a 99-year lease on yet another part of the Kowloon Peninsula and its adjacent islands, which came to be known as the New Territories.
By the beginning of the 20th century, Hong Kong had become one of the largest commercial centers and ports of the Far East and a bastion of British imperialism in China. Military and financial aid was sent from Hong Kong to Canton in 1924 to assist the Chinese compradores who were rebelling against the revolutionary government of Sun Yat-sen. The working class of Hong Kong repeatedly defied the imperialists. A large strike of the Chinese proletariat occurred there in January 1922, to be followed several years later by the famous Hong Kong-Canton Strike of 1925–26. Seized by Japanese imperialists on Dec. 25, 1941, Hong Kong was recaptured by the British on Aug. 30,1945.
The government of the People’s Republic of China does not recognize the colonial status of Hong Kong. It considers Hong Kong a territory that has been “torn away.”
A. N. KHOKHLOV
Economy. Reexport and transit operations are especially important for Hong Kong’s economy. The large investments of Chinese businessmen and an influx of foreign capital have stimulated industrial growth. In the 1960’s industry became the main sector of Hong Kong’s economy, although it depends almost entirely on imported raw materials and semifinished products. About 80 percent of the industrial output is exported. In addition to large modern enterprises, there are some 30,000 small shops employing more than 800,000 persons. The leading industries produce clothing, textiles, foodstuffs, tobacco products, footwear, electronic and electrical equipment, and watches and clocks. Also important are shipbuilding and repair and the manufacture of petrochemicals, china, plastic goods, toys, wigs, and artificial flowers. Mining products include iron ore, kaolin, and quartz. In 1975, Hong Kong produced 5.9 billion kW-hr of electricity. In 1973 foreign industrial investments, chiefly British, American, and Japanese, amounted to US $1.2 billion, of which one-third was invested in electronics and electrical engineering, one-fifth in the garment and textile industries, and one-eighth in shipbuilding. Hong Kong’s arable land is sown mainly to rice and vegetables; flowers are grown for export. Hogs and poultry are raised. Some 50,000 persons are engaged in coastal fishing, yielding an annual catch of approximately 100,000 tons.
The port of Hong Kong handled more than 18 million tons of freight in 1973. Kai Tak is the international airport. Hong Kong has 36 km of railroad track and 950 km of highways.
The chief exports are clothing, fabrics, electronic and electrical goods, metal products, toys, plastic goods, jewelry, and watches. The leading imports are foodstuffs (over one-half from the People’s Republic of China), fuel, jewelry (for reexport), machinery, equipment, fabrics, and yarn. Hong Kong’s main trading partners are the USA, Japan, the People’s Republic of China (mainly imports, some of them for reexport), Great Britain, and the Federal Republic of Germany.
Hong Kong is an international monetary and financial center, with 74 banks and seven stock exchanges in 1975. Through banking, foreign trade, and other operations, a significant amount of the foreign currency flows from Hong Kong into the People’s Republic of China. Several of Hong Kong’s banks are controlled by the Chinese, and the Bank of China has established a branch there. The People’s Republic of China also owns a number of department stores, hotels, and other enterprises in Hong Kong. A tourist center, Hong Kong was visited by some 1.3 million persons in 1975. The monetary unit is the Hong Kong dollar.
F. A. TRINICH
Education and cultural affairs. In 1966, 21.8 percent of the population over ten years of age was illiterate. There is no compulsory education. Kindergartens, most of them private, are available to children between the ages of three and five. In 1972 about 130,900 children were enrolled in kindergartens. At the age of five or six, children may enroll in a six-year primary school. The seven-year secondary school is divided into two cycles of five and two years each. Subjects are taught in Chinese and English. In the 1972–73 school year 748,300 pupils were enrolled in primary schools, and 255,500 students attended secondary schools. Vocational training is available to those who have received one to five years of primary education. In the 1970–71 school year 14,900 students were enrolled in vocational schools. Higher education is offered by the University of Hong Kong (founded 1911), the Chinese University (1963), the Technical Institute (1969), and Hong Kong Polytechnic (1972). In the 1972–73 academic year 12,600 students were enrolled in institutions of higher learning.
The largest libraries in Hong Kong are the municipal public library and its branches (174,500 volumes in English and more than 347,000 in Chinese) and the libraries affiliated with the universities. Other cultural facilities include a municipal museum and an art gallery, founded in 1962.