Hong Kong

HONG KONG. Located on the southeast coast of China at the mouth of the Pearl River delta 80 miles (130 kilometers) southeast of Canton, Hong Kong is centered around one of the world's largest natural deepwater harbors. The congested metropolis is actually several cities that are part of a territory measuring more than 400 square miles (1,000 square kilometers)--Hong Kong Island, the Kowloon peninsula, and the New Territories. The New Territories in turn make up the larger peninsula from which Kowloon extends and more than 230 surrounding islands. Tall mountains rise from the sea and create a topography of rugged beauty and dramatic vistas.

The heart of the metropolis is the capital on Hong Kong Island, Victoria, which climbs almost vertical streets halfway up Victoria Peak. Rising to a height of 1,825 feet (556 meters), the top of the peak has most of the territory's few detached houses and mansions. The island shelters the harbor from the South China Sea. Major government buildings and the headquarters of banks and powerful hongs, or commercial trading houses, are located at the foot of the peak in Central Hong Kong Island--on land largely reclaimed from the harbor. The major commercial center is the city of Kowloon directly across the harbor. Most industrial property is in skyscraper "new towns" in the New Territories to the north. Except for the huge island of Lantau, most of the remaining islands are small and sparsely populated. A few have bedroom communities with inhabitants who ferry to work on Hong Kong or Kowloon. A large floating population of boat dwellers dock in the territory's typhoon shelters.
Steep terrain has forced about 90 percent of Hong Kong's population to congregate in just 15 percent of the land area, creating the highest population density in the world. With no place to expand but upward, it has some of the world's tallest buildings outside New York City. Much of the territory, however, is uninhabited government parkland, and some of it is still wild. It has many snakes, and the bird population on Hong Kong Island includes a large community of escaped domestic parakeets and their offspring.

Hong Kong's tropical latitude produces high temperatures most of the year and a short, mild winter. Spring is extremely wet, often causing dangerous landslides and floods. Autumn is extremely dry. Hill fires have burned entire communities of crowded squatter huts put up by refugees. The most significant weather event is the typhoon season of late summer.

People
The major spurt in Hong Kong's population growth was in the latter part of the 1970s, when it swelled from about 4 million to 5 million. This was the result of an influx both from China and from Vietnam following the fall of Saigon in 1975. With little room left and diminishing public resources, the government severely restricted immigration in 1980. By 1990 there were more than 56,000 Vietnamese in Hong Kong; only about 12,000 were considered refugees, awaiting resettlement in a third country. A program of forced repatriation to Vietnam began in 1991.
Ninety-eight percent of Hong Kong's population is Chinese--mostly Cantonese. Former Shanghai businessmen, boat people, fishermen, and New Territories farmers represent other Chinese ethnic groups. Britons make up a narrow majority of the non-Chinese, followed by Indians and Americans. Both the Cantonese dialect of Chinese and English are official languages, with English favored in commerce.
The violent suppression of the democracy movement in Beijing in June 1989 ended the perception that China would exert only minimal authority after Britain transferred sovereignty in 1997. Thousands of educated professionals were emigrating, at a rate of 1,000 a week in 1990, mostly to the United States, Canada, and Australia. In an effort to keep key job holders in place, Britain offered full passports to 50,000 Hong Kong families to provide them legal refuge in 1997 if they need it. China, however, announced it would not recognize the British passports.

Economy
Hong Kong's international significance accelerated in the second half of the 20th century--not only from the explosive growth of its industry but also from the reemergence of China as a participant in world trade and politics. It is strategically positioned at the center of the most rapidly growing area of the world--the Pacific rim. A philosophy of free trade and minimal taxes and regulations attracted investment from around the world. Its location in respect to the trading day made it the center of world trading while London and New York City sleep. It is also the gateway for trade with the most populous nation on Earth. China depends on the territory to provide the bulk of its foreign exchange and investment.
Hong Kong has no substantial natural resources, and 90 percent of what it needs is imported. Much of its income is from services it provides as a transshipment and warehousing gateway between China and Southeast Asia and the rest of the world. Manufacturing is led by the textile industry, followed by toys and electronics. Hong Kong exports more watches, clocks, and radios than any nation in the world. China and the United States are its major customers.
Hong Kong is the shopping, eating, fashion, and entertainment mecca of Asia. It is the movie capital of the world, with more feature films and videos produced in the territory than anywhere else.
Hong Kong is one of the world's busiest shipping centers and is upgrading its port facilities with a new airport and container port on an island in the harbor. About 12,000 oceangoing vessels call at the port each year. These and hundreds of Chinese sampans, sailing junks, ferryboats, hydrofoils, and pleasure craft create a bustling and exciting atmosphere.

Government and History
Despite problems caused by severe congestion, Hong Kong is one of the world's most efficiently administered territories. A governor is appointed by the British monarch and is advised by an appointed Executive Council and a Legislative Council--both predominantly Western but becoming more Chinese.
There is archaeological evidence of settlement as early as the 3rd century BC. A few rural Chinese villages in the New Territories have been inhabited since the 11th century. Before the British flag was placed on Hong Kong Island in 1841 by merchant-adventurers expelled from Canton, the island harbored only a few Chinese pirates, vagabonds, and stonecutters.
1839: Opium Wars begin
The Chinese were forced to cede the island to the British in 1842 following their defeat in the First Opium War. According to one legend, the Chinese named the settlement Heung Keung, or "Fragrant Harbor," because of the scent of Indian opium that hovered in the air from the British clipper ships waiting to make their run up the Pearl River to Canton. Beginning with the Taiping Rebellion in 1850, Hong Kong grew rapidly. Civil wars and economic and social changes in China drove various waves of refugees into the territory. At the end of the Second Opium War in 1860, the British forced the Chinese to cede part of the Kowloon peninsula. In 1899 the British took a 99-year lease on the New Territories. China has always considered the agreements to be "unequal treaties."
At the outbreak of World War II, Hong Kong was occupied by Japan. The occupation and bombing by the Allies decimated the territory's population.
The Communist victory in mainland China in 1949 drove more refugees into Hong Kong, and it became the base for Western "China watchers." Many Chinese lost their lives trying to swim over the border through shark-infested Mirs Bay. In 1963 and 1967 Communist terrorists instigated riots in the territory.