Hong Kong

Hong Kong (US: /ˈhɒŋkɒŋ/ or UK: /hɒŋˈkɒŋ/; Chinese: 香港, Cantonese: [hœ́ːŋ.kɔ̌ːŋ] (listen)), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR),[lower-alpha 4] is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta in South China. With 7.4 million residents of various nationalities[lower-alpha 5] in a 1,104-square-kilometre (426 sq mi) territory, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated places in the world. Hong Kong is also a major global financial centre and one of the most developed cities in the world.

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Hong Kong
Special administrative region
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China Chinese: 中華人民共和國香港特別行政區 Cantonese Yale romanisation: Jūng'wàh Yàhnmàhn Guhng'wòhgwok Hēunggóng Dahkbiht Hàhngjingkēui
Flag Emblem
Location of Hong Kong within China
Sovereign state	China
British possession	26 January 1841
Treaty of Nanking	29 August 1842
Convention of Peking	24 October 1860
New Territories lease	9 June 1898
Imperial Japanese occupation	25 December 1941 to 30 August 1945
Redesignated as a British Dependent Territory	1st January 1981
Sino-British Joint Declaration	19 December 1984
Handover to China	1 July 1997
Administrative centre	Tamar
Largest district by population	Sha Tin
Official languages	Chinese[lower-alpha 1] English[lower-alpha 2]
Regional language	Cantonese[lower-alpha 1]
Official scripts	Traditional Chinese[lower-alpha 2] English alphabet
Ethnic groups (2021)	91.6% Chinese 2.7% Filipino 1.9% Indonesian 0.8% White 0.6% Indian 0.4% Nepalese 2% Others[6]
Demonym(s)	Hongkonger
Government	Devolved executive-led government within a unitary one-party state[7]
• Chief Executive	John Lee
• Chief Secretary	Eric Chan
• Council President	Andrew Leung
• Chief Justice	Andrew Cheung
Legislature	Legislative Council
National representation
• National People's Congress	36 deputies
• Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference	203 delegates[8]
Area
• Total	2,754.97[9] km2 (1,063.70 sq mi) (168th)
• Water (%)	59.70% (1,644.79 km2; 635.05 sq mi)[9]
• Land	1,110.18 km2 (428.64 sq mi)[9]
Highest elevation (Tai Mo Shan)	957 m (3,140 ft)
Lowest elevation (South China Sea)	0 m (0 ft)
Population
• 2022 estimate	7,333,200[10]
• 2021 census	7,413,070[11]
• Density	6,801[12]/km2 (17,614.5/sq mi) (4th)
GDP (PPP)	2023 estimate
• Total	$544.735 billion[13] (47th)
• Per capita	$74,598[13] (12th)
GDP (nominal)	2023 estimate
• Total	$382.854 billion[13] (41th)
• Per capita	$52,429[13] (19th)
Gini (2016)	53.9[14] high
HDI (2021)	0.952[15] very high · 4th
Currency	Hong Kong dollar (HK$) (HKD)
Time zone	UTC+08:00 (HKT)
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy yyyy年mm月dd日
Mains electricity	220 V–50 Hz
Driving side	left[lower-alpha 3]
Calling code	+852
ISO 3166 code	HK CN-HK
Internet TLD	.hk .香港
License plate prefixes	None for local vehicles, 粤Z for cross-boundary vehicles

Hong Kong was established as a colony of the British Empire after the Qing Empire ceded Hong Kong Island from Xin'an County at the end of the First Opium War in 1841 then again in 1842. 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. British Hong Kong was occupied by Imperial Japan from 1941 to 1945 during World War II; British administration resumed after the surrender of Japan. The whole territory was transferred to China in 1997. As one of China's two special administrative regions (the other being Macau), Hong Kong maintains separate governing and economic systems from that of mainland China under the principle of "one country, two systems".[lower-alpha 6]

Originally a sparsely populated area of farming and fishing villages,[18][19] the territory has become one of the world's most significant financial centres and commercial ports. As of 2021, it is the world's ninth-largest exporter and eight-largest importer. Hong Kong has a market economy characterised by a focus on services, low taxation and free trade; its currency, the Hong Kong dollar, is the eighth most traded currency in the world. Hong Kong is home to the third-highest number of billionaires of any city in the world, the second-highest number of billionaires of any city in Asia, and the largest concentration of ultra high-net-worth individuals of any city in the world. Although the city has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world, severe income inequality exists among the population. Most notably, housing in Hong Kong has been well-documented to experience a chronic persistent shortage; the extremely compact house sizes and the extremely high housing density are the effects of Hong Kong's housing market being the most expensive housing in the world.

Hong Kong is a highly developed territory and has a Human Development Index (HDI) of 0.952, ranking fourth in the world. The city has the largest number of skyscrapers of any city in the world, and its residents have some of the highest life expectancies in the world. The dense space has led to a highly developed transportation network with public transport rates exceeding 90%. Hong Kong is ranked 4th in the Global Financial Centres Index.