HONG KONG
Hong Kong (香港; "Fragrant harbour"), officially known as Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of thePeople's Republic of China, is an autonomous region on the southern coast of China geographically enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea.[8] Hong Kong is known for its expansive skyline and deep naturalharbour, and with a land mass of 1,104 km2 (426 sq mi) and a population of over seven million people, is one of the most densely populated areas in the world.[9] Hong Kong's population is 93.6% ethnic Chinese and 6.4% from other groups.[4] Hong Kong's Cantonese-speaking majority originate mainly from the neighbouringGuangdong province,[10] from which many of them fled to escape wars and communist rule in mainland China from the 1930s to 1960s.[11][12][13][14]
Despite presence of inhabitants in Imperial China, the idea of modern Hong Kong, including its name, geographical and cultural make-up, owes much to the developments during the 155-year British rule. Hong Kong became a colony of the British Empire after the First Opium War (1839–42). Hong Kong Island was first ceded to the UK in perpetuity, followed by Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 and then the New Territories was put under lease in 1898. It was occupied by Japan during the Pacific War (1941–45), after which the British resumed control until 1997.[15][16] The region espoused minimum government intervention under the ethos ofpositive non-interventionism during the colonial era.[17] The time period greatly influenced the current culture of Hong Kong and the educational system, which used to loosely follow the system in England[18] until reforms implemented in 2009.[19]
As a result of the negotiations and the 1984 agreement between China and Britain, Hong Kong was handed over to the People's Republic of China and became its first Special Administrative Region on 1 July 1997, under the principle of "one country, two systems" (the other, Macau, attained that status in December 1999). It has a different political system from mainland China.[20] Hong Kong's independent judiciary functions under thecommon law framework.[21][22] The Hong Kong Basic Law , the constitutional document drafted by the Chinese side before the handover based on the terms enshrined in the Joint Declaration,[23] governs its political system, and stipulates that Hong Kong shall have a high degree of autonomy in all matters except foreign relations and military defence.[24][25] Although it has a multi-party system, a small-circle electorate controls 30 out of 70 seats of its legislature, which was classified as flawed democracy in 2012.[26][27]
Hong Kong is a world city and is one of the Alpha+ cities. As Hong Kong ranks the third most important leading international financial centre, after London and New York City, Hong Kong has a major capitalist service economy characterised by low taxation and free trade, and the currency, Hong Kong dollar, is the eighth most traded currency in the world.[28] The lack of space caused demand for denser constructions, which developed the city to a centre for modern architecture and the world's most vertical city.[29][30] Hong Kong has one of thehighest per capita incomes in the world but also the highest income inequality among advanced economies.[5]The dense space has also led to a highly developed transportation network with the public transport travelling rate exceeding 90 percent,[31] the highest in the world.[32] Hong Kong has numerous high international rankingsin various aspects, such as its economic freedom, financial and economic competitiveness,[33] Human Development Index are all ranked highly. However, air pollution and smog is a serious problem[34] with looseemission standards and high level of carcinogenic PM2.5 compared to other advanced economies.
