| 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
Jūng'wàh Yàhnmàhn Guhng'wòhgwok Hēunggóng Dahkbiht Hàhngjingkēui (Hong Kong Cantonese) | |
|---|---|
City flower
| |
Location of Hong Kong within China
| |
| Status | Special administrative region |
| Official languages | |
| Official scripts | |
| Ethnic groups (2017) |
|
| Demonym |
|
| Government | Devolvedexecutive-ledparliamentary system within socialist republic |
| Carrie Lam | |
| Matthew Cheung | |
| Paul Chan Mo-po | |
| Teresa Cheng | |
| Andrew Leung | |
| Geoffrey Ma | |
| National representation | |
| 36 deputies (of 2,924) | |
| 203 delegates[2] | |
| Legislature | Legislative Council |
| Autonomy within the People's Republic of China | |
| 25 January 1841 | |
| 29 August 1842 | |
| 18 October 1860 | |
| 9 June 1898 | |
| 25 December 1941 to 30 August 1945 | |
• Transfer of sovereignty
from the United Kingdom | 1 July 1997 |
| Area | |
• Total
| 2,755[3] km2(1,064 sq mi) (184th) |
• Water (%)
| 59.8 (1,649 km2; 637 sq mi)[4] |
| Population | |
• 2017 estimate
| 7,409,800[5](100th) |
• Density
| 6,777[6]/km2(17,552.3/sq mi) (4th) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2017[7] estimate |
• Total
| $453.019 billion (44th) |
• Per capita
| $61,015 (10th) |
| GDP (nominal) | 2017[7] estimate |
• Total
| $334.104 billion (35th) |
• Per capita
| $44,999 (16th) |
| Gini (2016) |  53.9[8]high |
| HDI (2015) |  0.917[9]very high · 12th |
| Currency | Hong Kong dollar(HK$) (HKD) |
| Time zone | Hong Kong Time(UTC+8) |
| Date format | dd-mm-yyyy yyyy年mm月dd日 |
| Drives on the | left |
| Calling code | +852 |
| ISO 3166 code | HK |
| Internet TLD | |
Website
gov.hk | |
| |
Hong Kong (Chinese: 香港, Cantonese: [hœ́ːŋ.kɔ̌ːŋ]), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, is an autonomous territory on the eastern side of the Pearl River estuary in East Asia. Along with Macau, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, and several other major cities in Guangdong, the territory forms a core part of the Pearl River Deltametropolitan region, the most populated area in the world. With over 7.4 million Hongkongers of various nationalities[note 1] in a territory of 1,104 square kilometres (426 sq mi), Hong Kong is the fourth-most densely populated region in the world.
Hong Kong was formerly a colony of the British Empire, after the perpetual cession of Hong Kong Island from Qing China at the conclusion of the First Opium War in 1842. Originally a lightly populated area of farming and fishing villages,[14] the territory has become one of the most significant financial centres and trade ports in the world.[15] With the exception of the Second World War, during which the colony was occupied by the Empire of Japan, Hong Kong remained under British control until 1997, when it was returned to China. As a special administrative region, Hong Kong maintains a separate political and economic system apart from mainland China.[e]
As the world's seventh-largest trading entity,[16][17] its legal tender, the Hong Kong dollar, is the 13th-most traded currency.[18] Hong Kong's tertiary sector dominated economy is characterised by competitive simple taxation and supported by its common law judiciary system.[19] Although the city boasts one of the highest per capita incomes in the world, it suffers from severe income inequality.[20]
The territory features the most skyscrapers in the world, surrounding Victoria Harbour, which lies in the centre of the city's dense urban region.[21] It has a very high Human Development Index ranking and the seventh-highest life expectancy in the world.[3] Over 90% of its population makes use of well-developed public transportation.[22] Seasonal air pollution originating from neighbouring industrial areas of mainland China, which adopts loose emissions standards, has resulted in a high level of atmospheric particulates in winter.[23][24][25]
Etymology
| Hong Kong | |||
"Hong Kong" in Chinese characters
| |||
| Chinese | 香港 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Cantonese Yale | Hēunggóng or Hèunggóng | ||
| Literal meaning | Fragrant Harbour, Incense Harbour[26][27] | ||
| |||
| 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) | ||
| |||
The name Hong Kong originally referred to a small inlet between Aberdeen Island and the southern coast of Hong Kong Island. The town of Aberdeen was an initial point of contact between British sailors and local fishermen.[28] The source of the romanised name is not known, but it is generally believed to be an early phonetic rendering of the spoken Cantonese pronunciation of 香港 (Cantonese Yale: hēung góng), which means "fragrant harbour" or "incense harbour".[26][27][29] "Fragrance" may refer to the sweet taste of the harbour's fresh water influx from the Pearl River estuary or to the incense from factories lining the coast of northern Kowloon. The incense was stored near Aberdeen Harbour for export before Victoria Harbour was developed.[29] Another theory is that the name originates from the Tanka, early inhabitants of the region; it is equally probable that a romanisation of the name in their dialect was used (i.e. hōng, not hēung in Cantonese).[30] Regardless of origin, the name was recorded in the Treaty of Nanking to encompass all of Hong Kong Island, and has been used to refer to the territory in its entirety ever since.[31]
The name had often been written as the single word Hongkong until the government adopted the current form in 1926.[32]Nevertheless, a number of institutions founded during the early colonial era still retain the single-word form, such as the Hongkong Post, Hongkong Electric, and the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation.
History
Prehistory
Archaeological studies show a human presence in the Chek Lap Kok area from 35,000 to 39,000 years ago and on Sai Kung Peninsula from 6,000 years ago.[33][34][35] Wong Tei Tung and Three Fathoms Cove are the earliest sites of human habitation in Hong Kong during the Paleolithic Period. It is believed that the Three Fathom Cove was a river-valley settlement and Wong Tei Tung was a lithic manufacturing site. Excavated Neolithic artefacts suggested cultural differences from the Longshan culture of northern China and settlement by the Che people, prior to the migration of the Baiyue to Hong Kong.[36][37] Eight petroglyphs dating to the Bronze Agewere discovered throughout the territory.[38]
Imperial China
In 214 BCE, the Qin dynasty conquered the Baiyue tribes in Jiaozhi (modern-day Liangguang region and Vietnam) and incorporated the area of Hong Kong into China for the first time.[39] After a brief period of centralisation and subsequent collapse of the Qin dynasty, the area of Hong Kong was consolidated under the Nanyue kingdom, founded by General Zhao Tuo in 204 BCE.[40] After the Han dynasty conquered Nanyue in 111 BCE, Hong Kong was assigned to the Jiaozhi commandery. Archaeological evidence indicates an increase of population and expansion of salt production. The Lei Cheng Uk Han Tomb on the Kowloon Peninsula is believed to have been built as a burial site during the Han dynasty.[41]
During the Tang dynasty, the Guangdong region flourished as an international trading centre. A military stronghold was established in Tuen Mun to strengthen defence of the coastal area.[42]Lantau Island was a salt production centre and smuggler riots occasionally broke out against the government. The first village school, Li Ying College, was established around 1075 CE in the modern-day New Territories by the Song dynasty.[43] During their war against the Mongols, the Southern Song court was briefly stationed at modern-day Kowloon City (the Sung Wong Toisite) before their ultimate defeat at the Battle of Yamen in 1279.[44]
The earliest European visitor on record was Jorge Álvares, a Portuguese explorer, who arrived in 1513.[45][46] Having established a settlement in a site they called "Tamão" in Hong Kong waters, Portuguese merchants began regularly trading in southern China. However, subsequent military clashes between China and Portugal led to the expulsion of all Portuguese merchants in the 1520s.[47] The Portuguese were able to reestablish trade relations by 1549 with annual trade missions sent to Shangchuan Island and acquired a land lease from Ming authorities in 1557 to establish a permanent trade outpost at Macau.[48]
After the Qing conquest, Hong Kong was directly affected by the Great Clearance, an imperial decree that ordered the evacuation of coastal areas of Guangdong from 1661 to 1669 as part of the new dynasty's efforts against Ming loyalist rebels in southern China. Over 16,000 inhabitants of Xin'an County, which included Hong Kong, were forced to migrate inland; roughly only 10% of those who had evacuated returned in subsequent years.[49] With frequent pirate attacks and ever increasing incursions by European explorers, forts were constructed at Tung Chung and the Kowloon Walled City to guard the region.[50]
Though maritime trade had previously been banned, after repopulation of the coast and final defeat of all rebels with Ming sympathies, the Kangxi Emperor lifted the trade prohibition in 1684 and allowed foreigners to enter Chinese ports.[51] Trade with Europeans was more strictly regulated and became concentrated in the Pearl River Delta after establishment of the Canton System in 1757, which forbade non-Russian ships from northern Chinese ports and forced all commerce to be conducted solely in the port of Canton, just north of Hong Kong.[52] While European demand for Chinese commodities like tea, silk, and porcelain was high, Chinese interest in European manufactured goods was comparatively negligible, creating a large trade imbalance between Qing China and Great Britain. To counter this deficit, the British began to sell increasingly large volumes of Indian opium to China. Faced with a drug addiction crisis, Chinese officials pursued ever more aggressive actions in an attempt to halt the opium trade.[53]
British colony
In 1839, the Daoguang Emperor, having rejected proposals to legalise and tax opium, tasked Imperial Commissioner Lin Zexu with eradicating the opium trade. Lin ordered the confiscation and destruction of all opium stockpiles in Canton and a general blockade of foreign trade.[54] The British objected to the sudden seizure, especially without monetary compensation for the seized product, and dispatched an expeditionary force to China, starting the First Opium War. After British victory in the Second Battle of Chuenpi, the Qing initially admitted defeat. As part of a ceasefire agreement between Captain Charles Elliot and Qishan, Viceroy of Liangguang, Hong Kong Island was declared to be ceded under the Convention of Chuenpi. British forces took formal possession of the island on 25 January 1841. However, disputes between high-ranking officials of both countries prevented the treaty's ratification.[55] After over a year of further hostilities, Hong Kong Island was formally ceded in perpetuity to the United Kingdom under the terms of the Treaty of Nanking on 29 August 1842.[56] The British officially established a Crown colony and founded the City of Victoria in the following year.[57]
The population of Hong Kong Island was 7,450 in May 1841,[58] several months after the Union Jack was first raised over Possession Point. The inhabitants were mostly scattered in small farming and fishing villages across the island. Though administrative infrastructure was very quickly built up, with official buildings constructed by early 1842, the early years of colonial government were fraught with problems. Government officials had hoped to attract wealthy merchants from nearby port cities but a combination of frequent pirate incursions, rampant crime, restrictive Qing policies, endemic disease, and uncertainity over Hong Kong's future as a British possession discouraged them from establishing a presence. Economic conditions and living conditions greatly improved during the period of the Taiping Rebellion, when many wealthier Chinese fled from the turbulent conditions of the mainland and settled in the colony. Hong Kong also became a stopping point for migrant workers en route to the United States, who hoped to benefit from the economic opportunities of the California Gold Rush.[14]
Because the Treaty of Nanking avoided addressing the legality of the opium trade, further tensions between the British and Qing eventually escalated into the Second Opium War. Following the Anglo-French victory in 1860, the Convention of Peking expanded the colony to include Kowloon Peninsula south of present-day Boundary Street and Stonecutter's Island, both of which were ceded to the British in perpetuity.[59]By the end of this war, Hong Kong had morphed from a transient colonial outpost into a major entrepôt. The rapid economic improvement of the 1850s attracted new foreign investment in the colony, as potential stakeholders became more confident in the financial future of the colony; the 1864 establishment of the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank, the city's first local bank, signaled the prosperity of the territory.[60]
However, the population remained racially divided and polarised under early colonial policies. Despite the rise of a British-educated Chinese upper class by the late 19th century, zoning laws prevented ethnic Chinese from acquiring property in reserved areas. Though enacted ostensibly to address health concerns of European residents,[61] the Peak Reservation Ordinance and other similar pieces of legislation enforced a system of residential zoning that racially segregated the population of the colony, creating exclusive communities of Europeans in areas like Victoria Peak and Cheung Chau.[f][g] At this time, the majority of the Chinese population in Hong Kong had no political representation in the British colonial government. The British governors did rely, however, on a small number of Chinese elites, including Sir Kai Ho and Robert Hotung, who served as ambassadors and mediators between the government and local population. Chinese appointments to the Legislative Council and Executive Council were not made until 1880 and 1926, with Wu Tingfang and Shouson Chow serving as the first members of the colony's ethnic majority on the respective chambers.[62][63]
The colony was expanded further in 1898, when Britain obtained a 99-year lease of additional territory from the Qing under the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory; Lantau Island, the remainder of Kowloon north of Boundary Street, further territory beyond Kowloon up to the Sham Chun River, and over 200 other outlying islands were given over to British control.[64]
The colony continued to experience modest growth during the first half of the 20th century. The University of Hong Kong was established in 1911 as the territory's first higher education institute. During the First World War, many Chinese residents left the city, fearing a German attack on the colony.[65] Hong Kong ultimately remained unscathed and continued growing; its population increased from 530,000 in 1916 to 725,000 in 1925 and reached 1.6 million by 1941.[66] Kai Tak Airport entered operation in 1925 and the colony was able to avoid a prolonged economic downturn after the Canton–Hong Kong strike ended, which had lasted for more than a year from 1925 through 1926.[67][68][69] At the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, when the Empire of Japan invaded China from its protectorate in Manchuria, Governor Geoffry Northcote declared the colony a neutral zone to safeguard Hong Kong's status as a free port.[70] As the war in China continued, the colonial government prepared for a possible attack by mobilizing troops and evacuating all British women and children in 1940.[71]
No comments:
Post a Comment