FAST FACTS
Area: 1,071 sq km
1997 population: 6,007,200
Capital (population): Victoria (800,000)
Government: Once a British colony, now part of China
Ethnic groups: Chinese 98%, Others 2%
Languages: Mandarin Chinese (official), Cantonese Chinese
spoken
by majority and English
Religions: Predominantly Buddhist and Christian
Currency: HK$ = 100 cents
1997 GDP per capita: US$ 27,129
Hong Kong was, until the British received the island
as a concession from the Qing emperor, following China's
defeat in the Opium Wars, a barely inhabited place,
used by fishermen and pirates. The British turned Hong
Kong Island into a trading base, the trade being based
on supplying Indian opium to the Chinese, much to the
chagrin of the Chinese authorities, in return for tea,
the new fashionable drink in England, and other goods
such as tropical woods, silks, dyes, etc.
Hong Kong flourished as a trading port, then as a manufacturing
centre, making cheap goods for the consumer markets
of Europe and the US. Hong Kong has since become a financial
centre for Asia, as well as one of the regions most
significant shipping ports. Hong Kong has also become
a cultural centre for Asia, its free trading, and liberal
lifestyle being a model for many Asians.
Hong Kong was handed back to China on 1st July 1997,
the island being given back to China along with the
ending of the 99 year lease on the New Territories.
Despite the worries this event caused, transition back
to China proved peaceful, and the potency of Hong Kong
consumption remains strong. Being a free trading port,
Hong Kong has one of the most developed consumer cultures
in Asia, and has remained a shopping centre for the
whole east Asian region.
HONG KONG LINKS
http://www.scmp.com
http://www.hkstandard.com
