HongKong

Hong Kong, officially the Hong Kong Special AdministrativeRegion of the People's Republic of China (HKSAR), is a metropolitan areaand specialadministrative region of the People'sRepublic of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta of the South China Sea. With over 7.5 million residentsof various nationalities^[d] 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 became a colony of the British Empire after the Qing Empire ceded Hong Kong Island at the end of the First Opium War in 1842.^[16] The colony expanded to the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 after the Second Opium War and was further extended whenBritain obtained a 99-year lease ofthe New Territories in1898.^[17][18] The whole territory was transferred to China in1997.^[19] As a special administrative region,Hong Kong maintains separate governing and economic systems from that of mainland China under the principle of "one country, two systems".^[20][e]

Originally a sparsely populated area of farming and fishingvillages,^[16] the territory has become one of theworld's most significant financial centres and commercial ports.^[21] It is the world's tenth-largestexporter and ninth-largest importer.^[22][23] Hong Kong has a major capitalistservice economy characterised by low taxation and free trade, and its currency,the Hong Kong dollar,is the eighth most traded currency in the world.^[24] Hong Kong is home to the second-highestnumber of billionaires of any city in the world,^[25] the highest number of billionaires ofany city in Asia, and the largest concentration of ultrahigh-net-worth individuals of any city in the world.^[26][27] Although the city has one of thehighest percapita incomes per se,^[f] severe incomeinequality exists, as well as a growing housing affordabilityand shortage crisis among the population.^[28][29]

Hong Kong is a highly developed territory and ranks fourth onthe UN HumanDevelopment Index.^[30] The city has thelargest number of skyscrapers of any city in the world,^[31] and its residents have some ofthe highestlife expectancies in the world.^[30] The dense space led to a developedtransportation network with public transport rates exceeding 90 percent.

The name of the territory, first romanised as"He-Ong-Kong" in 1780,^[35] originally referred to a small inletlocated between Aberdeen Island andthe southern coast of Hong Kong Island. Aberdeen wasan initial point of contact between British sailors and local fishermen.^[36] Although the source of the romanisedname is unknown, it is generally believed to be an early phonetic rendering ofthe Cantonese pronunciation hēung góng.The name translates as "fragrant harbour" or "incenseharbour".^[33][34][37] "Fragrant" may refer to thesweet taste of the harbour's freshwater influx from the Pearl River orto the odour from incense factories lining the coast of northern Kowloon. The incense was stored near Aberdeen Harbourfor export before Victoria Harbour developed.^[37] Sir John Davis (thesecond colonial governor) offered an alternative origin; Davis said that thename derived from "Hoong-keang" ("red torrent"), reflectingthe colour of soil over which a waterfall on the island flowed.^[38]

The simplified name Hong Kong was frequentlyused by 1810.^[39] The name was also commonly written asthe single word Hongkong until 1926, when the governmentofficially adopted the two-word name.^[40] Some corporations founded during theearly colonial era still keep this name, including Hongkong Land, Hongkong Electric Company, Hongkong and ShanghaiHotels and theHongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC).

Earliest known human traces in Hong Kong are dated by some to35,000 and 39,000 years ago during the Paleolithic period. The claim is based on anarchaeological investigation in Wong Tei Tung, Sai Kung in2003. The archaeological works revealed knapped stone tools from deposits with an optical luminescence dating between35,000 and 39,000 years ago.^[43]

During the Middle Neolithic period, about 6,000 years ago,the region had been widely occupied by humans.^[44] Neolithic to Bronze Age Hong Kongsettlers were semi-coastal people. Early inhabitants are believed to be Austronesians in the Middle Neolithic period and later the Yueh people.^[44] As hinted by the archaeological worksin Sha Ha, SaiKung, rice cultivation had been introduced since Late Neolithic period.^[45] Bronze Age Hong Kong was featuredwith coarsepottery, hardpottery, quartz and stone jewelry, as well as small bronzeimplements.^[44]

The Qin dynasty incorporatedthe Hong Kong area into China for the first time in 214 BCE, after conqueringthe indigenous Baiyue.^[46] The region was consolidated underthe Nanyue kingdom (a predecessor state of Vietnam)after the Qin collapse^[47] and recaptured by China after the Han conquest.^[48] During the Mongolconquest of China in the 13th century, the Southern Song court was briefly located inmodern-day Kowloon City (the Sung Wong Toi site) before its final defeat inthe 1279 Battle of Yamen.^[49] By the end of the Yuan dynasty, seven large families had settled in theregion and owned most of the land. Settlers from nearby provinces migrated toKowloon throughout the Ming dynasty.^[50]

The earliest European visitor was Portuguese explorer Jorge Álvares, who arrived in 1513.^[51][52] Portuguese merchants established atrading post called Tamão in Hong Kong waters andbegan regular trade with southern China. Although the traders were expelledafter military clashes inthe 1520s,^[53] Portuguese-Chinese trade relationswere re-establishedby 1549. Portugal acquired a permanent lease for Macau in1557.^[54]

After the Qing conquest,maritime trade was banned under the Haijin policies. The Kangxi Emperor lifted the prohibition, allowingforeigners to enter Chinese ports in 1684.^[55] Qing authorities establishedthe Canton System in1757 to regulate trade more strictly, restricting non-Russian ships to the portof Canton.^[56] Although European demand for Chinesecommodities like tea, silk, and porcelain was high, Chinese interest inEuropean manufactured goods was insignificant, so that Chinese goods could onlybe bought with precious metals. To reduce the trade imbalance, the British soldlarge amounts of Indian opium to China. Faced with a drugcrisis, Qing officials pursued ever more aggressive actions to halt the opiumtrade.^[57]

In 1839, the Daoguang Emperor rejected proposals to legaliseand tax opium and ordered imperial commissioner Lin Zexu to eradicate the opium trade. Thecommissioner destroyed opium stockpiles and halted all foreign trade,^[58] triggering a British militaryresponse and the First Opium War. The Qing surrendered early in the war andceded Hong Kong Island in the Convention of Chuenpi.However, both countries were dissatisfied and did not ratify the agreement.^[59] After more than a year of furtherhostilities, Hong Kong Island was formally ceded to the UnitedKingdom in the 1842 Treaty of Nanking.^[60]

Administrative infrastructure was quickly built by early 1842,but piracy, disease, and hostile Qing policies initially prevented thegovernment from attracting commerce. Conditions on the island improved duringthe Taiping Rebellion inthe 1850s, when many Chinese refugees, including wealthy merchants, fledmainland turbulence and settled in the colony.^[16] Further tensions between the Britishand Qing over the opium trade escalated into the Second Opium War. The Qingwere again defeated and forced to give up Kowloon Peninsula and Stonecutters Island inthe Convention of Peking.^[17] By the end of this war, Hong Kong hadevolved from a transient colonial outpost into a major entrepôt. Rapid economic improvement during the 1850sattracted foreign investment, as potential stakeholders became more confidentin Hong Kong's future.^[61]

The colony was further expanded in 1898 when Britain obtained a99-year lease of the New Territories.^[18] The University of Hong Kong wasestablished in 1911 as the territory's first institution of higher education.^[62] Kai Tak Airport began operation in 1924, and thecolony avoided a prolonged economic downturn after the 1925–26 Canton–Hong Kong strike.^[63][64] At the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War in1937, Governor Geoffry Northcote declaredHong Kong a neutral zone to safeguard its status as a free port.^[65] The colonial government prepared fora possible attack, evacuating all British women and children in 1940.^[66] The Imperial Japanese Army attacked Hong Kong on 8December 1941, the same morning as its attack on Pearl Harbor.^[67] Hong Kong was occupiedby Japan for almost four years before Britain resumed controlon 30 August 1945.^[68]

Its population rebounded quickly after the war, as skilledChinese migrants fled from the Chinese Civil War, and more refugees crossed the borderwhen the Communist Party tookcontrol of mainland China in 1949.^[69] Hong Kong became the first ofthe Four Asian Tiger economiesto industrialise during the 1950s.^[70] With a rapidly increasing population,the colonial government began reforms to improve infrastructure and publicservices. The public-housing estateprogramme, Independent Commission Against Corruption, and MassTransit Railway were all established during the post-wardecades to provide safer housing, integrity in the civil service, andmore-reliable transportation.^[71][72] Although the territory'scompetitiveness in manufacturing gradually declined because of rising labourand property costs, it transitioned to a service-based economy. By the early1990s, Hong Kong had established itself as a global financial centre and shippinghub.^[73] The colony faced an uncertain futureas the end of the New Territories lease approached, and GovernorMurray MacLehose raised the question of Hong Kong's statuswith Deng Xiaoping in1979.^[74] Diplomatic negotiations with Chinaresulted in the 1984 Sino-BritishJoint Declaration, in which the United Kingdom agreed to transferthe colony in 1997 and China would guarantee Hong Kong's economic and politicalsystems for 50 years after the transfer.^[75] The impending transfer triggereda wave ofmass emigration as residents feared an erosion of civil rights,the rule of law, and quality of life.^[76] Over half a million people left theterritory during the peak migration period, from 1987 to 1996.^[77] The Legislative Council becamea fullyelected legislature for the first time in 1995 and extensivelyexpanded its functions and organisations throughout the last years of thecolonial rule.^[78] Hong Kong was transferred to China on1 July 1997, after 156 years of British rule.^[19]

Immediately after the transfer, Hong Kong was severely affectedby several crises. The government was forced to use substantial foreign exchange reserves tomaintain the Hong Kong dollar's currency peg during the 1997 Asian financial crisis,^[69] and the recovery from this was mutedby an H5N1avian-flu outbreak^[79] and a housing surplus.^[80] This was followed by the 2003 SARS epidemic,during which the territory experienced its most serious economic downturn.^[81]

Political debates after the transfer of sovereignty have centredaround the region's democraticdevelopment and the centralgovernment's adherence to the "one country, two systems"principle. After reversal of the last colonial era Legislative Council democraticreforms following the handover,^[82] the regional governmentunsuccessfully attempted to enact national security legislation pursuant to Article23 of the Basic Law.^[83] The central government decision toimplement nomineepre-screening before allowing ChiefExecutive elections triggered a series of protests in 2014 whichbecame known as the Umbrella Revolution.^[84] Discrepancies in the electoralregistry and disqualification of elected legislators after the 2016Legislative Council elections^[85][86][87] and enforcement of national law inthe WestKowloon high-speed railway station raised further concernsabout the region's autonomy.^[88] In June 2019, mass protests erupted inresponse to a proposedextradition amendment bill permitting extradition of fugitivesto mainland China. The protests are the largest in Hong Kong history,^[89] with organisers claiming to haveattracted more than one million Hong Kong residents.