Occupied by the UK in 1841, Hong Kong was formally ceded by China the following year; various adjacent lands were added later in the 19th century. Pursuant to an agreement signed by China and the UK on 19 December 1984, Hong Kong became the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China on 1 July 1997. In this agreement, China promised that, under its "one country, two systems" formula, China's socialist economic system would not be imposed on Hong Kong and that Hong Kong would enjoy a "high degree of autonomy" in all matters except foreign and defense affairs for the subsequent 50 years.
outstanding deepwater harbor, feldspar
arable land: 5.05%
permanent crops: 1.01%
other: 93.94% (2011)
7,112,688 (July 2014 est.) country comparison to the world: 102
Chinese 93.1%, Indonesian 1.9%, Filipino 1.9%, other 3%
(2011 est.)
eclectic mixture of local religions 90%, Christian 10%
Cantonese (official) 89.5%,
English (official) 3.5%,
Putonghua (Mandarin) 1.4%,
other Chinese dialects 4%,
other 1.6% (2011 est.)
definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school
total population: 93.5%
male: 96.9%
female: 89.6% (2002)
Hong Kong
limited democracy
none (special administrative region of China)
National Day (Anniversary of the Founding of the <br> People's Republic of China), 1 October (1949); note - 1<br> July 1997 is celebrated as Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day<br>
