Hong Kong is a SAR (Special Administrative region) belonging to the PRC (People’s Republic of China).It is a city state located in the south coast of China and it is surrounded by the South China sea and the Pearl river delta. Hong Kong is famous for its deep natural harbor and the broad skyline.

The city state boasts has a land area of 426 sq miles (1,104 km2). It is one of the most thickly populated areas in the globe, having seven million inhabitants.

Subsequent to the first Opium war, Hong Kong was converted into a colony and came under the British Empire. Initially, the city was restricted to the Hong Kong Island, but later in stages, its area was expanded with the addition of the Kowloon peninsula in the year1860 and the new territories in the year 1898. During the Pacific war, the Japanese forces occupied the island, but later the British regained control over the island, and were under its rule till 1997. From then, China took up sovereignty.

Under the “one country, two systems” policy, the city state has derived various political scheme from the mainland China. The independent judiciary of Hong Kong work according to the common law frame work. The constitutional certificate of the Basic Law of Hong Kong specifies that in all affairs, the city state will possess a “high degree of autonomy” except in the subject of military defense, foreign affairs, which administer its political system.

Even though Hong Kong has a growing multi-party method, half of its legislature is controlled by a small circle electorate. An Election committee comprising of 800 people elects the head of government called as the Chief executive of Hong Kong.

Capital: Hong Kong

Relinquish to China: 1 July 1997

Language: English, Chinese

Currency: HKD (Hong Kong dollar)

Religion: A major portion of the population does not belong to any region. The major religions in Hong Kong are Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. Religions like, Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus, Roman Catholics are also present in considerable numbers.

GMT: HKT (UTC+8)

History

Pre-colonial

Archeological researches reveal of human presence in a place called the Chek Lap Kok some 35,000 to 39,000 years ago. Human existence were also found at Peninsula of SaiKung 6000 years ago. During the Paleolithic period, human existences were discovered at three fathoms cave and Wong Tei Tong.

British colonial era

First opium war

In the year 1839, the authorities of the Qing Dynasty, refused to import opium, which lead the first opium war fought between China and Britain. On 20th January 1841, the British army occupied the Hong Kong Island.

According to the treaty of Nanking on 29 August 1842, the Hong Kong was officially given in perpetuity to Britain. A crown colony was established by the United Kingdom. The Victoria city was found in the year 1843.

In the second opium war of 1860, China got defeated and under the Peking convention, the Stonecutter’s island, the Kowloon peninsulas were surrendered in perpetuity to the United Kingdom.

Japan’s invasion

On 8 December 1941, the Japanese forces invaded Hong Kong, and the Battle of Hongkong was fought. The Canadian and the British force got defeated and the colony of Honkong was ceded to the Japanese forces. During the Japanese occupation, Hong Kong suffered a lot and its inhabitants were subjected r put into a lot of hardships. The people suffered from food scarcity, hyper-inflation because of compulsory exchange of currency to that of the military notes. A repatriation policy was followed by which the unemployed were sent to the mainland and because of food shortages, the population decreased from strength of 1.6million in to a 600,000 population. In 1945, Britain regained control of the Hong Kong colony.

In the 1950s, Hong Kong witnessed quick industrialization, with expansion of modern industries and active textile exports. In 1983, Hongkong was reclassified by the United Kingdom from a colony of the British crown, to a territory of dependence. On 1 July 1997, United Kingdom officially transferred the sovereignty to the PRC.