2. Geography Hong Kong is on the south coast of china and has a territory of about 426 sq mi. This territory is divided into 3 main sections: Hong Kong Island, The Kowloon Peninsula, and The New Territories as well as about 200 offshore islands. Due to its location it enjoys a humid subtropical climate with hot and humid summers and sunny yet cool winters.
3. Hong Kong is mostly very steep and hilly, which makes development quite difficult. Although Hong Kong is thought to be highly urbanized, less than 25% of the country’s territory is developed. Much of the region is actually made up of nature reserves and the cities invest largely in a green economy.
4. People Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated regions in the world at a population of 7.03 million with 6,200 people per km2. 95% of these people are of Chinese decent (most of whom are Han Chinese) the rest are non ethnic Chinese and Workers from the Philippines and Indonesia. There are small groups of Europeans, Indians, Pakistanis and Southern Asians in the country as well.
5. Although Cantonese is the official language of Hong Kong, most residents also understand Mandarin, English, Vietnamese, and many other types of languages. Hong Kong’s multi ethnic and multi lingual background give it a diverse atmosphere that is not seen in mainland china. This expands to religion as well because almost all religion is allowed to be preached and practiced within Hong Kong (Buddhism being the most prevalent)
6. Culture Hong Kong is often described as a place where east meets west. While much of the culture is very traditional Chinese, it has adapted many aspects of western culture. A perfect example is the use of fengshui when building a new skyscraper. It is also a free trade zone and does lots of business with the western world which has integrated many western ideals into their society.
7. One of the most prevalent westernized aspects of Hong Kong is their film industry. Many of the kung fu and martial arts stars you see in Hollywood got their start in the Hong Kong movie scene. The people of Hong Kong love their celebrities and have a very active and thriving movie industry. Along with food, religion, language, architecture, and even business; Hong Kong has adapted and melded western culture into their own traditional culture like nowhere else in Asia.
8. History The origins of Hong Kong date back to the Paleolithic and Neolithic eras based on fossil evidence. The earliest European visitor came in the 16th century from Portugal. It really started to become the country it is today, though, when the British colonized it in 1842 and started injecting western culture into their culture through trade and law.
9. Hong Kong was occupied by the Japanese during the second world war and experienced massive food shortages and death as a result. After the end of the war an influx of Chinese immigrants helped replenish the population. It was not until the 1980’s that they gained their independence until 1997 when they transferred sovereignty to the PRC.
10. Work Cited "Hong Kong." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 11 July 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_kong.
