Hong Kong (in Chinese, Xianggang) is a special administrative region under the central government in the southeast of China, comprising Hong Kong Island, the mainland Kowloon Peninsula and New Territories, and roughly 235 smaller islands. Its total land area is 424 square miles (1,098 square kilometers).
From 1842 to 1997 Hong Kong was a British colony. On July 1, 1997, it returned to Chinese sovereignty and became a Special Administrative Region (SAR) within China with a Chief Executive. At that time, Hong Kong entered a new era of development under a concept known as "One Country, Two Systems" in which China has agreed to give the region a high degree of autonomy and to preserve its economic and social systems for 50 years from the date of the handover.
Its population was estimated to be 6,940,432 in 2006 and roughly 98 percent of the population is Chinese. The leading religious affiliations among the Chinese are Buddhism, Daoism (Taoism), and traditional sects, followed by Christianity and Islam. English and Chinese are the official languages. The Cantonese dialect is the usual medium of communication, although Mandarin has been promoted since the reversion to Chinese sovereignty.
Its monetary unit is Hong Kong dollar.
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Catalog
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