40 Facts About Hong Kong

Hong Kong is a major global financial centre and one of the most developed cities in the world.

Hong Kong was established as a colony of the British Empire after the Qing Empire ceded Hong Kong Island from Xin'an County at the end of the First Opium War in 1841 then again in 1842.

British Hong Kong was occupied by Imperial Japan from 1941 to 1945 during World War II; British administration resumed after the surrender of Japan.

Hong Kong has a major capitalist service economy characterised by low taxation and free trade, and its currency, the Hong Kong dollar, is the eighth most traded currency in the world.

Hong Kong is home to the third-highest number of billionaires of any city in the world, the second-highest number of billionaires of any city in Asia, and the largest concentration of ultra high-net-worth individuals of any city in the world.

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Hong Kong is a highly developed territory and ranks fourth on the UN Human Development Index.

Hong Kong is ranked 3rd in the Global Financial Centres Index.

Bronze Age Hong Kong was featured with coarse pottery, hard pottery, quartz and stone jewelry, as well as small bronze implements.

From 1661 to 1683, the population of most of the area forming present day Hong Kong was cleared under the Great Clearance, turning the region into a wasteland.

The University of Hong Kong was established in 1911 as the territory's first institution of higher education.

Hong Kong was occupied by Japan for almost four years before Britain resumed control on 30 August 1945.

Hong Kong became the first of the Four Asian Tiger economies to industrialise during the 1950s.

Hong Kong was transferred to China on 1 July 1997, after 156 years of British rule.

The Hong Kong government was forced to use substantial foreign exchange reserves to maintain the Hong Kong dollar's currency peg during the 1997 Asian financial crisis, and the recovery from this was muted by an H5N1 avian-flu outbreak and a housing surplus.

Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China, with executive, legislative, and judicial powers devolved from the national government.

Hong Kong is represented in the National People's Congress by 36 deputies chosen through an electoral college and 203 delegates in the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference appointed by the central government.

Hong Kong residents are not required to perform military service, and current law has no provision for local enlistment, so its defence is composed entirely of non-Hongkongers.

Central government and Ministry of Foreign Affairs handle diplomatic matters, but Hong Kong retains the ability to maintain separate economic and cultural relations with foreign nations.

Hong Kong is governed by a hybrid regime that is not fully representative of the population.

In October 2020, Hong Kong police arrested seven pro-democracy politicians over tussles with pro-Beijing politicians in the Legislative Council in May They were charged with contempt and interfering with members of the council, while none of the pro-Beijing lawmakers were detained.

Hong Kong has a humid subtropical climate, characteristic of southern China, despite being located south of the Tropic of Cancer.

The International Commerce Centre and Two International Finance Centre are the tallest buildings in Hong Kong and are among the tallest in the Asia-Pacific region.

Hong Kong has a capitalist mixed service economy, characterised by low taxation, minimal government market intervention, and an established international financial market.

Hong Kong's economy ranked at the top of the Heritage Foundation's economic freedom index between 1995 and 2021.

However, Hong Kong was removed from the index by the Heritage Foundation in 2021, with the Foundation citing a "loss of political freedom and autonomy.

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Hong Kong is ranked as the 14th most innovative territory in the Global Innovation Index in 2021.

Hong Kong is the tenth-largest trading entity in exports and imports, trading more goods in value than its gross domestic product.

Hong Kong is a key part of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

Hong Kong is a gateway for foreign direct investment in China, giving investors open access to mainland Chinese markets through direct links with the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges.

Junks, once common in Hong Kong waters, are no longer widely available and are used privately and for tourism.

Food in Hong Kong is primarily based on Cantonese cuisine, despite the territory's exposure to foreign influences and its residents' varied origins.

Hong Kong developed into a filmmaking hub during the late 1940s as a wave of Shanghai filmmakers migrated to the territory, and these movie veterans helped build the colony's entertainment industry over the next decade.

Hong Kong cinema continued to be internationally successful over the following decade with critically acclaimed dramas such as Farewell My Concubine, To Live, and Chungking Express.

Western classical music has historically had a strong presence in Hong Kong and remains a large part of local musical education.

Hong Kong represents itself separately from mainland China, with its own sports teams in international competitions.

Hong Kong athletes have won 126 medals at the Paralympic Games and 17 at the Commonwealth Games.

Education in Hong Kong is largely modelled after that of the United Kingdom, particularly the English system.

The University of Hong Kong was founded as the city's first institute of higher education during the early colonial period in 1911.

The Chinese University of Hong Kong was established in 1963 to fill the need for a university that taught using Chinese as its primary language of instruction.

Several international publications have regional operations in Hong Kong, including The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The New York Times International Edition, USA Today, Yomiuri Shimbun, and The Nikkei.