Hong Kongs geography and climate Hong Kong is located at the south-east corner of the Peoples Republic of China, about 1,200 kilometers from the next largest city, Shanghai, and almost 2,000 kilometers from the capital city of Beijing. Hong Kong covers the islands of Hong Kong, Lantau, Kowloon Peninsula, and New Territories, including 262 outer islands. Hong Kong is a metropolis and Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China, located east of the Pearl River Estuary on Chinas southern coast. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is governed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs commissioner office in the PRC. China is governed by the Communist Party of China, with jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five self-governing regions, four directly controlled municipalities, and the SARs of Hong Kong and Macau.
Under the one country, two systems doctrine, mainland China allowed Hong Kong to continue governing itself and to retain a number of separate systems over 50 years. The guarantees were justified on the basis of Chinas formula one country, two systems, allowing for a co-existence of a capitalist Hong Kong and socialist Mainland China, both parts of the same country. The 99-year lease ended in 1997, when the United Kingdom returned Hong Kong to mainland China as a special administrative region (SAR) called Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China (HKSAR). Cheap labour was brought in, and Hong Kong slowly recovered its pre-World War II status of being a highly wealthy, independent colony, but Hong Kong became part of Chinese territory once more on 1 July 1997, when Britain handed over the colony to the Peoples Republic of China.
At midnight on June 30, China took Hong Kong back from the United Kingdom as a Special Administrative Region, which, according to Chinese government promises, would maintain its current economic and social systems for the next 50 years. The territory has been separated from the Peoples Republic of China by a lengthy period of colonial rule and by its differing rates of economic, social, and cultural development. Hong Kong is composed of Hong Kong Island (ceded from China to the British in 1842) British, southern portions of the Kowloon Peninsula and Stonecutters Island (ceded in 1860), and the New Territories, comprising mainland areas lying northwards and 235 offshore islands. The British Basic Law means Hong Kong will keep its currency (the Hong Kong dollar), legal system, and parliamentary system in place for fifty years — the term ends in 2047.
The passage of the Basic Law was critical to Hong Kongs transitional process, because Hong Kong had enjoyed high levels of autonomy under colonial rule, and its capitalist economy, rule of law, and lifestyle were a long way removed from Communist rule in China. The Chinese mainland has the worlds second largest economy, with $14.3 trillion, behind the US, with $21.4 trillion. Hong Kong is also a large services economy, particularly strongly linked with mainland China and other parts of the Asia-Pacific.
The economy on the Chinese mainland is more reliant on manufacturing, though this sector has begun to recover in recent years. Given the lifting of all political barriers and the will to do so by mainland China, it is merely logical that Hong Kong industrialists should pursue the development of labour-intensive, land-intensive industries within China, where they can obtain mineral resources, cheap labour, and abundant land. Hong Kong is friendly to both domestic and foreign investors, including Western (American, British, French, Swiss, and Dutch) and non-Western multinational corporations (Japanese and South Korean) MNCs. The main is the South China Morning Post, while The Standard serves as an enterprise-oriented alternative.
In 2000, the government of Hong Kong hinted at an enormous project of building six additional lines, in order to ease (make easier) railway transport between Hong Kong Island and other parts of the territory, as well as to improve cargo links to mainland China, in order to cater for expected future needs.
It borders the South China Sea on its southern, western, and eastern sides, and shares a land border with mainland China on its northern side. It is surrounded by the South China Sea on all sides, except for its northern part, where it is adjacent to Guangdongs Shenzhen City by the Shamchun River. The immigration department issues permanent residents passports that are different from the PRCs or Macaos, and the region maintains a regulated border with the rest of the country.
Beijing allows Hong Kong to participate as associate member in some intergovernmental bodies, such as the Asian Development Bank and the World Health Organization; and to engage in some commercial-related agreements as Hong Kong, China. This is an excellent map for students, schools, offices, and wherever a good world map is needed for instruction, displays, or decoration. If Hong Kong and the geography of the entire Asian region interest you, then our Large Laminated Map of Asia may just be what you need.
Since available arable land cannot grow enough food for the Hong Kong population, the population subsists on a high amount of agricultural imports, valued at $8.32 billion in 1998, falling to $7.335 billion in 1999 due to a financial crisis.