Hong Kong Bay Views

View on map:22.288042°N 114.168033°E

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Hong Kong from The Peak
22.271136°N 114.149778°E

Hong Kong from Victoria Harbor
22.287292°N 114.168053°E

Hong Kong from Victoria Harbor
22.287908°N 114.163950°E

Hong Kong from Victoria Harbor
22.288042°N 114.168033°E

Hong Kong is a special administrative region of the People’s Republic of China.

Hong Kong borders the Pearl River Delta and the South China Sea. Over seven million people live in this small 426 square mile (1,104 km) metropolis making it one of the world’s most densely populated regions. For this reason the city upward with skyscrapers and other tall buildings.

Hong Kong’s trade with Britain developed in the early part of the eighteenth century resulting in China’s importation of 2,000 chests of Britain’s Opium annually by the end of the eighteenth century. The First Opium War began in 1839 when China’s Qing Dynasty refused to continue importing the Opium. The First Opium War ended with the island’s secession to Britain in 1842 and the establishment of a crown colony in 1843 founding Victoria City. A Second Opium War ended in 1860 resulting in secession of the Kowloon Peninsula and Stonecutter’s Island to Britain. In 1898 Britain obtained a 99 year lease of additional land which became known as the New Territories. During World War II Japan took control of Hong Kong, but Britain gained it back again in 1945.

After 156 years of British colonization in Hong Kong, in 1997 Great Britain transferred the sovereignty of Hong Kong to the People’s Republic of China making it a special administrative region. Hong Kong’s head of government is chosen by an election committee which is a different political system from mainland China and will remain in effect until 2017. Hong Kong has one of the world’s highest standards of living, one of the most traded currencies, one of the highest per capita incomes, a sophisticated public transit system, and the longest human life expectancy in the world as of 2012 as reported by UN and WHO.