HONG KONG BASICS

Location
Situated at the south-eastern tip of China, Hong Kong is ideally positioned at the centre of rapidly developing East Asia. With a total area of 1 104 square kilometres, it covers Hong Kong Island, Kowloon Peninsula just opposite, and the New Territories – the more rural section of Hong Kong, which also includes 262 outlying islands. [ HKSAR Map ] [ Hong Kong in its Regional Setting ]

Districts
Hong Kong is divided into a number of distinctly different districts.
•Hong Kong Island was the site of the original British settlement. The Northern part of the Island is densely populated. Because of the scarcity of land supply, you'll find most of Hong Kong's skyscrapers and the famous skyline along the northern coastline. The main business and nightlife districts, in addition to the government offices, can be found here. The southern part of the Island has more leisure facilities, with beautiful beaches and luxury residential complexes.
•Kowloon is the peninsula jutting down towards Hong Kong Island. It is the most populous area in Hong Kong, at one time the most densely populated place in the world.
•The New Territories, named by the British officials when leased from the Chinese government in 1898, are Hong Kong's residential hinterland.
•The Outlying Islands are the 234 other islands in the territory ranging from Lantau (twice the size of Hong Kong Island) to rocks poking out of the sea. Situated on Lantau is Discovery Bay a resort type residential area and home to approximately 40000 inhabitants, many of them expats or middle class locals.

Population
6.94 million ( in mid-2005 )

Nationalities
Predominantly of Chinese descent 95%
Foreign passport-holders 517 560

Overall density
6 420 people per square kilometre

Language
Chinese and English are the official languages. English is widely used in the Government and by the legal, professional and business sectors.

Area
1 104 square kilometres
Hong Kong Island 81 square km
Kowloon 47 square km
New Territories 748 square km
Outlying Islands 228 square km

Climate
Hong Kong's climate is sub-tropical, tending towards the temperate for nearly half the year. Temperatures can drop below 10 degrees Celsius in winter and exceed 31 degrees Celsius in summer. About 90 per cent of the rainfall occurs between April and September.

Monetary System
The objective of Hong Kong's monetary policy is to maintain currency stability. Given the highly externally oriented nature of the economy, this objective is further defined as a stable external value for the Hong Kong dollar in terms of a linked exchange rate against the US dollar at the rate of $7.80 to US$1. This objective is achieved through the Linked Exchange Rate System introduced in October 1983.