Hong Kong 香港
Hong Kong (香港) is one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China (PRC - 中華人民共和國), along with Macau (澳門). Comprised of over 260 islands, the territory is located on the eastern banks of the Pearl River Delta (珠江流域), facing the South China Sea in the south and bordering Guangdong (广州) province in the north.
Hong Kong was a colony of the United Kingdom from 1842 until the transfer of sovereignty to the People's Republic of China in 1997. The Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law of Hong Kong stipulate that Hong Kong will operate with a high degree of autonomy until at least 2047, fifty years after the transfer. Under the policy of "one country, two systems", the People's Republic of China is responsible for the territory's defence and foreign policy, while Hong Kong maintains its own legal system, monetary system, customs policy, cultural delegation, international sports teams, and immigration policy.
The population of Hong Kong increased sharply throughout the 1990s reaching 6.99 million in mid 2006. About 96% of Hong Kong's population is Chinese, the majority of which are Cantonese with ethnic groups such as the Hakka and Teochew also substantially represented. Cantonese, a Chinese dialect commonly spoken in southern China, is Hong Kong's official dialect and spoken by an overwhelming majority of the local population.
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