Hong Kong Population, Main Cities and Geography

By | January 27, 2023

Hong Kong Population

Population and composition

If the population is used as a benchmark, Hong Kong is the third largest metropolitan region in the whole of the People’s Republic of China and, after Monaco, the most densely populated area in the world.

According to Countryaah website, around 7.2 million people currently live in the city.

 

Between 1945 and 2005 alone, the city’s population increased almost twelve-fold, and from 1841 to the present day almost a thousand-fold. This was particularly related to immigration from China and less to the Chinese one-child policyis not used in Hong Kong. On the contrary, the number of children per woman in Hong Kong is a statistical 0.9 and thus has one of the lowest values in the world. On the other hand, the average life expectancy of over 80 years is one of the highest on earth.

The urban population is made up of 95% ethnic Chinese and only 5% from non-Chinese-born groups such as Filipinos (2%), Indonesians (0.8%), Americans (0.5%), Canadians (0.5%), Thais (0.4%) and British, Australian and Indian (0.3% each).

Languages

English and Cantonese are the two official languages in Hong Kong, with the latter being a Chinese language that is also written in the Chinese script. However, in Hong Kong – unlike in the rest of China – traditional characters are used and there are also forms of writing that are sometimes only available in Hong Kong. In addition to English, Japanese is a popular language to learn in Hong Kong, while other languages are less popular in Hong Kong.

Religions

The most popular religions in Hong Kong include Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. 10% of the city residents profess Anglican and Roman Catholic Christianity. There are also Muslims in Hong Kong, but they do not play a major role in the cityscape.

Housing situation

Although the population density in Hong Kong is very high, the city is one of the greenest metropolitan regions in Asia. This is due to the mountainous topography, which has not always made building possible. The housing conditions in Hong Kong, however, are poor. Most city dwellers live in small apartments in gigantic skyscrapers. There is really no alternative, because the single-family houses are too expensive. The most important housing provider in Hong Kong is the public housing program which has created well over 70% housing in some areas of the city. In recent years, due to the rising wages of Hong Kong residents, the Public Housing Authority has started making tenants their owners and thus giving them more housing security.

A tragic figure in Hong Kong are the so-called Cage People (dt. Cage humans) that exist in the city by the thousands. They live in a confined space in an approximately 2m³ (sic!) Small cage room. You have to imagine that 200 people would then share an apartment of 150 m² and spend the nights in sleeping cages measuring 2 × 1 meters, stacked on top of each other.

Economy

As one of the most liberal market economies in the world, Hong Kong leaves it to its residents to insure themselves for illness and retirement provisions. The gross national income (GNI) in Hong Kong is around 25,444 US dollars per capita, which can be compared with the Western European countries. Around 4% of Hong Kong residents are unemployed. The monthly income of the population is around 40 to 100 euros for migrant workers, and between 200 and 600 euros for local city dwellers. For higher positions you get around 1,000 euros, and as a senior employee you can expect between 4,000 and 12,000 euros per month. The minimum hourly wage in Hong Kong is currently 1.20 euros for restaurant employees. That’s around 450 euros a month.

By and large, Hong Kong is mainly dependent on exports and is therefore sensitive to crises and disruptions outside the country. But Hong Kong remains one of the most important financial centers in Asia. Here is also the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the stock exchange whose index is the Hang Seng Index.

Hong Kong: geography

Hong Kong is located in southeast China at the mouth of the Pearl River. It is made up of four regions, namely Hong Kong Island (75 square kilometers), Kowloon (518 square kilometers), the New Territories (518 square kilometers) and the Outlaying Islands. Check topmbadirectory for politics, flags, famous people, animals and plants of Hong Kong.

 

Location and area

Hong Kong is located in southern China on the eastern bank of the Pearl River Delta.

Hong Kong covers an area of 1,099 km².

Green spaces

Around 70% of the country is designated as green spaces, of which around 40% are taken up by the 21 landscape parks.

National border

Hong Kong and China share a border that is approx. 50 km long.

Coastline

Hong Kong has a sea coastline of around 733 km.

Longitude and latitude

Hong Kong extends over the following geographical latitude (abbreviation Δφ) and geographical longitude (abbreviation Δλ):

Δφ = from 22 ° 08 ‘to 22 ° 35’ north latitude Δλ = from 113 ° 49 ‘to 114 ° 31’ east longitude

You can find detailed information on this subject under Longitude and Latitude.

Legal time

For Hong Kong, the following value applies to Central European Time (CET), i.e. the time (without summer time) in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. A minus sign means that it is earlier there, a plus sign that it is later than CET:

Δ t (CET) = + 7 h

Further and detailed explanations of the time can be found under Time zones, time.

The highest point of the sun in Hong Kong

Hong Kong is located at a northern latitude of around φ = 22 ° and thus in the tropics.

If the declination δ of the sun has a value of 22 ° north, and thus the image point of the sun is exactly above the city or island, the sun is perpendicular there. This happens exactly twice a year, roughly 6 days before June 21 and 6 days after June 21 (see position of the sun)

Caution

If the image point of the sun and thus the declination δ is north of the latitude of Hong Kong, which is only the case for a few days in midsummer, the sun is not in the south at noon, as in our latitudes, but in the north. In this case, the sun moves from east to north to west, where, like us, it sets.

mountains

Ma On Shan Peak

The highest point in the country is Ma On Shan Peak with a height of 702 m.

Sharp Peak

The Sharp Peak has a height of 468 m.

Rivers, pearl river

The mouth of the approximately 180 km long Pearl River (also known as Yuèjiāng) is formed from the confluence of three rivers and therefore forms a real river network, a so-called estuary.

The whole thing is to be understood as follows:

The approximately 470 km long “Northern River” coming from the north flows into the approximately 2,195 km long “West River” near Sanshui. The two combined rivers begin to branch out shortly afterwards and after about 50 km to the southeast they reach the Chinese city of Guǎngzhōu. From here the water becomes the actual Pearl River for around 180 km. After another 50 km in a southerly direction, the 525 km long east river, coming from the east, flows into the water. The estuary formed by the three rivers is around 70 km long and 30 km wide.

The river is considered a very important stream in southern China. It flows into the South China Sea between Macao and Lantau Island (Hong Kong).

Lakes

The country includes numerous smaller man-made dams.

The Tai-Tamm dam is mentioned.

Islands

Hong Kong has 300 islands, the largest of which are:

Lantau

On Lantau – the largest island in Hong Kong – is the modern Chek Lap Kok airport in Hong Kong and Disneyland, which opened in 2005. The island covers an area of 143 km².

Hong Kong Island

The Hong Kong Island covers an area of 75 km².

Other islands:

Cheung Chau

Lamma

Peng Chau

Hong Kong Population