Hong Kong

Hong Kong (US'hQNkQN or UKhQN'kQN; , hœ́ːŋ.kɔ̌ːŋ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and a special administrative region in China. With 7.4 million residents of various nationalities in a territory, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated territories in the world. Hong Kong was established as a colony of the British Empire after the Qing Empire ceded Hong Kong Island in 1841–1842. The colony expanded to the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 and was further extended when the United Kingdom obtained a 99-year lease of the New Territories in 1898. Hong Kong was briefly occupied by Japan from 1941 to 1945 during World War II. The whole territory was transferred from the United Kingdom to China in 1997. Hong Kong maintains separate governing and economic systems from that of mainland China under the principle of "one country, two systems". Originally a sparsely populated area of farming and fishing villages, the territory is now one of the world's most significant financial centres and commercial ports. Hong Kong is the world's fourth-ranked global financial centre, ninth-largest exporter, and eighth-largest importer. Its currency, the Hong Kong dollar, is the eighth most traded currency in the world. Home to the second-highest number of billionaires of any city in the world, Hong Kong has the largest concentration of ultra high-net-worth individuals. Although the city has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world, severe income inequality exists among the population. Despite having the largest number of skyscrapers of any city in the world, housing in Hong Kong has been well-documented to experience a chronic persistent shortage. Hong Kong is a highly developed territory and has a Human Development Index (HDI) of 0.952, ranking fourth in the world. The city has the second highest life expectancy in the world, and a public transport rate exceeding 90%.