Hong Kong

Hong Kong, On the eastern Pearl River Delta in South China, is a city and special administrative area of the People's Republic of China (HKSAR), which is formally known as Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (HKSAR). One of the most densely populated regions on the planet, Hong Kong is home to more than 7.5 million people of diverse nationalities spread over a 1,104 square kilometre (426.2 square mile), or 426 square mile, area. Hong Kong is also one of the most developed cities on the planet, with some of the world's most expensive real estate prices.

Hong Kong was formed as a colony of the British Empire when the Qing Empire surrendered Hong Kong Island to Xin'an County at the conclusion of the First Opium War in 1841 and again in 1842, resulting in the establishment of the British Empire as a colony of the Qing Empire. Following the Second Opium War, the colony was enlarged to include the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860, and the colony was further expanded when Britain won a 99-year lease of the New Territories in 1898. During World War II, the British territory of Hong Kong was occupied by Imperial Japan from 1941 to 1945; British control was restored upon Japan's surrender in 1945. In 1997, the whole land was ceded to the Chinese government. Under the "one country, two systems" premise, Hong Kong, one of China's two special administrative areas (the other being Macau), maintains a different political and economic system from the rest of the nation, although being part of the Chinese mainland.

From its beginnings as a thinly inhabited region of agricultural and fishing towns, the territory has grown into one of the world's most important financial centres and commercial ports. It is the world's tenth-largest exporter and ninth-largest importer, according to the World Trade Organization. With a strong capitalist service economy characterised by low taxes and free trade, Hong Kong is the eighth most traded currency in the world, and its currency, the Hong Kong dollar, is the eight most traded currency in the world. According to Forbes, Hong Kong has the third-highest number of billionaires of any city in the world, the second-highest number of billionaires of any city in Asia, and the world's biggest concentration of extremely high-net-worth people (UHNWI). Despite the fact that the city has one of the greatest per capita incomes in the world, there is significant economic disparity among the city's residents.

Hong Kong is a highly developed jurisdiction that is ranked fourth in the world by the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI). There are more skyscrapers in this city than any other in the world, and its citizens enjoy among of the longest life expectancies in the world, according to the United Nations Development Programme. Because of the dense population, a well-developed transportation network has resulted, with public transit rates surpassing 90 percent. Hong Kong is placed fourth in the Global Financial Centers Index, which measures how well financial centres perform globally.