Image of Hong Kong from Victoria Peak (552 meters in height).
Seeing as I'll be in Hong Kong for the next two months, many of my posts will be about this City and its progress and challenges surrounding the environment. Don’t worry though, every so often I’ll post something that isn’t entirely focussed on the “environment” so you don’t get too bored.
This post is a general overview of Hong Kong’s geography, climate and population. Yes, this information is widely available on Wikipedia but I figured I could break it down so you know a little bit more about this very vibrant and dynamic place. As someone who studied the Environment and Human Geography for the past four years, the least I could do is provide some information about place, location, demographics and density.
To begin, Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China. This means that it is a part of Mainland China but has its own economic and political system "one country, two systems".
Hong Kong has the fourth highest population density in the world in terms of special regions/countries (Macau, Monaco and Singapore are first, second and third respectively). The population of Hong Kong is just over 7,000,000 people with a total land area of 1,104 square kilometers; this puts its population density at 6,480 persons per km2 (Toronto's is 3,972 persons per km2).
Hong Kong’s 1,104 square kilometers is spread out over three regions that constitute the City, these regions include New Territories, Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. New Territories is the most northern region located just below Mainland China. It is the biggest by land size but has the smallest population density at 3,820 persons per km2. Hong Kong Island (where I work) is the smallest by land size and has a density of 16,220 persons per km2. The airport is located on Lantau Island which is another island of Hong Kong.
Finally, I live on Kowloon Peninsula which has the highest density at 43,970 persons per km2 (it’s intense but I love it). If you look at the map, there is an area in Kowloon called “Mong Kok”. The population density is intense, I reckon it has the highest density in Hong Kong and is one of the most dense places in the world.
Hong Kong has a humid sub-tropical climate (very humid and wet in the summer, very dry in the winter). Right now, the average temperature has been around 30 degrees Celsius with intense humidity and lots of rain. Victoria Harbour is the body of water between Kowloon and Hong Kong Islands. The City is also surrounded by a number of mountains and peaks which you can view here. Hong Kong is just south of the Tropic of Cancer. The South China Sea is immediately south of Hong Kong Island which is excellent for its exports and international trade.
The former airport, Kai Tak, was located on Kowloon side right in the urban area. As the city’s population started to grow (immensely) residential space became more limited and thus justified the re-location of the airport on Lantau Island, just West of Kowloon and immediately south of New Territories. The International Airport on Lantau Island has much more land and is quite far from any residential developments. The previous airport (Kai Tak) is prime real estate and City Planners are currently zoning the plot of land into various uses which I’ll blog about in the coming weeks.
All three regions of Hong Kong are very different in terms of density, development and infrastructure. The New Territories has a lower population density and has lots of agricultural land. The district is under more pressure to develop residential units so as to accommodate Hong Kong’s growing population. The City however, is not growing as fast as it once was. Population growth slowed 0.3 percent from 2008 to 2009.
I hope this has furthered your knowledge of Hong Kong just a little bit. More to come.
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