The UK seized Hong Kong in 1841, and China formally ceded it the following year at the end of the First Opium War. The Kowloon Peninsula was added in 1860 at the end of the Second Opium War, and the UK obtained a 99-year lease of the New Territories in 1898. Pursuant to a UK-China agreement in 1984, Hong Kong became the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of the People's Republic of China as of 1 July 1997. In this agreement, China promised that, under its "one country, two systems" formula, China's socialist economic and strict political system would not be imposed on Hong Kong and that Hong Kong would enjoy a "high degree of autonomy" in all matters except foreign and defense affairs for the next 50 years. After the handover, Hong Kong continued to enjoy success as an international financial center. However, growing Chinese political influence and dissatisfaction with the Hong Kong Government in the 2010s became central issues and led to considerable civil unrest, including large-scale pro-democracy demonstrations in 2019 after the HKSAR attempted to revise a local ordinance to allow extraditions to mainland China. In response to the protests, the governments of the HKSAR and China reduced the city's autonomy and placed new restrictions on the rights of Hong Kong residents, moves that were widely criticized as contravening obligations under the Hong Kong Basic Law and the Sino-British Joint Declaration. Democratic lawmakers and political figures were arrested in a widespread crackdown, while others fled abroad. At the same time, dozens of civil society groups and several independent media outlets were closed or disbanded. In 2021, Beijing imposed a more restrictive electoral system, restructuring the Legislative Council (LegCo) and allowing only government-approved candidates to run for office. The changes ensured that virtually all seats in the 2021 LegCo election went to pro-establishment candidates and effectively ended political opposition to Beijing. In 2024, the LegCo passed a new national security law (Article 23 of the Basic Law) further expanding the Hong Kong Government's power to curb dissent.
Area: 1,108 km2
Climate: subtropical monsoon; cool and humid in winter, hot and rainy from spring through summer, warm and sunny in fall
Natural resources: outstanding deepwater harbor, feldspar
Groups: Chinese 91.6%, Filipino 2.7%, Indonesian 1.9%, other 3.7% (2021 est.)
Languages: Cantonese (official) 85.4%, English (official) 4.5%, Putonghua (official) 2.2%, other Chinese dialects 2.8%, other 2%, persons under 5 or mute 3.2% (2021 est.)major-language sample(s):
Religions: Buddhist or Taoist 27.9%, Protestant 6.7%, Roman Catholic 5.3%, Muslim 4.2%, Hindu 1.4%, Sikh 0.2%, other or none 54.3% (2016 est.)note: many people practice Confucianism, regardless of their religion or not having a religious affiliation
Capital: None
Government type: presidential limited democracy; a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China
Chief of state: President of China XI Jinping (since 14 March 2013)
Head of government: Chief Executive John LEE Ka-chiu (since 1 July 2022)cabinet: Executive Council or ExCo appointed by the chief executiveelections/appointments: president indirectly elected by National People's Congress for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 10 March 2023 (next to be held in March 2028); chief executive indirectly elected by the Election Committee and appointed by the PRC Government for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 8 May 2022 (next to be held in 2027)election results: 2022: John LEE was the only candidate and won with over 99% of the vote by the Election Committee2017: Carrie LAM elected; Election Committee vote - Carrie LAM (non-partisan) 777, John TSANG (non-partisan) 365, WOO Kwok-hing (non-partisan) 21, 23 ballots rejected (1,186 votes cast)note: electoral changes that Beijing imposed in March 2021 expanded the Election Committee to 1,500 members
Description: legislature name: Legislative Council or LegColegislative structure: unicameralnumber of seats: 90electoral system: 20 members directly elected; 70 members indirectly electedscope of elections: fullmost recent election date: 19 December 2021parties elected and seats per party: Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) 19, Federation of Hong Kong and Kowloon Labour Unions (HKFTU) 8, Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong (BPA) 7, NPP 5, Liberal (LP) 4, New Territories Association of Societies (NTAS) 4, Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers (HKFEW) 2, Federation of Hong Kong and Kowloon Labour Unions (HKFLU) 2, Civil Force (CF) 2, Roundtable (RT) 1, Professional Power (PP) 1, Kowloon West New Dynamic (KWND) 1, New Prospect for Hong Kong (NPHK) 1, New Century Forum (NCF-1); other/independent 41expected date of next election: December 2025note 1: all political candidates are evaluated by the Candidate Eligibility Review Committee (CERC), which was established in April 2022; CERC members are all appointed by the chief executivenote 2: Hong Kong's leading pro-democracy political parties boycotted the 2021 election
Information derived by "The World Factbook 2021. Washington, DC: Central Intelligence Agency, 2021. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/"