Hongkongers (), also known as Hong Kongers, Hong Kongese, Hongkongese, Hong Kong citizens and Hong Kong people, typically refers to
residents of the territory of
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
; although may also refer to others who were born and/or raised in the territory.
The earliest inhabitants of Hong Kong are
indigenous villagers, who have lived in the area since before British colonization. The majority of Hongkongers today are descended from
Han Chinese
The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctiv ...
migrants from mainland China, most of whom are
Cantonese
Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding ar ...
and trace their
ancestral home
An ancestral home is the place of origin of one's extended family, particularly the home owned and preserved by the same family for several generations. The term can refer to an individual house or estate, or to a broader geographic area such as a ...
to the province of
Guangdong
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
. However, the territory also holds other
Han Chinese subgroups
The subgroups of the Han Chinese people are defined based on linguistic, cultural, ethnic, genetic and regional features. The terminology used in Mandarin to describe the groups is: "minxi" (, pronounced ), used in Mainland China or "zuqun" (, pr ...
including the
Hakka
The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...
,
Hoklo,
Teochew (Chiuchow),
Shanghainese,
Sichuanese Sichuanese, Szechuanese or Szechwanese may refer to something of, from, or related to the Chinese province and region of Sichuan (Szechwan/Szechuan) (historically and culturally including Chongqing), especially:
*Sichuanese people, a subgroup of the ...
and
Taiwanese
Taiwanese may refer to:
* Taiwanese language, another name for Taiwanese Hokkien
* Something from or related to Taiwan ( Formosa)
* Taiwanese aborigines, the indigenous people of Taiwan
* Han Taiwanese, the Han people of Taiwan
* Taiwanese people, ...
. Meanwhile, non-Han Chinese Hongkongers such as the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
,
Filipinos
Filipinos ( tl, Mga Pilipino) are the people who are citizens of or native to the Philippines. The majority of Filipinos today come from various Austronesian ethnolinguistic groups, all typically speaking either Filipino, English and/or othe ...
,
Indonesians,
South Asians
South Asian ethnic groups are an ethnolinguistic grouping of the diverse populations of South Asia, including the nations of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka. While Afghanistan is variously considered to b ...
and
Vietnamese
Vietnamese may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia
** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam.
* Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam
** Overse ...
also make up six per cent of Hong Kong's population.
Terminology
The terms ''Hongkonger'' and ''Hong Kongese'' are used to denote a
residents of Hong Kong
The Hong Kong Basic Law classifies residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region () as either permanent residents or non-permanent residents. Hong Kong residents have rights under the Basic Law including freedom of speech, freedom of ...
, including permanent and non-permanent residents. According to the ''
Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a co ...
'', the word ''Hongkonger'' first appeared in the English language in an 1870 edition of ''The Daily Independent'', an American-based newspaper. In March 2014, both the terms ''Hongkonger'' and ''Hong Kongese'' were added to the ''Oxford English Dictionary''.
In contrast, the ''
Merriam-Webster Dictionary'' of
American English
American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the most widely spoken language in the United States and in most circumstances i ...
adopts the form ''Hong Konger'' instead.
The form ''Hong Konger'' also seems to be preferred by governments around the world. In 2008, the
U.S. Government Publishing Office
The United States Government Publishing Office (USGPO or GPO; formerly the United States Government Printing Office) is an agency of the legislative branch of the United States Federal government. The office produces and distributes information ...
decided to include ''Hong Konger'' as a demonym for Hong Kong in its official ''
Style Manual
A style guide or manual of style is a set of standards for the writing, formatting, and design of documents. It is often called a style sheet, although that term also has multiple other meanings. The standards can be applied either for gene ...
''.
The
Companies House
Companies House is the executive agency of the company registrars of the United Kingdom, falling under the remit of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. All forms of companies (as permitted by the Companies Act) are in ...
of the
UK government
ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd
, image = HM Government logo.svg
, image_size = 220px
, image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg
, image_size2 = 180px
, caption = Royal Arms
, date_est ...
similarly added ''Hong Konger'' to its standard list of nationalities in September 2020.
The aforementioned terms all translate to the same term in
Cantonese
Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding ar ...
, 香港人 (). The direct translation of this is ''Hong Kong person''.
During the
British colonial era, terms like ''Hong Kong Chinese'' and ''
Hong Kong Britons'' were used to distinguish the British and Chinese populations that lived in the city.
Residency status
The term ''Hongkongers'' most often refers to legal residents of Hong Kong, as recognised under
Hong Kong Basic Law
The Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China is a national law of China that serves as the organic law for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). Comprising nine chapters, 160 ...
. Hong Kong Basic Law gives a precise legal definition of a Hong Kong resident. Under Article 24 of the Basic Law, Hong Kong residents can be further classified as permanent or non-permanent residents. Non-permanent residents are those who have the right to hold a
Hong Kong Identity Card
The Hong Kong identity card (officially HKIC, commonly HKID) is an official identity document issued by the Immigration Department of Hong Kong. According to the Registration of Persons Ordinance (Cap. 177), all residents of age 11 or above wh ...
, but have no
right to abode in Hong Kong. Permanent residents are those who have the right to hold a Hong Kong Permanent Identity Card as well as the right of abode.
The Basic Law allows residents to acquire right of abode by birth in Hong Kong, or in some
other ways. For example, residents of China may settle in Hong Kong for family reunification purposes if they obtain a
one-way permit
A People's Republic of China Permit for Proceeding to Hong Kong and Macao, or One-way Permit, is a document issued by the People's Republic of China allowing residents of mainland China to leave the mainland permanently to settle in Hong Kong or ...
(for which there may be a waiting time of several years).
Formally speaking, Hong Kong does not confer its own citizenship, although the term ''Hong Kong citizen'' is used colloquially to refer to permanent residents of the city. Hong Kong does not require applicants for naturalisation to take a language test to become a permanent resident. However, Hong Kong migrants and residents are assumed to understand their obligation under Article 24 of the
Hong Kong Basic Law
The Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China is a national law of China that serves as the organic law for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). Comprising nine chapters, 160 ...
to abide by the laws of Hong Kong.
Diaspora
Mainland China
"Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...
holds the largest number of Hong Kong expatriates, although the Hong Kong diaspora can also be found in
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
and several English-speaking countries. Most Hongkongers living outside of
Greater China
Greater China is an informal geographical area that shares commercial and cultural ties with the Han Chinese people. The notion of "Greater China" refers to the area that usually encompasses Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan in East A ...
form a part of the larger
overseas Chinese
Overseas Chinese () refers to people of Chinese birth or ethnicity who reside outside Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese.
Terminology
() or ''Hoan-kheh'' () in Hokkien, refe ...
community. The migration of Hongkongers to other parts of the world accelerated in the years prior to the
handover of Hong Kong
Sovereignty of Hong Kong was transferred from the United Kingdom to the China, People's Republic of China (PRC) at midnight on 1 July 1997. This event ended 156 years of British rule in the British Hong Kong, former colony. Hong Kong was establ ...
in 1997, although a significant percentage
returned. Another emigration wave occurred after the
2019–2020 Hong Kong protests
The Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement, also known as the 2019 Hong Kong protests, or the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests, were a series of demonstrations from 15 March 2019 in response to the introduction by the Hong Kong government ...
and the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
's enactment of the
BNO visa scheme.
Ethnicity and background
![Hongkonger NZ Census](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/Hongkonger_NZ_Census.jpg)
According to Hong Kong's 2016 census, 92 per cent of its population is
ethnically Chinese, with 32.1 per cent having been born in
Mainland China
"Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...
,
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
or
Macau
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
.
Historically, many Chinese people have migrated from areas such as
Canton to Hong Kong, for example in the 1850s–60s as a result of the
Taiping Rebellion
The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a massive rebellion and civil war that was waged in China between the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Han, Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It lasted fr ...
[John Thomson 1837–192]
Chap on Hong Kong
, Illustrations of China and Its People (London,1873–1874) and in the 1940s prior to the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949. Thus, immigrants from Guangdong and their descendants have long constituted the majority of the ethnic Chinese residents of Hong Kong, which accounts for the city's broad
Cantonese culture
Lingnan culture, or Cantonese culture, refers to the regional Chinese culture of the region of Lingnan: twin provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi, the names of which mean "eastern expanse" and "western expanse" respectively.
Strictly speaking, t ...
. The
Cantonese language
Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...
, a form of
Yue Chinese
Yue () is a group of similar Sinitic languages spoken in Southern China, particularly in Liangguang (the Guangdong and Guangxi provinces).
The name Cantonese is often used for the whole group, but linguists prefer to reserve that name for t ...
, is the primary language of Hong Kong and that used in the media and education. For that reason, while there are groups with ancestral roots in more distant parts of China such as
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
and
Shandong
Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region.
Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...
, as well as members of other Han Chinese subgroups such as
Hakka
The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...
,
Hokkien
The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages in ...
, and
Teochew,
residents who are Hong Kong-born and/or raised often assimilate into the mainstream Cantonese identity of Hong Kong and typically adopt Cantonese as their first language.
Ethnic minorities
In addition to the Han Chinese majority, Hong Kong's minority population also comprises many other different ethnic and national groups, with the largest non-Chinese groups being
Filipinos
Filipinos ( tl, Mga Pilipino) are the people who are citizens of or native to the Philippines. The majority of Filipinos today come from various Austronesian ethnolinguistic groups, all typically speaking either Filipino, English and/or othe ...
(1.9 per cent) and
Indonesians (also 1.9 per cent).
There are long-established
South Asian communities, which comprise both descendants of 19th and early 20th-century migrants as well as more recent short-term expatriates. South Asians include
Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
,
Pakistani, and
Nepalese, who respectively made up 0.4 per cent, 0.3 per cent, and 0.2 per cent of Hong Kong's population in 2011.
Smaller groups include
Americans
Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many Multi ...
,
Britons
British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs mo ...
,
Canadians
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
, Australians, New Zealanders,
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
,
Koreans
Koreans ( South Korean: , , North Korean: , ; see names of Korea) are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Korean Peninsula.
Koreans mainly live in the two Korean nation states: North Korea and South Korea (collectively and simply refe ...
,
Russians
, native_name_lang = ru
, image =
, caption =
, population =
, popplace =
118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate)
, region1 =
, pop1 ...
,
Vietnamese
Vietnamese may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia
** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam.
* Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam
** Overse ...
and
Thais.
In 2011, 0.8 per cent of Hong Kong's population were European, many (53.5 per cent) of whom resided on
Hong Kong Island
Hong Kong Island is an Islands and peninsulas of Hong Kong, island in the southern part of Hong Kong. Known colloquially and on road signs simply as Hong Kong, the island has a population of 1,289,500 and its population density is 16,390/km ...
, where they constitute 2.3 per cent of the population.
*
Hong Kong includes::Indigenous inhabitants of the New Territories, Tanka people
The Tankas or boat people are a sinicised ethnic group in Southern China who have traditionally lived on junks in coastal parts of Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Hainan, Shanghai, Zhejiang and along the Yangtze river, as well as Hong Kong, and ...
, Hakka people
The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhe ...
*
Guangzhou and Macau includes: Humen
The Humen, also Bocca Tigris or Bogue, is a narrow strait in the Pearl River Delta that separates Shiziyang in the north and Lingdingyang in the south near Humen Town in China's Guangdong Province. It is the site of the Pearl River's discharge in ...
, Cixi
Empress Dowager Cixi ( ; mnc, Tsysi taiheo; formerly romanised as Empress Dowager T'zu-hsi; 29 November 1835 – 15 November 1908), of the Manchu Yehe Nara clan, was a Chinese noblewoman, concubine and later regent who effectively controlled ...
, Zhongshan
Zhongshan (; ) is a prefecture-level city in the south of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, China. As of the 2020 census, the whole city with 4,418,060 inhabitants is now part of the Guangzhou–Shenzhen conurbation with 65,565,622 i ...
, Hua County
Hua County or Huaxian () is a county under the administration of Anyang City, in the north of Henan province, China.
Its predecessor administrative area Huazhou/Hua prefecture was first established in 596 during the Sui dynasty. In 606 it was ...
, Wanshan Archipelago Wanshan may refer to:
*Wanshan Archipelago, in Guangdong, China
*Wanshan District, in Guizhou, China
* Wanshan Special Vehicle Wanshan Special Vehicle, officially Hubei Sanjiang Space Wanshan Special Vehicle Co., Ltd (Ch:湖北三江航天万山特 ...
, Nanhai Nanhai () may refer to:
*''Nanhai'', the Chinese name for the South China Sea, one of the Four Seas
*Nanhai Commandery, the former Chinese administration over Liangguang
*''Nanhai'', the Chinese name for the South China Sea Islands
*The '' Nanhai I ...
, Bao'an County
Bao'an County, formerly named Xin'an County, was a historical county in South China. It roughly follows the administrative boundaries of modern-day Hong Kong and the city of Shenzhen. For most of its history, the administrative center of the cou ...
, Panyu
Panyu, alternately romanized as Punyu, is one of 11 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, China. It was a separate county-level city before its incorporation into modern Guangzhou in 200 ...
, Sanshui
Sanshui District, formerly romanized as Samshui, is an urban district of the prefecture-level city of Foshan in Guangdong province, China. It had a population of 622,645 as of the 2010 census. It is known for the " Samsui women", emigrants who la ...
, Shenzhen
Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...
, Shilong Shunde
Shunde District, also known as Shuntak, is a district of the city of Foshan, Guangdong province, located in the Pearl River Delta. It had a population of 2,464,784 as of the 2010 census. Once a traditional agricultural county, it has become one ...
, Dapeng Dapeng or Da Peng may refer to:
*Peng (mythology) or Da Peng, mythological bird
*Dapeng (state) (大彭), a state during the late Shang dynasty
*Dapeng Peninsula (大鹏半岛), in the east of Shenzhen
*Dapeng Subdistrict (大鹏街道), Longgang D ...
, Zengcheng
Zengcheng District ( alternately romanized as Tsengshing) is one of 11 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, China.
History
was established under the Qin following their conquest of ...
, Conghua
Conghua District, alternately romanized as Tsungfa, is one of 11 urban districts and the northernmost district of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, China. Conghua connects the Pearl River Delta with th ...
, Dongguan
Dongguan (; ) is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. An important industrial city in the Pearl River Delta, Dongguan borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the north, Huizhou to the northeast, Shenzhen to the s ...
, Huiyang
Huiyang District ( postal: Waiyeung; is a district of Huizhou, Guangdong province, People's Republic of China. It was renamed in 2003 amid the restructuring of districts and counties in Huizhou. Formerly named Huiyang city (county level), its si ...
*
Sze Yap incldes:Kaiping
Kaiping (), postal map romanization, alternately romanization of Chinese, romanized in Cantonese as Hoiping, is a county-level city in Guangdong provinces of China, Province, China. It is located ín the western section of the Pearl River Delt ...
, Heshan, Jiangmen
Jiangmen (), alternately romanized in Cantonese as Kongmoon, is a prefecture-level city in Guangdong Province in southern China. As of the 2020 census, its three urban districts, plus Heshan City being conurbated, with 2,657,662 inhabitants ar ...
, Xinhui
Xinhui, alternately romanized as Sunwui and also known as Kuixiang, is an urban district of Jiangmen in Guangdong, China. It grew from a separate city founded at the confluence of the Tan and West Rivers. It has a population of about 735,500, ...
, Taishan __NOTOC__
Taishan may refer to:
*Mount Tai or Taishan (), Shandong, China
*Taishan District, Tai'an (), named after the Mount Tai, a district in Tai'an, Shandong, China
*Taishan, Guangdong (), a county-level city of Jiangmen, Guangdong, China
**Gre ...
, Enping
Enping, alternately romanized as Yanping, is a county-level city in Guangdong province, China, administered as part of the prefecture-level city of Jiangmen.
Enping administers an area of and had an estimated population of 460,000 in 2005 ...
*
Chaozhou includes: Shantou
Shantou, alternately romanized as Swatow and sometimes known as Santow, is a prefecture-level city on the eastern coast of Guangdong, China, with a total population of 5,502,031 as of the 2020 census (5,391,028 in 2010) and an administrative ...
, Chenghai
Chenghai (; postal: Tenghai; Teochew: Thěng Hài) is a district of the city of Shantou, Guangdong Province, China.
Located at the Han River Delta in the southeast part of Guangdong Province, Chenghai spans from 116°41' to 116°54' E longitud ...
, Chao'an
Chao'an () is a district of Chaozhou City in eastern Guangdong Province. It was Chao'an County until June 2013, when it became a district of Chaozhou. The former county was known as 'Haiyang' until 1914.
It has an area of and a population of 1, ...
, Chaoyang, Fengshun
Fengshun (Postal romanization, postal: Fungshun or Pungshan; ) is a Counties of the People's Republic of China, county in Meizhou City, in the east of Guangdong Province, southern China.
Ethno-linguistic make-up
Fengshun is noted for its large H ...
, Jieyang
Jieyang () is a prefecture-level city in eastern Guangdong Province (Yuedong), People's Republic of China, part of the Chaoshan region whose people speak Chaoshan Min distinct from neighbouring Yue speakers. It is historically important as the ...
, Nan'ao District, Nanshan , Puning
Puning (; postal: Puning) is a county-level city in the municipal region of Jieyang, in the southeast of Guangdong Province, China.
Economy
Puning's main industries include: citrus, Plum, clothing, traditional Chinese medicine and so on. The sp ...
, Huilai, Raoping
Raoping County ( postal: Jaoping; ) is a county in eastern Guangdong Province, bordering Fujian Province to the east, and facing the South China Sea to the south. The city with the same name has 135,600 inhabitants (1990).
It is under the jurisdic ...
*
Other places in Guangdong include: Hainan administrative region and other places。
Languages
Religion
Cultural identity
Hong Kong culture is primarily a mix of
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
and
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
influences, stemming from
Lingnan
Lingnan (; Vietnamese: Lĩnh Nam) is a geographic area referring to the lands in the south of the Nanling Mountains. The region covers the modern Chinese subdivisions of Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hong Kong, and Macau, as well as modern northe ...
Cantonese
Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding ar ...
roots and later fusing with
British culture
British culture is influenced by the combined nations' history; its historically Christian religious life, its interaction with the cultures of Europe, the traditions of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland and the impact of the British Empire. ...
due to British
colonialism
Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their relig ...
(
Jyutping
Jyutping is a romanisation system for Cantonese developed by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong (LSHK), an academic group, in 1993. Its formal name is the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong Cantonese Romanization Scheme. The LSHK advocates for ...
: ; Traditional Chinese: 粵英薈萃). From 26 January 1841 to 30 June 1997, Hong Kong was formally a
British Dependent Territory
The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remnants of the former Bri ...
. English was introduced as an official language of Hong Kong during
British colonial rule
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts est ...
, alongside the indigenous
Chinese language
Chinese (, especially when referring to written Chinese) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and many minority ethnic groups in Greater China. About 1.3 billion people (or approximately 16% of the wor ...
, notably
Cantonese
Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding ar ...
. While it was an overseas territory, Hong Kong participated in a variety of organisations from the
Commonwealth Family
A Commonwealth organisation is an organisation affiliated with the Commonwealth of Nations. This article is a list of such organisations, which include societies, institutions, associations, organisations, funds and charities that support the Com ...
network. Hong Kong ended its participation with most Commonwealth Family organisations after the handover of Hong Kong in 1997; although still participates in the
Association of Commonwealth Universities
The Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) was established in 1913, and has over 500 member institutions in over 50 countries across the Commonwealth. The ACU is the world's oldest international network of universities. Its mission is ...
and the
Commonwealth Lawyers Association
The Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA) is an organisation of lawyers, law societies and bar associations across the Commonwealth of Nations.
The association hosts a conference in a member nation of the commonwealth biennially.
History
...
. Moreover, Hong Kong also has
indigenous people
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
and
ethnic minorities
The term 'minority group' has different usages depending on the context. According to its common usage, a minority group can simply be understood in terms of demographic sizes within a population: i.e. a group in society with the least number o ...
from
South
South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
and
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
, whose cultures all play integral parts in modern day Hong Kong culture. As a result, after the 1997
transfer of sovereignty to the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, Hong Kong has continued to develop a unique identity under the rubric of
One Country Two Systems
"One country, two systems" is a constitutional principle of the People's Republic of China (PRC) describing the governance of the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.
The constitutional principle was formulated in the early ...
.
[Lilley, Rozanna. ]998
Year 998 ( CMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
* Spring – Otto III retakes Rome and restores power in the papal city. Crescenti ...
(1998) Staging Hong Kong: Gender and Performance in Transition. University of Hawaii.
After the handover of Hong Kong, the
University of Hong Kong
The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fi ...
surveyed Hong Kong residents about how they defined themselves. In its latest poll published in June 2022, 39.1% of respondents identified as Hong Konger, 31.4% as Hong Konger in China, 17.6% as Chinese, 10.9% as Chinese in Hong Kong, and 42.4% as mixed identity.
2020 Nobel Peace Prize nomination
On 15 October 2019, Norwegian lawmaker
Guri Melby
Guri Melby (born 3 February 1981) is a Norway, Norwegian politician for the Liberal Party (Norway), Liberal Party. She has served as the party leader since 2020 and Minister of Education from 2020 to 2021.
Career Local politics
From 1999 to 2006 ...
announced that she nominated the people of Hong Kong "who risk their lives and security every day to stand up for freedom of speech and basic democracy" for the
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...
for 2020. Several months later, on 8 February 2020, eight U.S. lawmakers nominated the pro-democracy movement of Hong Kong to receive the 2020
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...
in recognition of their efforts to protect Hong Kong’s autonomy, human rights, and the rule of law as guaranteed in the
Sino-British Declaration and Hong Kong’s
Basic Law.
However, on 27 August 2020, China’s Foreign Minister
Wang Yi cautioned against awarding the prize to Hong Kong protesters.
See also
Hong Kong diaspora:
*
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
*
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
*
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
*
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
*
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
*
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
Diasporic communities in Hong Kong:
*
Africans
*
Americans
Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many Multi ...
*
Australians
Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizens, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Australians, several (or all) ...
*
Britons
British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs mo ...
*
Canadians
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
*
Filipinos
Filipinos ( tl, Mga Pilipino) are the people who are citizens of or native to the Philippines. The majority of Filipinos today come from various Austronesian ethnolinguistic groups, all typically speaking either Filipino, English and/or othe ...
*
Foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong
Foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong () are domestic workers employed by Hongkongers, typically families. Comprising five percent of Hong Kong's population, about 98.5% of them are women. In 2019, there were 400,000 foreign domestic helpers ...
*
French
*
Indonesians
*
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
*
Koreans
Koreans ( South Korean: , , North Korean: , ; see names of Korea) are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Korean Peninsula.
Koreans mainly live in the two Korean nation states: North Korea and South Korea (collectively and simply refe ...
*
Russians
, native_name_lang = ru
, image =
, caption =
, population =
, popplace =
118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate)
, region1 =
, pop1 ...
*
Shanghainese
*
South Asians
South Asian ethnic groups are an ethnolinguistic grouping of the diverse populations of South Asia, including the nations of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka. While Afghanistan is variously considered to b ...
*
Taiwanese
Taiwanese may refer to:
* Taiwanese language, another name for Taiwanese Hokkien
* Something from or related to Taiwan ( Formosa)
* Taiwanese aborigines, the indigenous people of Taiwan
* Han Taiwanese, the Han people of Taiwan
* Taiwanese people, ...
*
Thais
*
Vietnamese
Vietnamese may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia
** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam.
* Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam
** Overse ...
Culture:
*
Code-switching in Hong Kong
Code-switching is a type of linguistic behaviour that juxtaposes "passages of speech belonging to two different grammatical systems or sub-systems, within the same exchange". Code-switching in Hong Kong mainly concerns two grammatical systems: ...
*
Culture of Hong Kong
The culture of Hong Kong is primarily a mix of Chinese and Western influences, stemming from Lingnan Cantonese roots and later fusing with British culture due to British colonialism (Jyutping: ; Traditional Chinese: 粵英薈萃). As an internat ...
*
Hong Kong drifter
Hong Kong drifters () are young, educated people who left mainland China to move to Hong Kong in search of a job and a place to live. They may experience difficulty assimilating into the culture of Hong Kong, which can vary from that of mainland C ...
*
Hong Kong Kids phenomenon
"Hong Kong Kids" or "Kong Kids" (Kong Hai; zh, c=港孩, links=no; Putonghua: Gǎng Hái) is a derogatory expression that refers to a subset of children or teenagers in Hong Kong who are overly dependent on their families, have low emotional int ...
*
Hong Kong name
Personal names in Hong Kong generally contain differences from those in mainland China due to the use of Hong Kong Cantonese language, ethnic diversity, and the presence of English language, English as a second language.
An example of a Hong Ko ...
*
Hong Kong returnee
A Hong Kong returnee is a resident of Hong Kong who emigrated to another country, lived for an extended period of time in his or her adopted home, and then subsequently moved back to Hong Kong.
Population
According to the Hong Kong Transition ...
*
Indigenous inhabitants of the New Territories
Indigenous inhabitants refers to the people descended through the male line from a person who was in 1898, before Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory was signed, a resident of an established village in the New Territories of ...
*
Lion Rock Spirit
Lion Rock Spirit (), is said to be the core values (香港核心價值) that is inherited by Hong Kong people from generation to generation.
This term originated from the theme song of a 1970s TV series, ''Below the Lion Rock'', which portray ...
*
Religion in Hong Kong
Religion in Hong Kong is characterized by a multi-faith diversity of beliefs and practices.
Most of the Hong Kong people of Chinese descent practice Chinese folk religionShun-hing Chan. Rethinking Folk Religion in Hong Kong: Social Capital, C ...
*
Youth in Hong Kong
Youth in Hong Kong, according to the University of Hong Kong Statistical Profile, includes citizens of the Chinese territory of Hong Kong aged 15–24 years. As of 2011, youth in Hong Kong ages 15–24 made up 12.4 per cent of Hong Kong's overal ...
Miscellaneous:
*
Bilingualism in Hong Kong
Hong Kong is an officially bilingual territory. Under article 9 of the Hong Kong Basic Law, and the Official Languages Ordinance, Both Chinese and English are equally official languages of the territory. However, no particular variety of "Chin ...
*
British National (Overseas)
British National (Overseas), abbreviated BN(O), is a class of British nationality law, British nationality associated with the British Hong Kong, former colony of Hong Kong. The status was acquired through voluntary registration by individual ...
*
Hong Kong returnee
A Hong Kong returnee is a resident of Hong Kong who emigrated to another country, lived for an extended period of time in his or her adopted home, and then subsequently moved back to Hong Kong.
Population
According to the Hong Kong Transition ...
*
New immigrants in Hong Kong
New immigrants in Hong Kong () generally refers to migrants from mainland China ( Mainlanders). Despite its literal meaning, the term is rarely used to describe newly arrived immigrants from regions other than Mainland China. Since the transf ...
*
Waves of mass migrations from Hong Kong
The Hong Kong Mass Migration Wave was one of the waves of emigration of Hong Kong residents since the Second World War, accelerated by the Hong Kong 1967 Leftist Riots and extending into the 1980s and 1990s fuelled by Tiananmen Square protests ...
*
British nationality law and Hong Kong
British nationality law as it pertains to Hong Kong has been unusual ever since Hong Kong became a British colony in 1842. From its beginning as a sparsely populated trading port to today's cosmopolitan international financial centre and wo ...
Notes
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hongkongers
Demographics of Hong Kong
Ethnic groups in Hong Kong
Hong Kong society