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The Kowloon Peninsula is a
peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on a ...
that forms the southern part of the main landmass in the territory of Hong Kong, alongside
Victoria Harbour Victoria Harbour is a natural landform harbor, harbour in Hong Kong separating Hong Kong Island in the south from the Kowloon Peninsula to the north. The harbour's deep, sheltered waters and strategic location on South China Sea were instrume ...
and facing toward
Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island is an 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/km2, . The island had a population of a ...
. The Kowloon Peninsula and the area of New Kowloon are collectively known as
Kowloon Kowloon () is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. With a population of 2,019,533 and a population density of in 2006, it is the most populous area in Hong Kong, compared with Hong Kong Island and ...
. Geographically, the term "Kowloon Peninsula" may also refer to the area south of the mountain ranges of
Beacon Hill Beacon Hill may refer to: Places Canada * Beacon Hill, Ottawa, Ontario, a neighbourhood * Beacon Hill Park, a park in Victoria, British Columbia * Beacon Hill, Saskatchewan * Beacon Hill, Montreal, a neighbourhood in Beaconsfield, Quebec United ...
, Lion Rock,
Tate's Cairn Tate's Cairn or Tai Lo Shan () is a mountain in Hong Kong at in height. It is one of the peaks of the Kowloon Ridge and falls within Ma On Shan Country Park. The peak began to appear on colonial maps in the 1860s but remained unnamed until th ...
, Kowloon Peak, etc. The peninsula covers five of the eighteen
districts of Hong Kong The districts of Hong Kong are the 18 political areas of Hong Kong, a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China, that are geographically and administratively divided. Each district has a district council, formerly dist ...
. Kowloon Bay is located at the northeast of the peninsula.


Geology and reclamation

The main rock type of the peninsula consists of a medium grained monzogranite with some fine granite outcrops, part of the Kowloon Granite. Early maps and photographs show flat, low-lying land behind the beach of Tsim Sha Tsui Bay with a raised area, Kowloon Hill, in the west. The peninsula has been significantly expanded through land reclamation from the sea, over several phases. In the south and west most of the reclamation was carried out before 1904. Reclamation in several other small areas along the main
Tsim Sha Tsui Tsim Sha Tsui, often abbreviated as TST, is an urban area in southern Kowloon, Hong Kong. The area is administratively part of the Yau Tsim Mong District. Tsim Sha Tsui East is a piece of land reclaimed from the Hung Hom Bay now east of Tsi ...
waterfront was completed by 1982. Since 1994, parts of the Hung Hom Bay were reclaimed and by 2019, it had been completely extinguished. The
West Kowloon West Kowloon () is the western part of Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong, situated within the Yau Tsim Mong District and Sham Shui Po District. It is bounded by Canton Road to the east, Victoria Harbour to the west and the south, and Jor ...
Reclamation was formed as part of the
Airport Core Programme The Airport Core Programme was a series of infrastructure projects centred on the new Hong Kong International Airport during the early 1990s. The programme was part of the Port and Airport Development Strategy, commonly known as the Rose Gard ...
and largely completed by 1995.


History

Before the actual
Kowloon Kowloon () is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. With a population of 2,019,533 and a population density of in 2006, it is the most populous area in Hong Kong, compared with Hong Kong Island and ...
boundaries were established, the Kowloon Peninsula served as one of the first destinations for escape during China's dynastic times. In 1287, the last emperor of the
Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the res ...
, Emperor Bing was fleeing from the
Mongol The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member ...
leader
Kublai Khan Kublai ; Mongolian script: ; (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder of the Yuan dynasty of China and the fifth khagan-emperor of ...
. Taking refuge in a cave in the Kowloon peninsula, the inscription wrote "Sung Wong Toi" or "Song Emperor's Pavilion".Warres, Smith D.
990 Year 990 ( CMXC) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Al-Mansur, ''de facto'' ruler of Al-Andalus, conquers the Castle of Montemor-o-Velho (mode ...
(1990). European Settlements in the Far East: China, Japan, Indo-China, Straits Settlements, Malaysia. Stanford University Press. No ISBN Digitized
In the 17th century, after the fall of the
Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
, many of the
Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( ...
's followers also found shelter in the Kowloon peninsula to hide from the Manchus. Historically speaking, Kowloon Peninsula refers to the ceded territories of
Kowloon Kowloon () is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. With a population of 2,019,533 and a population density of in 2006, it is the most populous area in Hong Kong, compared with Hong Kong Island and ...
in 1860 as part of the
Convention of Peking The Convention of Peking or First Convention of Peking is an agreement comprising three distinct treaties concluded between the Qing dynasty of China and Great Britain, France, and the Russian Empire in 1860. In China, they are regarded as amo ...
, but geographically it covers the entire Kowloon south of the mountain ranges of Lion Rock, Kowloon Peak and other hills. Kowloon Peninsula had a population of 800 when it was ceded to the British empire in 1860. In 1898 a resolution was passed by the
Colonial Hong Kong Hong Kong was a colony and later a dependent territory of the British Empire from 1841 to 1997, apart from a period of occupation under the Japanese Empire from 1941 to 1945 during the Pacific War. The colonial period began with the Britis ...
Legislative Council to preserve the land where some of the caves stand.


City landscape


See also

* Boundary Street *
Kowloon Kowloon () is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. With a population of 2,019,533 and a population density of in 2006, it is the most populous area in Hong Kong, compared with Hong Kong Island and ...
* List of islands and peninsulas of Hong Kong * List of places in Hong Kong * New Kowloon


References

{{Peninsulas of Hong Kong Peninsulas of Hong Kong Kowloon