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POPULATION
dating from the late 11th century. Some of the villages on Lantau date back to the late 13th century.
Hakka people began to enter this region at about the same time as the first Cantonese, or possibly even before. However, the Cantonese were the more successful settlers and in areas where both groups live side by side the Hakka are now always found upstream, in the foothills, and on generally poorer land.
The Tanka have been in the region since time unknown and are the principal sea- faring people of South China, owning large sea-going junks and engaging in deepsea fishing. They speak their own distinctive dialect of Cantonese. During the past few years, young men and women of the Tanka community have begun to take factory jobs and thousands have now moved their homes ashore.
Like the Tanka, the Hoklo have been in the area from earliest times. Their name suggests that they originated from Fukien Province (Hokkien), but this is probably a misnomer, Fukien being only one of their places of origin. They are traditionally boat-dwellers and are mostly found in eastern waters. In some places, they have lived ashore for several generations.
An increasing number of families are moving to the New Territories from Hong Kong Island and Kowloon as a result of urbanisation of certain districts, notably Tsuen Wan and Kwai Chung, where large public housing estates have been built. Total population of the New Territories on March 9, 1971, was 693,915 (including 28,215 boat people)—compared to 456,404 (including 46,459 boat people) in 1961. Population movement from the congested urban areas to the satellite towns of the New Territories will increase rapidly in the future with implementation of the govern- ment's 10-year housing plan.
Total population, excluding transients and boat people, on census day, March 9, 1971, was 3,856,736. The density of population per square mile was 9,562, compared to Singapore's 9,407 in the same year.
The 1971 census also showed that Mong Kok with 400,612 persons per square mile was then Hong Kong's most densely populated district-about 10 times greater than Tokyo (39,629 per square mile in 1971) or Osaka (37,016 per square mile in 1971).
Census and Statistics Department
The department was set up in December 1967 to collect and co-ordinate govern- ment statistics. Besides censuses, the department also collects, compiles and analyses Hong Kong's trade statistics; calculates the Consumer Price Index; conducts surveys and research of various kinds; and supplies statistical information to commercial concerns and international organisations. Frequent contacts with other statistical organisations, institutes of higher learning and with the specialised agencies of the United Nations, are also maintained.
Major projects started or continued during 1973 included a new household ex- penditure survey in connection with the revision of the Consumer Price Index; a census of industrial production with a reference year of 1973; the publication of estimates of