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Handbook on Conditions and Cost of Living in Hongkong.
GEOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL.
The Crown Colony of Hongkong is situated to the south-east of China, Victoria the Capital, which is on the island of Hongkong, is distant about 40 miles from Macao and 91 miles from Canton. The population of Victoria, according to the 1921 census is 323,273, and that of the whole Colony 625,186,
The island of Hongkong was ceded to great Britain by the Chinese Government in 1841, the cession being formally confirmed in 1843 by the Treaty of Nanking. It is an irregular ridge, stretching nearly east and weat, its broken and abrupt peaks rising to a height of nearly 2,000 feet above the sea level. Its length is about 11 miles, its breadth from 2 to 5 miles; its area about 32 square miles. It is separated from the mainland by a narrow strait, kuown as the Lyeemun Pass, which does not exceed half a mile in width.
The opposite peninsula of Kowloon (24 square miles) was ceded to Great Britain in 1860 by Article VI of the Peking Convention, and in 1898 an agreement was concluded with the Chinese Government for the extension of the territory of the Colony by an area adjacent to British Kowloon up to a line drawn from Mirs Bay to Deep Bay, and the adjacent islands, including Lantao. This area, which was leased for 99 years, extends (including the islands) to about 376 square miles. A careful survey of this extension, now known as the New Territories, was made in 1904. The headquarters of the New Territories are at Taipo on an arm of Mirs Bay.
The harbour of Hongkong is one of the most magnificent and beautiful in the world. It has an area of ten square miles, and is enclosed on all sides by lofty hills. The city of Victoria extends for four miles at the base of the hills which protect the south side of the harbour. Being built on the slope facing the sea, the general aspect of the town is perhaps more striking and picturesque from the water than that of any other city in the East. Owing to the steepness of the slopes, and the small margin of level ground between the hills and the sea, there is but little room for commercial development on the Victoria or south side of the barbour. What level ground there is has mostly been formed by reclamation from the sea at considerable cost, and reclamation is stili going on. Many valuable sites in the centre of the city are at present occupied by Military and Naval Establishments, but it is hoped that some at least of these may soon be made available for commercial and residential purposes.
The main development of the port is, however, taking place on the north or mainland side of the harbour, where the hills do not rise so abruptly from the sea and where more land is available for building purposes and there is a longer sea frontage.
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