A Little Bit About Hong Kong

Hong Kong - Fragrant Harbor

		Hong Kong		Sweden
	Population	7,061,200	101st	9,555,893	89th
	Area	1,204 km²	179th	449,964 km²	57th
	Density	6,400 /km²	4th	21 /km²	195th

Geography

Hong Kong is the Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and Norther Territories. plus almost 300 islands. Since the area is very hilly, only some 25% of the land is developed, mainly in Kowloon and the northern side of Hong Kong Island. This must mean that the actual population density is four times higher!

Demographics

About 94% of the population is of Chinese descent, the rest a mix of South Asians (Indians, Pakistanis, Nepalese, and some Vietnamese). A number of expats from Great Britain, USA, Canada, Japan, and Korean are working in the commercial and financial sectors. An estimated 250,000 domestic helpers are from Indonesia and the Philippines.

Languages

Cantonese is Hong Kong's de facto official language. English, also an official language, is spoken by slightly less than 40% of the population. As a visitor or an expat, there is no problem getting around using English.

Eating

Whatever cuisine you want, you will most probably find it someplace in Hong Kong.  All Chinese cuisines are represented at restaurants, with Cantonese being the "local" kitchen. Beside the Chinese restaurants, you will find all East and South East Asian cuisines everywhere. And of course American and European. A true Hong Kong experience is yum cha (飲茶), drink tea, i.e. dim sum with tea.

More on what and where to eat in out blog Eating in Hong Kong.