Hong Kong (which means ‘Fragrant Harbour’ in Chinese) is a small part of the People’s Republic of China with special powers to rule most of its own affairs. It is near the southern end of China and is inside the tropics, so it is always warm and sometimes hot.

It is by the sea and at certain times of the year it lies in the path of typhoons, which are very powerful storms, also called hurricanes. These bring very heavy rainstorms. At this time of the year (mainly July to about September), it is very muggy, and thick, heavy grey clouds hang over the city. At other times of the year it is fresher and more sunny. Hong Kong has a very special history.

It was a part of China until 1842, when it was made a colony of Britain to give Britain a port on the China coast. Some years later, a bit of the mainland was given to Britain (the part called Kowloon) and later still another area was leased to Britain (the part called the New Territories). Even so, the whole of Hong Kong is just 1100 square km (just over 400 sq. mi, or 20 miles x 20 miles). In this tiny space over seven million people live, making it one of the most densely populated places on Earth. In fact, they mostly live on just a quarter of the land, because most of it is mountainous, and large areas are still woodland and small areas are farmland.

In 1997, at the end of the lease, the New Territories had to go back to China. Hong Kong island was still a British colony, but it made no sense to continue with just the small island, which had been won in a war over a hundred years before. So Britain returned Hong Kong to China. During the time the British were in control of Hong Kong it became a very important world port city. It was a link between Europe and America and China. So, when the handover came in 1997, Hong Kong was allowed to carry on working much as it had been in British times because the trade was so important to China.

The vast majority of people in Hong Kong are Chinese and although many business people speak English, most people speak only Chinese. The first English contact with China was made by the British East India Company in 1699. The first harbour was a tiny inlet on Hong Kong island called Aberdeen Harbour by the British. Later, a bigger harbour, called Victoria Harbour after Queen Victoria , was built nearby.