Hong Kong - officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located on the Pearl River Delta in East Asia, bordering the Chinese province of Guangdong to the north and facing the South China Sea to the east, west and south. It has a population of 6.9 million people, and is one of the most densely populated areas in the world.

Beginning as a trading port, Hong Kong became a dependent territory of the United Kingdom in 1842, and remained so until the transfer of its sovereignty to the People's Republic of China in 1997. Along with Macau, Hong Kong is one of the two special administrative regions and is not considered part of mainland China. Under the "one country, two systems" policy, Hong Kong has a high degree of autonomy and is largely self-governing.

Renowned for its expansive skyline and natural setting, Hong Kong is one of the world's leading financial capitals, a major business and cultural hub, and maintains a highly capitalist economy. Its identity as a cosmopolitan centre where east meets west is reflected in its cuisine, cinema, music and traditions, and although the population is predominantly Chinese, residents and expatriates of other ethnicities form a small but significant segment of society.

Hong Kong is located on China's south coast, 60 km (37 mi) east of Macau on the opposite side of the Pearl River Delta. It is surrounded by the South China Sea on the east, south, and west, and borders the city of Shenzhen in Guangdong Province to the north over the Sham Chun River. The territory's 1,104 km2 (426 sq mi) land area consists primarily of Hong Kong Island, Lantau Island, Kowloon Peninsula and the New Territories as well as some 260 other islands.

As much of Hong Kong's terrain is hilly to mountainous with steep slopes, less than 25% of the territory's landmass is developed, and about 40% of the remaining land area is reserved as country parks and nature reserves. Most of the territory's urban development exists on Kowloon peninsula, along the northern edge of Hong Kong Island and in scattered settlements throughout the New Territories. The highest elevation in the territory is at Tai Mo Shan, at a height of 958 metres (3,140 ft) above sea level. Hong Kong's long, irregular and curvaceous coastline also affords the territory with many bays, rivers and beaches.

Despite Hong Kong's reputation of being intensely urbanised, the territory has made much effort to promote a green environment, and recent growing public concern has prompted the severe restriction of further land reclamation from Victoria Harbour. Awareness of the environment is growing as Hong Kong suffers from increasing pollution compounded by its geography and tall buildings. Approximately 80% of the city's smog originates from other parts of the Pearl River Delta.

Situated just south of the Tropic of Cancer, Hong Kong's climate is humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cwa). Summer is hot and humid with occasional showers and thunderstorms, and warm air coming from the southwest. It is also the time when typhoons are most likely, sometimes resulting in flooding or landslides. Winter weather usually starts sunny and becomes cloudier towards February, with the occasional cold front bringing strong, cooling winds from the north. The most pleasant seasons are spring, although changeable, and autumn, which is generally sunny and dry. Hong Kong averages 1,948 hours of sunshine per year, while the highest and lowest ever recorded temperatures at the Hong Kong Observatory are 36.1 °C (97.0 °F) and 0.0 °C (32.0 °F), respectively.

Hong Kong is frequently described as a place where East meets West, reflecting the culture's mix of the territory's Chinese roots with the culture brought to it during its time as a British colony/territory. Although over a decade has passed since the handover, Western cultural practices remain, and coexist seamlessly with the traditional philosophy and practices of Chinese culture. Hong Kong still has a Welsh male voice choir and a traditional English morris dancing team, for example.

One of the more noticeable contradictions is Hong Kong's balancing of a modernised way of life with traditional superstitious Chinese practices. Concepts like Fung shui are taken very seriously, with expensive construction projects often hiring expert consultants, and are often believed to make or break a business. Other objects like bagua mirrors are still regularly used to deflect evil spirits, and buildings often lack any floor number that has a 4 in it, due to its similarity to the word for "die" in the Chinese language. The fusion of east and west also characterises Hong Kong's cuisine, where dim sum or da been lo restaurants can be found next to fast food joints.

While Hong Kong is a recognised global centre of trade, its most famous export is its entertainment industry, particularly in the martial arts genre which gained a high level of popularity in the late 1960s and 1970s. Several Hollywood performers have originated from Hong Kong cinema, notably Bruce Lee, Chow Yun-Fat, and Jackie Chan. A number of Hong Kong film-makers have also achieved widespread fame in Hollywood, such as John Woo, Wong Kar-wai and Tsui Hark. Homegrown films such as Chungking Express, Infernal Affairs, Shaolin Soccer, Rumble in the Bronx, and In the Mood for Love have gained international recognition. Hong Kong is also the world's main centre for Cantopop music, which draws its influence from other forms of Chinese music, and more international styles including jazz, rock and roll, rhythm and blues, electronic music, western pop music and others, and has a multinational fanbase.
Hong Kong provides many opportunities for hiking and swimming.

The Hong Kong government supports cultural institutions such as the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, the Hong Kong Museum of Art, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. Also, the government's Leisure and Cultural Services Department subsidises and sponsors international performers brought to Hong Kong. Many international cultural activities are organised by the government, consulates, and privately.

Hong Kong has two broadcast television stations, ATV and TVB. Cable and satellite services are also widespread. The production of Hong Kong's soap dramas, comedy series and variety shows have reached mass audiences throughout the Chinese-speaking world. Magazine and newspaper publishers in Hong Kong distribute and print in both Chinese and English, with a focus on sensationalism and celebrity gossip. The media is relatively free from government interference compared to that of mainland China, and newspapers are often divided along political lines of support or show skepticism towards the Chinese government in Beijing. Hong Kong is also one of three CNN International headquarters.

Hong Kong offers wide recreational and competitive sport opportunities despite its limited land area. Internationally, Hong Kong participates in the Olympic Games, and numerous other Asian Games events, and hosted the equestrian events for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. There are major multipurpose venues like Hong Kong Coliseum and MacPherson Stadium. Hong Kong's steep terrain make it ideal for hiking, with expansive views over the territory, and its rugged coastline provides many beaches for swimming.

Hong Kong has the world's greatest number of skyscrapers, at 6,439. The high density and tall skyline of Hong Kong's urban area is due to a lack of available sprawl space, with the average distance from the harbourfront to the steep hills of Hong Kong Island at 1.3 km (0.8 mi). This lack of space causing demand for dense, high-rise offices and housing, has resulted in 38 of the world's 100 tallest residential buildings being in Hong Kong, and more people living or working above the 14th floor than anywhere else on Earth, making it the world's most vertical city.

A downside to the lack of space and demand for construction is that few older buildings remain, the city instead becoming a centre for modern architecture. The tallest building in Hong Kong is Two International Finance Centre, at 415 m (1,360 ft) high. Other recognisable skyline features include the HSBC Headquarters Building, said to be easily dismantled and rebuilt elsewhere, the triangular Central Plaza with its pyramid-shaped spire, The Center with its nighttime multi-coloured neon light show, and I M Pei's Bank of China Tower with its sharp, angular façade. The city has been rated as having the best skyline in the world. Notable remaining historical assets include the Tsim Sha Tsui Clock Tower, the Central Police Station, and the remains of Kowloon Walled City.

There are many development plans in place, including the construction of new government buildings, waterfront redevelopment in Central, and a series of projects in West Kowloon. More high-rise development is set to take place on the other side of Victoria Harbour in Kowloon, as the 1998 closure of the nearby Kai Tak Airport lifted strict height restrictions, including the soon-to-be tallest tower, the International Commerce Centre, which will open in 2010.