Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1913.djvu/237

 HONG KONG 115

HONG KONG.

Constitution and Government.

The Crown Colouy of Hong Kong was ceded by China to Great Britain in January, 1841 ; the cession was confirmed by the treaty of Nanking, in August, 1842 ; and the charter bears date April 5, 1843, Hong Kong is the great centre for British commerce with China and Japan, and a military and naval station of first-class importance.

The administration is in the hands of a Governor, aided by an Executive Council, composed of the General Officer Commanding the Troops, the Colonial Secretary, the Attorney-General, the Treasurer, the Registrar General, and the Director of Public Works (special appointment), and two unofficial members. There is also a Legislative Council, presided over by the Governor, and composed of the General Ofl&cer Commanding the Troops, the Colonial Secretary, the Attorney-General, the Treasurer, the Director of Public Works, the Captain-Superintendent of Police, the Registrar General (the last two being special appointments), and six unofficial members — viz., four nominated by the Crown (two of whom are Chinese), one nominated by the Chamber of Commerce, and one by the Justices of the Peace.

Governor — Sir Francis Henry May, K.C.M.G. Appointed 1912. Salary 6,000?.

Area and Population.

Hong Kong is situated at the mouth of the Canton River, about 90 miles south of Canton. The island is an irregular and broken ridge, stretching nearly east and west about 11 miles, its breadth from 2 to 5 miles, and its area rather more than 29 square miles ; separated from the mainland by a narrow strait, the Lyeemoon Pass, about half a mile in width. The opposite peninsula of Kowloon, on the mainland, was ceded to Great Britain by treaty in 1861, and now forms part of Hong Kong. The city of Victoria extends for upwards of five miles along the southern shore of the beautiful harbour. By a convention signed at Peking on June 9, 1898, there was leased to Great Britain for 99 years a portion of Chinese territory mainly agricultural, together with the waters of Mirs Bay and Deep Bay and the island of Lan-tao. Its area is 376 square miles, with about 91,000 inhabitants, exclusively Chinese.

The population of Hong Kong, excluding the Military and Naval establish- ments (4,463 and 2,513 respectively), and that portion of the new territory outside New Kowloon, was, according to the 1911 census, as follows : —

— Male

Female

Total

Chinese ..... 1 242,455 European and American. . ' 4,446 Other nationalities. . . 2,774

111,732 3,628 1,110

354,187 8,074 3,884

Total .... 249,675

116,470

366,145

The population of the New Territories (exclusive of New Kowloon) was 90,594 at the 1911 census, making a total population of 456,739.

Of the coloured civil population at the cfensus of 1911, 2,012 were Indians, 958 were Japanese, and 444,664 were Chinese. These figures include the whole

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