Under the Peking Treaty of 1860 the peninsula of Kowloon (about 5 m. in area) was added to Hong-Kong. The population is about 27,000. There are several docks and warehouses, and manufactures are being developed. Mainland territory. Granite is quarried in the peninsula. An agreement was entered into in 1898 whereby China leased to Great Britain for ninety-nine years the territory behind Kowloon peninsula up to a line drawn from Mirs Bay to Deep Bay and the adjoining islands, including Lantao. The new district, which extends to 376 sq. m. in area, is mountainous, with extensive cultivated valleys of great fertility, and the coastline is deeply indented by bays. The alluvial soil of the valleys yields two crops of rice in the year. Sugar-cane, indigo, hemp, peanuts, potatoes of different varieties, yam, taro, beans, sesamum, pumpkins and vegetables of all kinds are also grown. The mineral resources are as yet unknown. The population is estimated at about 100,000. It consists of Puntis (or Cantonese), Hakkas (“strangers”) and Tankas. The Puntis are agricultural and inhabit the valleys, and they make excellent traders. The Hakkas are a hardy and frugal race, belonging mainly to the hill districts. The Tankas are the boat people or floating population. In the government of the new territory the existing organization is as far as possible utilized.
Hong-Kong or Victoria harbour constantly presents an animated appearance, as many as 240 guns having been fired as salutes in a single day. Its approaches are strongly fortified. The steaming distance from Singapore is Victoria. 1520 m. Victoria, the capital, often spoken of as Hong-Kong (population over 166,000, of whom about 6000 are European or American), stretches for about 4 m. along the north coast. Its breadth varies from ½ m. in the central portions to 200 or 300 yds. in the eastern and western portions. The town is built in three layers. The “Praya” or esplanade, 50 ft. wide, is given up to shipping. The Praya reclamation scheme provided for the extension of the land frontage of 250 ft. and a depth of 20 ft. at all states of the tide. A further extension of the naval dockyard was begun in 1902, and a new commercial pier was opened in 1900. The main commercial street runs inland parallel with the Praya. Beyond the commercial portion, on each side, lie the Chinese quarters, wherein there is a closely packed population. In 1888, 1600 people were living in the space of a single acre, and over 100,000 were believed to be living within an area not exceeding ½ m.; and the overcrowding does not tend to diminish, for in one district, in 1900, it was estimated that there were at the rate of 640,000 persons on the sq. m. The average, however, for the whole of the city is 126 per acre, or 80,640 per sq. m. The second stratum of the town lies ten minutes’ climb up the side of the island. Government house and other public buildings are in this quarter. There abound “beautifully laid out gardens, public and private, and solidly constructed roads, some of them bordered with bamboos and other delicately-fronded trees, and fringed with the luxuriant growth of semi-tropical vegetation.” Finally, the third layer, known as “the Peak,” and reached by a cable tramway, is dotted over with private houses and bungalows, the summer health resort of those who can afford them; here a new residence for the governor was begun in 1900. Excellent water is supplied to the town from the Pokfolum and Tytam reservoirs, the former containing 68 million gallons, the latter 390 millions.
Climate.—The temperature has a yearly range of from 45° to 99°, but it occasionally falls below 40°, and ice occurs on the Peak. In January 1893 ice was found at sea-level. The wet season begins in May, after showers in March and April, and continues until the beginning of August. During this period rain falls almost without intermission. The rainfall varies greatly, but the mean is about 90 in. In 1898 only 57.025 in. fell, while in 1897 there were 100.03 in.; in 1899, 72.7 in. and in 1900, 73.7 in. The damp is extremely penetrating. During the dry season the climate is healthy, but dysentery and intermittent fever are not uncommon. Bilious remittent fever occurs in the summer months, and smallpox prevails from November to March. The annual death-rate per 1000 for the whole population in 1902 was 21.70.
Population, &c.—The following table shows the increase of population:—
| Year. | Europe and American Civil. | Chinese Civil. | Total (including Military and Naval Establishments and Indians, &c.). |
| 1881 | 3,040 | 148,850 | 160,402 |
| 1891 | 4,195 | 208,383 | 221,441 |
| 1901 | 3,860 | 274,543 | 283,978 |
| 1906 | 12,174 | 306,130 | 326,961 |
Education is provided by a few government schools and by a large number receiving grants-in-aid. The foundation-stone of Hong-Kong University was laid in March 1910, the buildings being the gift of Sir Hormusjee Mody, a colonial broker. The Queen’s College provides secondary education for boys. There are several hospitals, one of which is a government institution. The Hong-Kong savings bank has deposits amounting to about $1,100,000. There is a police force composed of Europeans, Indian Sikhs and Chinese; and a strong military garrison.
Industries.—Beyond the cultivation of vegetable gardens there is practically no agricultural industry in the colony. But although only 400 acres are cultivated on Hong-Kong island, and the same number of acres in Kowloon, there are 90,000 acres under cultivation in the new territory, of which over 7000 acres were in 1900 planted with sugar-cane. Granite quarries are worked. The chief industries are sugar-refining, the manufacture of cement, paper, bamboo and rattan ware, carving in wood and ivory, working in copper and iron, gold-beating and the production of gold, silver and sandal-wood ware, furniture making, umbrella and jinricksha making, and industries connected with kerosene oil and matches. The manufacture of cotton has been introduced. Ship and boat building, together with subsidiary industries, such as rope and sail making, appear less subject to periods of depression than other industries.
Trade.—Hong-Kong being a free port, there are no official figures as to the amount of trade; but the value of the exports and imports is estimated as about £50,000,000 in the year. Among the principal goods dealt with are tea, silk, opium, sugar, flax, salt, earthenware, oil, amber, cotton and cotton goods, sandal-wood, ivory, betel, vegetables, live stock and granite. There is an extensive Chinese passenger trade. The following are the figures of ships cleared and entered:—
| Year. | Tonnage. | British. |
| 1880 | 8,359,994 | 3,758,160 |
| 1890 | 13,676,293 | 6,994,919 |
| 1898 | 17,265,780 | 8,705,648 |
| 1902 | 19,709,451 | 8,945,976 |