New Territories

New Territories
新界
New Territories (in green) within Hong Kong
New Territories (in green) within Hong Kong
Map
Coordinates: 22°24′36″N 114°07′30″E / 22.410°N 114.125°E / 22.410; 114.125
CountryHong Kong
Area
 • Total
952 km2 (368 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)
 • Total
3,691,093
 • Density3,801/km2 (9,845/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+08:00 (Hong Kong Time)
New Territories
Chinese新界
JyutpingSan1gaai3
Literal meaningNew Frontier
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinXīnjiè
Bopomofoㄒㄧㄣ ㄐㄧㄝˋ
Wade–GilesHsin1-chieh4
Yale RomanizationSyīn jyèh
IPA[ɕíntɕjê]
Hakka
RomanizationSin1 Gai4
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationSān'gaai
JyutpingSan1gaai3
IPA[sɐn˥.kaj˧]
Southern Min
Hokkien POJSin-kài

The New Territories (abbr. N.T. , Chinese: 新界) is one of the three areas of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory, and contains around half of the population of Hong Kong. Historically, it is the region described in the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory. According to that treaty, the territories comprise the mainland area north of Boundary Street on the Kowloon Peninsula and south of the Sham Chun River (which is the border between Hong Kong and Mainland China), as well as over 200 outlying islands, including Lantau Island, Lamma Island, Cheung Chau, and Peng Chau in the territory of Hong Kong.

Butterfly Bay in New Territories
Flag of the New Territories Regional Council, which was disbanded on the last day of 1999

Later, after New Kowloon was defined from the area between the Boundary Street and the Kowloon Ranges spanned from Lai Chi Kok to Lei Yue Mun, and the extension of the urban areas of Kowloon, New Kowloon was gradually urbanised and absorbed into Kowloon.

The New Territories now comprises only the mainland north of the Kowloon Ranges and south of the Sham Chun River, as well as the Outlying Islands. It comprises an area of 952 square kilometres (368 sq mi).[1] Nevertheless, New Kowloon has remained statutorily part of the New Territories instead of Kowloon.

The New Territories were leased from Qing China by the United Kingdom in 1898 for 99 years in the Second Convention of Peking (The Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory). Upon the expiry of the lease, sovereignty was transferred to the People's Republic of China in 1997, together with the Qing-ceded territories of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon Peninsula.

In 2021, the population of the New Territories was recorded at 3,984,077,[2] with a population density of 4,140 per square kilometre (10,720/sq mi).

  1. ^ "New Territories (region, Hong Kong, China)". Encyclopædia Britannica. britannica.com. Archived from the original on 15 April 2008. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  2. ^ "2021 Population Census District Profiles". Census 2021. Archived from the original on 5 February 2024. Retrieved 14 August 2024.

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