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Updates: 

Sorin Cosoveanu pointed me to the newly released results of the 2011 census.

Country overview: 

Short name	HONG KONG
ISO code	HK
FIPS code	HK
Language	Chinese (zh), English (en)
Time zone	+8
Capital	Victoria

 

In 1900, Hong Kong proper (the island and Kowloon) was a British crown colony, and the British also had a 99-year lease on the New Territories. The Japanese occupied the territory during World War II. On 1984-12-19, the British and Chinese governments agreed that Hong Kong would become a Special Administrative Region of China on 1997-07-01, and so it did.

Other names of country: 

1. Chinese: Xianggang
2. French: Hong Kong
3. Italian: Hong Kong
4. Russian: Специальный административный район Гонконг (formal)
5. Spanish: Hong Kong
6. Swedish: Hongkong
7. Turkish: Hong Kong Özel Çin İdaresi (formal)

Origin of name: 

Chinese xiang: perfume, gang: port (i.e. the port of perfumes)

Primary subdivisions: 

Hong Kong is divided into eighteen districts. The districts in New Territories are rural districts; the others are urban.

District	HASC	Sec	Pop-2011	Pop-2001	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)	Capital
Central and Western	HK.CW	HKI	251,519	261,884	12	5	Central (Victoria)
Eastern	HK.EA	HKI	588,094	616,199	19	7	Sai Wan Ho
Islands	HK.IS	NT	141,327	86,667	174	67	Mui Wo, Cheung Chau
Kowloon City	HK.KC	Kow	377,351	381,352	10	4	Hung Hom
Kwai Tsing	HK.KI	NT	511,167	477,092	23	9	Kwai Chung
Kwun Tong	HK.KU	Kow	622,152	562,427	11	4	Kwun Tong
North	HK.NO	NT	304,134	298,657	134	52	Fanling
Sai Kung	HK.SK	NT	436,627	327,689	135	52	Tseung Kwan O
Sham Shui Po	HK.SS	Kow	380,855	353,550	9	3	Sham Shui Po
Sha Tin	HK.ST	NT	630,273	628,634	69	26	Shatin Station
Southern	HK.SO	HKI	278,655	290,240	40	15	Aberdeen
Tai Po	HK.TP	NT	296,853	310,879	148	57	Tai Po
Tsuen Wan	HK.TW	NT	304,637	275,527	62	24	Tsuen Wan
Tuen Mun	HK.TM	NT	487,546	488,831	85	33	Tuen Mun
Wan Chai	HK.WC	HKI	152,608	167,146	10	4	Wan Chai
Wong Tai Sin	HK.WT	Kow	420,183	444,630	9	4	San Po Kong
Yau Tsim Mong	HK.YT	Kow	307,878	282,020	7	3	Mongkok
Yuen Long	HK.YL	NT	578,529	449,070	138	53	Yuen Long
18 districts			7,070,388	6,708,389	1,095	422
HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. Sec: section of the territory (HKI = Hong Kong Island, Kow = Kowloon, NT = New Territories) Pop-2011: 2011-06-30 census. Pop-2001: 2001-03-14 census. Total includes 5,895 "marine" residents. Capital: Location of the district board office.

Further subdivisions:

In Hong Kong's local government structure, municipal councils are under the district boards.

Territorial extent: 

1. The sections of Kowloon Area and New Territories are attached to the Chinese mainland.
2. Islands includes Lantau, Lamma, Tsing Yi, Kau Sai Chau, Tung Lung, Po Toi, and other islands.

Origins of names: 

1. Kowloon: Chinese for nine dragons.
2. Tsuen Wan: Chinese for shallow bay.

Change history: 

1974-04: Sha Tin and Tuen Mun districts created. These were the divisions of Hong Kong at this time.

Departments	Units	Districts
Home Affairs Department	Hong Kong	Central
		Eastern
		Wan Chai
		Western
	Kowloon	Kowloon City
		Kwun Tong
		Mong Kok
		Sham Shui Po
		Wong Tai Sin
		Yau Ma Tei
New Territories Administration		Islands
		Sai Kung
		Sha Tin
		Tai Po
		Tsuen Wan
		Tuen Mun
		Yuen Long

1. 1982: The district boards were established.
2. ~1983: Kwai Chung/Tsing Yi district (later called Kwai Tsing) split from Tsuen Wan.
3. ~1991: Mong Kok and Yau Ma Tei districts merged to form Yau Tsim Mong.

Sources: 

1. [1] Hong Kong Annual Digest of Statistics, 1989 Edition. Census and Statistics Dept., Hong Kong, 1989-11.
2. [2] 2011 Hong Kong Population Census , Census Results, Main Tables: Population by Sex, Age and District Council District, 2011 (A204), retrieved 2012-06-02.
3. [3] Census and Statistics Department , 2001 Population Census (retrieved 2004-02-03).