a Special Administrative Region of China, in the south of the country, with some autonomy; formerly a British Crown Colony: consists of Hong Kong Island, leased by China to Britain from 1842 until 1997, Kowloon Peninsula, Stonecutters Island, the New Territories (mainland), leased by China in 1898 for a 99-year period, and over 230 small islands; important entrepôt trade and manufacturing centre, esp for textiles and other consumer goods; university (1912). It retains its own currency, the Hong Kong dollar. Administrative centre: Victoria. Pop: 7 182 724 (2013 est). Area: 1046 sq km (404 sq miles) an island in Hong Kong region, south of Kowloon Peninsula: contains the capital, Victoria. Pop: 1 337 800 (2001). Area: 75 sq km (29 sq miles)
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
Hong Kong
(hong′ kong′),USA pronunciation
Hong′kong′ite, n.
- Place Namesa British crown colony comprising Hong Kong island (29 sq. mi.;
75 sq. km), Kowloon peninsula, nearby islands, and the adjacent mainland in SE China (New Territories): reverted to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. 5,761,400;
404 sq. mi. (1046 sq. km). Cap.: Victoria. - Place NamesVictoria (def. 4). Also, Hong′kong′. Also called Xianggang.
Hong′kong′ite, n.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'Hong Kong' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
British dollar
- Cantonese
- Disneyland
- East Asia
- Foster
- Guangdong
- HK
- Hakka
- Hang Seng Index
- Kowloon
- Leach
- Macao
- New Territories
- Opium War
- Victoria
- Xianggang
- Zhu Jiang
- agent
- air passage
- cent
- dollar
- flu
- grindhouse
- put
- rub down
- source