Jump to content

Kowloon

Coordinates:22°19′N114°11′E/ 22.317°N 114.183°E/22.317; 114.183
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about an urban area in Hong Kong. For other uses, seeKowloon (disambiguation).
"Kowloon" is a transliteration ofCửu Long.For other transliterations, seeCửu Long (disambiguation).

Kowloon
Cửu Long
Kowloon as viewed from Hong Kong Island
Kowloon as viewed fromHong Kong Island
Location within Hong Kong (in green)
Location withinHong Kong(in green)
Area
• Land67 km2(26 sq mi)
Population
(2011)
• Total2,108,419 (2.1 million)
• Density43,033/km2(111,450/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+8(Hong Kong Time)
Kowloon
"Kowloon" in Traditional (top) and Simplified (bottom) Chinese characters
Traditional ChineseCửu Long
Simplified ChineseCửu Long
Jyutpinggau2 lung4
Literal meaning"NineDragons"
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinJǐulóng
Bopomofoㄐㄧㄡˇ ㄌㄨㄥˊ
Wade–GilesChiu3-lung2
Tongyong PinyinJiǒulóng
IPA[tɕjòʊ.lʊ̌ŋ]
Hakka
Romanizationgiu3lung2
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationGáulùhng
Jyutpinggau2 lung4
IPA[kɐw˧˥ lʊŋ˩]

Kowloon(/ˌkaʊˈluːn/) is an urban area inHong Kongcomprising theKowloon PeninsulaandNew Kowloon.It has a population of 2,019,533 and a population density of 43,033/km2(111,450/sq mi) in 2006. It is one of the threeareas of Hong Kong,along withHong Kong Islandand theNew Territories.It is the smallest, second most populous and most densely populated of the divisions.

Location

[edit]

Kowloon is located directly north ofHong Kong IslandacrossVictoria Harbour.It is bordered by theLei Yue Munstrait to the east,Mei Foo Sun Chuen,Butterfly ValleyandStonecutter's Islandto the west, a mountain range, includingTate's CairnandLion Rockto the north, andVictoria Harbourto the south.

Administration

[edit]
Main articles:Kowloon Central,Kowloon East,andKowloon West

Kowloon comprises the followingdistricts:

Name

[edit]

The name 'Kowloon' (Chinese:Cửu Long;lit.'nine dragons') alludes to eight mountains and a Chinese emperor:Kowloon Peak,Tung Shan,Tate's Cairn,Temple Hill,Unicorn Ridge,Lion Rock,Beacon Hill,Crow's NestandEmperor Bing of Song.[1]It was also spelt 'Kawloong' in some 19th-century sources.[2]

History

[edit]
Kowloon c. 1868, depicting theQing-eraKowloon Walled CityandLion Rock(in the background)
Map of Kowloon in 1915
Hong Kong's old airport,Kai Tak,was located in Kowloon Bay.

The part of Kowloon south ofBoundary Street,together withStonecutters Island,was ceded byQingChina to the United Kingdom under theConvention of Pekingof 1860. For many years the area remained largely undeveloped, used by the British mainly for tiger-hunting expeditions.[3][self-published source?] The part of Kowloon north of Boundary Street (New Kowloon) was leased by the British as part of theNew Territoriesunder the 1898Second Convention of Pekingfor 99 years. Within New Kowloon is Kowloon City, anarea of Hong Kongwhere theKowloon Walled Cityused to be located. The Kowloon Walled City itself was demolished in 1993. The same area was called Kwun Fu Cheung (Quan phú tràng) during theSong dynasty(960–1279). "New Kowloon" has remained part of theNew Territories.

Statutorily, "Kowloon" is only the area south of Boundary Street and Stonecutters Island, but in common use, New Kowloon is not regarded as part of the New Territories, but as an integral part of the Kowloon urban area whether north or south of Boundary Street.

Large-scale development of Kowloon began in the early 20th century, with the construction of theKowloon-Canton Railwayand theKowloon Wharf,but because of the close proximity of Kowloon's built-up area toKai Tak Airport,building construction was limited by flight paths. As a result, compared to Hong Kong Island, Kowloon had a much lower skyline.[1]AfterWorld War II,Kowloon became extremely congested whenslumsforrefugeesfrom the newly established People's Republic of China gave way topublic housing estates,mixed with private residential, commercial, and industrial areas.

The area ofreclaimed landnow known asWest Kowloonwas once home to adockyardfor theRoyal Navy.

The 1911 census recorded a population of 7,306, with most beingHakka.[4]Theinvasion of China by Japan in 1937caused the population of Kowloon to grow drastically. Between 1937 and 1939, 750,000 refugees arrived in Kowloon and nearby areas, with many not having residence.[5]

Demographics

[edit]

As of 2011,2,108,419 people lived in Kowloon.[6]

About 94.2% of Kowloon's residents are ofHan Chinese[citation needed]ethnicity. The largest ethnic minority groups areIndonesians(1.8%),Filipinos(1.5%),Indians(0.5%),Nepalese(0.4%), andBritish(0.3%).[6]Around 86% of Kowloon's residents useCantoneseas their usual language, while 2.3% use English and 1.2% useMandarin.[6]

Localities

[edit]

Kowloon comprises these localities of Hong Kong:

Education

[edit]
The Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityinHung Hom
King George V School,Homantin

Lists of primary and secondary schools in Kowloon by district:

Tertiary education

[edit]

Notable people

[edit]

Transport

[edit]
Western Harbour Crossing,one of the tunnels that link Kowloon with Hong Kong Island

Kowloon is connected to Hong Kong Island by two road-onlytunnels(theCross-Harbour Tunneland theWestern Harbour Crossing), three MTR railway tunnels (Tsuen Wan line,Tung Chung line/Airport ExpressandEast Rail) and one combined road and MTR rail link tunnel (Eastern Harbour Tunnel,containing theTseung Kwan O lineand road traffic in separate parallel conduits). No bridges connect the island and Kowloon.

[edit]
Kowloon Peninsula panorama

References

[edit]
  1. ^abFallon, Steve. (2006) Hong Kong and Macau. Lonely Planet Publishing.ISBN981-258-246-0
  2. ^"KAWLOONG FERRY STATION: Hong Kong postcard (C48147)".eBay.Archived fromthe originalon 12 November 2022.Retrieved27 February2022.
  3. ^10,000 Chinese Numbers.Lulu. p. 207.ISBN9780557006212.Archivedfrom the original on 23 August 2016.[self-published source]
  4. ^James Hayes,The Hong Kong Region 1850–1911.Hong Kong, 2012.ISBN9888139118
  5. ^"Hong Kong 2003 – History".yearbook.gov.hk.Archivedfrom the original on 26 September 2011.Retrieved28 April2018.
  6. ^abcDistrict Profiles,Hong Kong Census,2011,archivedfrom the original on 27 September 2013,retrieved27 September2013
[edit]
Wikivoyage has a travel guide forKowloon.

22°19′N114°11′E/ 22.317°N 114.183°E/22.317; 114.183

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kowloon&oldid=1251036452"