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The Hong Kong S.A.R., or Special Administrative Region, as it became known after the handover in July of 1997, is comprised of the New Territories, Kowloon Peninsula, and 235 outlying islands of which Hong Kong Island is but one. The whole territory is only 413 sq. miles (1,070 sq. kilometers) -- with Hong Kong Island itself only 24 square miles -- and sits at a latitude just south of the Tropic of Cancer or about the same as Hawaii. Don't be deceived, though. It gets cooler in the winter here than in Hawaii (see Hong Kong weather). 

The territory lies on a peninsula at the South eastern tip of China which juts out into the South China Sea. The Chinese province directly to the north of Hong Kong is Guangdong (formerly Canton), with its capital at Guangzhou (also formerly Canton and pronounced 'gwang 'joe). Guangzhou is about 80 miles away with Beijing another 1,200 miles north. Hong Kong S.A.R.

One of the most important geographical features of Hong Kong is the deep water in the harbour and close to the shore which has allowed Hong Kong to be a major shipping point and trade center. For an example, you can see that Ocean Terminal, which is right in Tsim Sha Tsui at the harbour’s edge is home not only to a shopping center, but is also an actual ocean terminal. Additionally the mountains of Hong Kong Island, Lantau, and the eastern part of the New Territories have helped protect against the rare typhoon that comes in off the South China Sea.

Finally, the map of the region changes continuously due to the numerous, huge reclamation projects undertaken here. Large swaths of harbor have been filled in at many places including the whole area in front of the Peninsula where the Cultural Complex now sits, Hung Hom, Causeway Bay, parts of Central and Wanchai, and the whole western portion of Kowloon (for the airport highway and rail links), just to name a few. Projects already under construction will add fill to the area directly in front of the whole northern shore of Hong Kong Island for new parkland.