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March 30, 2002
Memories of a Fragrant Harbour: Basic Geography
The greater Hong Kong area is roughly six times the size of Washington D.C., though the good chunk of it is uninhabited. The terrain is mostly hilly and mountainous or water.
Hong Kong, the city, rests on the northern part of Hong Kong Island. The southern part of the island is Aberdeen, in addition to a number of notable resorts like Repulse Bay. North of the island is the Kowloon Peninsula. The southernmost tip of the peninsula is Kowloon. Just to the north of it is Shatin, separated by a ridge of mountains. To the west are a number of islands, Tsing Yi and Lantau. The new airport is located on reclaimed land (i.e.: landfill) just north of Lantau Island. Further to the north are the rest of the New Territories; technically, the New Territories started with Shatin and go north until you reach the border with the People's Republic of China.
The hotspots are typically on Hong Kong Island or near the southern tip of Kownloon.
There are over 200 islands in the area, many of them small, some larger. The area has a very diverse geological history, including volcanic eruptions, ravaging by claciers, and the flooding coming from being the mouth of a river at one point.
Posted by KinCross at March 30, 2002 10:51 PM