Hong Kong’s Multicultural Environment

Hong Kong or the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC).  It is located in the eastern side of the Pearl River Delta, near the Guangdong province in the north and the South China Sea in the east, west and south.

Hong Kong was a colony of the United Kingdom from 1842 until its turnover to the People's Republic of China in 1997. The Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law of Hong Kong enables Hong Kong to operate independently at least 2047 or fifty years. The "one country, two systems" policy makes the Central People's Government responsible for the territory's defence and foreign affairs, while the Government of Hong Kong is responsible for its own legal system, police force, monetary system, customs policy, immigration policy, and delegates to international organizations and events.

Ethnic Group

Chinese makes up 94.9% of the total population. Filipinos comprise 2.1% and other nationalities make up 3% (2001 census). 
Others comprise of Americans, Britons, Canadians, Cantonese,  Indonesians, Japanese, Koreans, Thais, Russians, Vietnamese and others.

There are 1,100 American companies in Hong Kong employing 10% of the Hong Kong workforce. Also, the ships of the United States Navy visit the ports 60 to 80 times every year. The U.S. Department of State said that in 2004 around 45,000 American citizens live in Hong Kong.

The British Consulate-General in Hong Kong states that around 200,000 British citizens live in Hong Kong. Canadians are also living in Hong Kong. Many of them are former Hong Kong residents who became Canadian citizens and returned to work and live after the handover in 1997. Estimates from the Department of Foreign Affairs put the number at around 250,000 Canadians in Hong Kong. This is based on the 50,000 passport renewed each year and passports have a 5 year lifespan.

There are on average around 140,000 Filipinos in Hong Kong.  The illegal entry of Vietnamese refugees plagued the Hong Kong government for 25 years. The problem ended in 2000. Between 1975 and 1999, 143,700 Vietnamese refugees were transferred to other countries and more than 67 000 Vietnamese migrants went back to Vietnam.

Indonesians in Hong Kong, account for 102,100.  They are the second-largest ethnic minority group in the territory next only to the Filipinos.
Japanese people in Hong Kong are mostly expatriate businessmen and their families, some are single women. As of 2001, they made up 3.5% of the ethnic minority population of Hong Kong, or around 14,100 individuals.

Koreans numbered 4,812 individuals as of 2006. Thais in Hong Kong are estimated to be numbering 13,000, mostly women.