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Country Information: Hong Kong

Hong Kong Information: Inside
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The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China is one of the two special administrative regions (SAR) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the other being Macau. It is commonly known as Hong Kong, which is often written Hongkong in older English-language texts.

Hong Kong is on the eastern side of the Pearl River Delta on the southeastern coast of China, facing the South China Sea in the south, and bordering the Guangdong Province in the north. It has one of the world's most liberal economies and is a major international centre of finance and trade.

It was a British colony, and was handed over to the PRC in 1997. As a special administrative region, Hong Kong is guaranteed by the Basic Law to have a relatively high degree of autonomy for at least 50 years (until 2047) under the policy of "One Country, Two Systems". For instance, it retains its own legal system, currency, customs policy, and immigration laws. It also maintains its own delegation to most international organizations, such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, and international sport events, such as the Olympic Games, under the designation "Hong Kong, China". Also, while the traffic in mainland China drives on the right, Hong Kong still maintains its own road rules, with traffic continuing to drive on the left. Only the defence and the diplomatic relations of Hong Kong are the responsibilities of the Central People's Government in Beijing.