Hongkongers

Hong Kong people

File:Hong Kong Notable People.png 1st row: Chow Yun-fat • Kai Ho • Faye Wong • Charles K. Kao • Bruce Lee 2nd row: Donald Tsang • Leslie Cheung • Lai Man-Wai • Jin Yong • Runme Shaw
Total population
8,190,753
Regions with significant populations
Hong Kong	7,026,400[1]
Canada	615,152[2]
United States	329,888[3]
United Kingdom	145,000
Australia	67,122[4]
Japan	4,196(2010)[5]
Taiwan	2,995(2011)[6]
Languages
Hong Kong Cantonese, Hong Kong English
Religion
Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity and other faiths
Related ethnic groups
Cantonese people, Macanese people, other Han Chinese

Hongkongers
Chinese	香港人
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Xiānggǎng rén Hakka Romanization hiong gong ngin Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Hèung Góng Yàhn Jyutping hoeng1 gong2 jan4

Hong Kong people (Chinese: 香港人) refer to the people who are from Hong Kong. The term (and its Chinese equivalent) has no legal definition in Hong Kong. Rather, terms such as Hong Kong permanent resident (香港永久性居民) and Hong Kong resident (香港居民) are used. Besides being used by Hong Kong residents, the term Hong Konger may be used by people who for one reason or another do not have legal residence status, but have spent an extensive period of time in Hong Kong or otherwise have a strong cultural connection with Hong Kong. Thus the term is largely open to personal interpretation. None of the terms make reference to the ethnicity of a person and are independent of Chinese citizenship or residency statuses. The term basically refers to a person who is from Hong Kong. Currently most Hong Kongers are of Chinese descent, with minorities including those of Indian, Filipino, Indonesian, Pakistani or Vietnamese descent. Due to the one country two systems policy, Hong Kong has a different political system than that of China, including a different passport, flag and official language.

Terminology

The vast majority of Hong Kong Chinese have ancestral roots from Guangdong Province in Mainland China. After all, the territory had experienced a great exodus of people in the years leading up to the handover, and yet migration from Mainland China in recent years have brought about migrants who would prefer to refer themselves as Chinese. Many locals however simply refer themselves as Hong Kong people (Hèung Góng Yàhn).

Variation

The terms Hong Kongese/Hongkongese or Hong Konger/Hongkonger are translated into the Cantonese term of Hèung Góng Yàhn (Chinese: 香港人; Cantonese Yale: Hèung Góng Yàhn). As a result, the above terms are different only as far as English language usage is concerned. People from Hong Kong in Western countries are also referred to colloquially as Hong Kongers or Hongkies (singular: Hongkie), however these latter terms are not always well received. The terms embodies a civic identity as opposed to one based upon race or ethnicity.

• Hongkongese is coined by the North American press, likely using the same suffix as the word Chinese does.

• Hong Konger/Hongkonger was used more often, while Hong Kong People, a more direct translation of the term Hèung Góng Yàhn, is used to a greater extent by Chinese native speakers in Hong Kong when writing or speaking in English.

• Hong Kong Chinese was used more often in the 19th to early 20th century in Hong Kong, where the British population residing in Hong Kong made up a higher percentage than what it comprises now. One used to refer to an individual as Hong Kong Chinese in order to differentiate the person from a Hong Kong Briton.

Legal definition of Hong Kong residents

The Hong Kong Basic Law legally gives precise definition of Hong Kong residents. Under Article 24 of the Basic Law, Hong Kong residents can be further classified as non-permanent or permanent residents. Non-permanent residents are those who have the right to hold a Hong Kong Identity Card but have no right of abode. On the contrary, permanent residents are those who have the right to hold a Hong Kong Permanent Identity Card and the right of abode in Hong Kong.

Article 24 of the Basic Law provides:

Residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("Hong Kong residents") shall include permanent residents and non-permanent residents.

The permanent residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall be:

1. Chinese citizens born in Hong Kong before or after the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region;
2. Chinese citizens who have ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for a continuous period of not less than seven years before or after the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region;
3. Persons of Chinese nationality born outside Hong Kong of those residents listed in categories (1) and (2);
4. Persons not of Chinese nationality who have entered Hong Kong with valid travel documents, have ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for a continuous period of not less than seven years and have taken Hong Kong as their place of permanent residence before or after the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region;
5. Persons under 21 years of age born in Hong Kong of those residents listed in category (4) before or after the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; and
6. Persons other than those residents listed in categories (1) to (5), who, before the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, had the right of abode in Hong Kong only.

The above-mentioned residents shall have the right of abode in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and shall be qualified to obtain, in accordance with the laws of the Region, permanent identity cards which state their right of abode.

The non-permanent residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall be persons who are qualified to obtain Hong Kong identity cards in accordance with the laws of the Region but have no right of abode.

Ethnic groups in Hong Kong

Han Chinese

Han Chinese make up the majority of Hong Kongers, most being from Guangdong from the 1930s to the 1980s. There are also the indigenous inhabitants of the New Territories.

The majority of the new addition to the population are people from the mainland China. Ever since Hong Kong was a British colony, many mainland Chinese have immigrated to Hong Kong, and there is now a daily quota of 150 for those wishing to reside in Hong Kong.

Cantonese people represent the largest group in Hong Kong. Beside the Cantonese, people of other Han Chinese groups also reside in Hong Kong. However, the Cantonese remains the largest group even amongst other Han Chinese groups in Hong Kong. As such, Hong Kong culture is highly Cantonese-influenced. Together with the fact that Cantonese is most commonly used as the language of both everyday and formal conversations, as well as its use in the media and education, other Han Chinese groups in Hong Kong, such as the Hakka, the Hoklo (Hokkien), the Shanghainese, or the Teochew, in particular those who are Hong Kong born or raised, often assimilate into the mainstream Cantonese identity of Hong Kong.

Ethnic minorities

Hong Kong has a number of minority ethnic and national groups. The South Asian community (Indians, Pakistanis)and Nepalis is long-established, and comprises both descendants of 19th and early 20th-century migrants, as well as more recent short term expatriates. Numerically, the largest groups are Filipinos and Indonesians. Other groups include Americans, Britons, Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, Japanese, Koreans, Russians, Vietnamese and Thais.

See also

• List of Hong Kong people
• Chinese Britons
• Hong Kong people in Shanghai
• Hong Kong people in the United Kingdom
• British Hong Kong
• Culture of Hong Kong
• Demographics of Hong Kong
• Waves of mass migrations from Hong Kong
• Code-switching in Hong Kong ("Hong Kong English")