The Boundaries of Hong Kong, officially the Boundary of the Administrative Division of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of Chinabasiclaw.gov.hk - Description of the Boundary of the Administrative Division of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China
/ref>elegislation.gov.hk - 中華人民共和國香港特別行政區行政區域界綫文字表述 Description of the Boundary of the Administrative Division of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China
/ref> (), is a regulated administrative border with

border control Border control comprises measures taken by governments to monitor and regulate the movement of people, animals, and goods across land, air, and maritime borders. While border control is typically associated with international borders, it als ...

in force under the One country, two systems constitutional principle, which separates the

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a Special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the List of ...

from

mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

, by land border fence of and

maritime boundary A maritime boundary is a conceptual division of Earth's water surface areas using physiographical or geopolitical criteria. As such, it usually bounds areas of exclusive national rights over mineral and biological resources,VLIZ Maritime Boun ...

of , enforcing a separate

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

and

customs Customs is an authority or Government agency, agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling International trade, the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out ...

-controlled jurisdiction from mainland China. The boundaries of Hong Kong are patrolled and controlled by the

Hong Kong Police Force The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) is the primary law enforcement, investigative agency, and largest Hong Kong Disciplined Services, disciplined service under the Security Bureau (Hong Kong), Security Bureau of Hong Kong. Pursuant to the one c ...

and its Marine Region and the Immigration Department at land and sea. The land boundary also includes a

buffer zone A buffer zone, also historically known as a march, is a neutral area that lies between two or more bodies of land; usually, between countries. Depending on the type of buffer zone, it may serve to separate regions or conjoin them. Common types o ...

, known as

Frontier Closed Area The Frontier Closed Area ( zh, t=邊境禁區) is a regulated border zone in Hong Kong that extends inwards from the border with mainland China. It was established by the Frontier Closed Area Order, 1951, and 1984. Established to prevent ...

History

After the

First Opium War The First Opium War ( zh, t=第一次鴉片戰爭, p=Dìyīcì yāpiàn zhànzhēng), also known as the Anglo-Chinese War, was a series of military engagements fought between the British Empire and the Chinese Qing dynasty between 1839 and 1 ...

and territorial establishment of Hong Kong, the

Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island () is an island in the southern part of Hong Kong. The island, known originally and on road signs simply as "Hong Kong", had a population of 1,289,500 and a population density of , . It is the second largest island in Hong Kon ...

was ceded by the

Qing Empire The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

to the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the union of the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland into one sovereign state, established by the Acts of Union 1800, Acts of Union in 1801. It continued in this form until ...

through

Treaty of Nanjing The Treaty of Nanking was the peace treaty which ended the First Opium War (1839–1842) between Great Britain and the Qing dynasty of China on 29 August 1842. It was the first of what the Chinese later termed the "unequal treaties". In the ...

in 1842, not marking any official maritime boundaries. In 1860, the

Convention of Peking The Convention of Peking or First Convention of Peking is an agreement comprising three distinct unequal treaties concluded between the Qing dynasty of China and Great Britain, France, and the Russian Empire in 1860. Background On 18 October ...

extended the cession to include

Kowloon Kowloon () is one of the areas of Hong Kong, three areas of Hong Kong, along with Hong Kong Island and the New Territories. It is an urban area comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. It has a population of 2,019,533 and a populat ...

with the land boundary limits until "Boundary street in Kowloon", and in 1898 with additional land of

New Territories The New Territories (N.T., Traditional Chinese characters, Chinese: ) is one of the three areas of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory, and contains around half of the population of H ...

was leased for 99-years to the British under the

Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory The Convention between the United Kingdom and China, Respecting an Extension of Hong Kong Territory, commonly known as the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory or the Second Convention of Peking, was a lease and unequal treaty si ...

with the

Sham Chun River The Sham Chun River or Shenzhen River () serves as the natural border between Hong Kong and mainland China, together with Deep Bay, Mirs Bay, and the Sha Tau Kok River. It formed a part of the limit of the lease of the New Territories in ...

primarily marking the boundary between

British Hong Kong Hong Kong was under British Empire, British rule from 1841 to 1997, except for a Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, brief period of Japanese occupation during World War II from 1941 to 1945. It was a crown colony of the United Kingdom from 1841 ...

and

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

. Between the years of 1941 and 1945 during the

Japanese occupation of Hong Kong The Japanese occupation of Hong Kong began when the governor of Hong Kong, Mark Aitchison Young, surrendered the British Crown colony of British Hong Kong, Hong Kong to the Empire of Japan on 25 December 1941. His surrender occurred after Batt ...

, the boundaries of Hong Kong may or may not have been clearly distinguished as the neighbouring part of Southern China bordering Hong Kong was also occupied by the

Japanese Empire The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From 1910 to ...

. After the Japanese surrender in 1945, all British government institutions in Hong Kong, including the land boundary primarily running across the

were restored. Since the late 1940s, there has been a refugee wave from mainland China due to the instability inland, and the British authorities in Hong Kong were forced to make a decision regarding the border to prevent an influx of refugees from overwhelming the already-crowded city. In April 1949, the British decided to close the border and end the free movement that existed prior. By 1952, the Chinese authorities had done the same, and the border officially became closed and required permits to cross through. In 1984, the governments of the United Kingdom and the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

(PRC) concluded the Sino-British Joint Declaration on the Question of Hong Kong, under which the sovereignty of the leased territories, together with Hong Kong Island and

(south of Boundary Street) ceded under the

(1860), was transferred to the PRC on 1 July 1997, maintaining the current land boundary primarily running across the

,Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau, The Government of the HKSAR
"The Joint Declaration"
and following pages, 1 July 2007. however the

Hong Kong Basic Law The Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China is a national law of China that serves as the organic law for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). With nine chapters, 160 article ...

modified and extended the size of Hong Kong's maritime boundary with

in 1997.

Historical maps

File:Map of The Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory in 1898 - 1.jpg, One of the earliest documents, marking the boundaries of the then

with

. File:Hong Kong 1962 map.jpg, Map of the boundaries of Hong Kong during the Colonial period until 1997.

Immigration control points

As of 2024, 8 out of Hong Kong's 13 points of entry or

border crossing Border control comprises measures taken by governments to monitor and regulate the movement of people, animals, and goods across land, air, and maritime borders. While border control is typically associated with international borders, it als ...

s controlled by the Immigration Department are located on or cross the land border fence.Control Point Locations - Hong Kong Immigration Department
/ref> Entry and exit immigration clearance into Hong Kong by sea can be cleared at 3 ferry terminals:, and the other 2 out of 13 immigration clearance points in Hong Kong are located in the

Hong Kong West Kowloon railway station Hong Kong West Kowloon station (abbreviated WEK) is the southern terminus of and the only station on the Hong Kong section of the Guangshengang XRL. The station connects to China's high-speed rail (HSR) network across the border through ded ...

and at the

Hong Kong International Airport Hong Kong International Airport is an international airport on the island of Chek Lap Kok in western Hong Kong. The airport is also referred to as Chek Lap Kok International Airport or Chek Lap Kok Airport, to distinguish it from its predec ...

References

{{Immigration Control Stations in Hong Kong H Borders of Hong Kong Borders of China British Hong Kong Law enforcement in Hong Kong North District, Hong Kong Yuen Long District

History

Historical maps

Immigration control points

See also

References