Hong Kong is one of two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China; the other is Macau. Situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour. With a land mass of 1,104 km2 (426 sq mi) and a population of 7,008,300 people in 2009, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Hong Kong's population is 95% ethnic Chinese and 5% from other groups.

Under the principle of 'one country, two systems', Hong Kong runs on economic and political systems different from those of mainland China. Hong Kong is one of the world's leading international financial centres, with a major capitalist service economy characterised by low taxation, free trade and minimum government intervention under the ethos of positive non-interventionism. The Hong Kong dollar is the ninth most traded currency in the world.

Its highly developed capitalist economy has been ranked the freest in the world by the Index of Economic Freedom for 15 consecutive years. It is an important centre for international finance and trade, with one of the greatest concentration of corporate headquarters in the Asia-Pacific region. Hong Kong is known as one of the four Asian Tigers for its high growth rates and rapid development between the 1960s and 1990s. In addition, Hong Kong's gross domestic product, between 1961 and 1997, has grown 180 times larger than the former while per capita GDP rose by 87 times.

Education

Education in Hong Kong has a similar system to that of the United Kingdom and was in fact modernised by the British in 1861. The system is extremely competitive by global standards.