Kowloon

Kowloon, administrative area of Hong Kong, forming a peninsula of the mainland China coast, across Victoria Harbor from Hong Kong Island. Kowloon is an important transportation, manufacturing, and tourist area, as well as a densely populated residential and commercial zone. It has a total area of 11.9 sq km (4.6 sq mi).

Kowloon is the site of Hong Kong Baptist University, founded in 1965, and two polytechnic institutions. There is a large mosque on the main commercial artery, Nathan Road, and several small parks, including Kowloon Park, where the Hong Kong Museum of History is located. The Hong Kong Cultural Center, the Space Museum, and the Hong Kong Museum of Art are located on the waterfront at the southern tip of the peninsula.

Regular and frequent ferry service connects Kowloon to Hong Kong Island. Motor vehicle and mass transit tunnels run under Victoria Harbor.

Kowloon was part of China until 1860, when it was ceded to Britain following China’s defeat in the Second Opium War (see Opium Wars). The British initially used the area to protect Victoria Harbor and stationed colonial troops there, but Kowloon also quickly developed important port facilities. More significant development of Kowloon occurred after 1898, when China leased the adjacent New Territories to Britain. This added a substantial population and land area to support commercial and industrial development in Kowloon. It also permitted urban expansion northward, beyond the original Kowloon region, to include the area called New Kowloon. By 1910 a railway had been completed between Kowloon and the Chinese city of Guangzhou, and Kowloon became an important transit point for trade and traffic with China. Port and storage facilities expanded, industrial growth soon followed, and Kowloon developed as one of several important manufacturing sites in Hong Kong. Since the 1950s, Kowloon has continued to grow and prosper as Hong Kong has developed into an important Asian market. Kowloon, like the rest of Hong Kong, returned to Chinese control on July 1, 1997. Population, including New Kowloon (2006) 2,019,533.