Why go
The contrast between high-rise living and less-developed hills helps explain why a short journey can feel like a large change of setting. Hong Kong identity also reaches beyond Chinese ancestry. Southern Chinese migration, post-war arrivals and communities connected with colonial trade and administration all contributed to the population a visitor encounters.
The full story
Hong Kong’s population history cannot be read as a single unchanging total. Early nineteenth-century counts covered Hong Kong Island, including villages, market settlement and people living on boats. Later figures included Kowloon, while the New Territories entered the territorial picture in 1898. Comparing those counts without their boundaries obscures how the city itself expanded. Migration from Guangdong and other parts of southern China helped establish Cantonese-speaking communities. Arrivals after the Second World War added further layers, alongside British, Indian, Russian and other communities associated with trade and colonial administration. The term Hongkonger does not require Chinese descent. High-rise housing concentrates residents in built-up districts while much of the territory remains hills, parks and woodland. This distinction matters when reading population density: an overall average can hide sharp differences between urban streets and the wider landscape. Migration and settlement geography explain more than a dated numerical ranking.