Bilingual freeway signs in Chek Lap Kok.

Hong Kong SAR is bilingual, as its residents speak English and Cantonese which are both official languages of Hong Kong under the Hong Kong Basic Law (Article 9) and the Official Languages Ordinance (Chapter 5). Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Chek Lap Kok (Chinese: 赤鱲角; Jyutping: cek3 laap6 gok3; Cantonese IPA: ; Pinyin: Chìliè Jiǎo; Red Perch Cape) is an island in the western waters of Hong Kong. ... A Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the Peoples Republic of China is an administrative division of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). ... The term bilingualism (from bi meaning two and lingua meaning language) can refer to rather different phenomena. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Cantonese is a major dialect group or language of the Chinese language, a member of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. ...

English as an Official Language

Flag of British Hong Kong. (Used until handover in 1997)

The British colonized Hong Kong in 1840 as a free port to serve as an entrepôt of the British Empire, so the British Authorities and businessmen would have spoken English. The white HongKongers (or Hongkongese) remained the ethnic and linguistic majority until the early 1900s when Chinese immigration began to outnumber the British. The British who were still in control of the colony, continued to use English as an official language, as well as adding Chinese as an official language of the colony. Today, even after the handover of the colony, English is still used in law, business (especially dealing with British-owned businesses and International firms) and is still taught in schools and spoken by over 30% of the population. The British have also left their language on place names within Hong Kong, particularly on Hong Kong Island where the British did most of the colonization. Image File history File links Flag_of_Hong_Kong_1959. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Hong_Kong_1959. ... Year 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar). ... It has been suggested that Benign colonialism be merged into this article or section. ... 1840 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... An entrepôt is a trading centre, or simply a warehouse, where merchandise can be imported and exported without paying import duties, often at a profit. ... The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... White is a racial, political, sociological or cultural classification of people. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999... The transfer of the sovereignty of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to China, often referred to as The Handover, occurred on July 1, 1997. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Students in Rome, Italy. ... The night view of the Island side as seen from the Kowloon side - the opposite side of the Victoria Harbour Hong Kong Island (Traditional Chinese: 香港島; Simplified Chinese: 香港岛; Cantonese Jyutping: hoeng1 gong2 dou2; Mandarin Pinyin: XiānggÇŽngdÇŽo) is the island where the colonial settlement of the Hong Kong territory...

Cantonese as an Official Language

Buddhistic Statues praising the big Buddha (Tian Tan Buddha) on Lantau Island.

Cantonese, the dialect of Chinese spoken in Guangdong and other parts of Southern China eventually became an official language of Hong Kong when the Chinese population of the colony grew. Hong Kong's population reached 6.99 million in 2006, ^[1] of which are about 95% Chinese descent, the majority of which are Cantonese or from ethnic groups such as Hakka and Teochew. Most Chinese HongKongers speak Cantonese at home and about ¹⁄₃ of those know English as a second language. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1200x1600, 550 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Hong Kong Tian Tan Buddha Portal:Hong Kong/Selected picture/August 2006 Portal:China/Selected picture/2006 Portal... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1200x1600, 550 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Hong Kong Tian Tan Buddha Portal:Hong Kong/Selected picture/August 2006 Portal:China/Selected picture/2006 Portal... Media:Example. ... The Big Buddha, on Lantau Island, Hong Kong Tian Tan Buddha from afar Buddhistic statues praising the Tian Tan Buddha The Tian Tan Buddha (Traditional Chinese: ) is a large bronze statue of the Buddha, completed in 1993, and located at Ngong Ping, Lantau Island, in Hong Kong. ... Map of Lantau Island, Hong Kong Lantau Island (based on the local old name of Lantau Peak 爛頭 Làntóu, Ragged Head; 大嶼山/大屿山 pinyin: DàyÇ” shān, Cantonese: Tai yue shan, Big Island Mountain), also Lantao, is the largest island in Hong Kong, located at the mouth of the Pearl... Cantonese is a major dialect group or language of the Chinese language, a member of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. ... Guangdong, often spelt as Kwangtung, is a province on the south coast of the Peoples Republic of China. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Cantonese people (Traditional Chinese: 廣東人; Simplified Chinese: 广东人; Pinyin: GuÇŽngdōng rén; Jyutping: gwong2 dung1 yan4), broadly speaking, are persons originating from the present-day Guangdong province in southern China. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Teochiu can refer to: Chaozhou(潮州), a prefecture-level city in Guangdong Province, China. ... A second language is any language other than the first, or native, language learned; it is typically used because of geographical or social reasons. ...

Other Languages in Hong Kong

Main articles: Demographics of Hong Kong and Languages of Hong Kong

Hong Kong is well-known to be a mixture of ethnicities, and substantial portions of Hongkongers (or Hongkonese) are neither English-speaking nor Chinese. Vietnamese refugees emigrated to Hong Kong and still speak Vietnamese. There are over 25,000 Japanese people in Hong Kong, so it is common to hear Japanese conversations. Japanese is the largest non-official language. There is a significant number of South Asians in Hong Kong. Signboards written in Hindi or Urdu can be seen, and conversation in South Asian languages including Nepali, Sindhi and Punjabi, as well as Urdu and Hindi, can be heard. There are two newspapers written in Nepalese in Hong Kong, The Everest and the Sunrise Weekly Hong Kong. In 2004, the Home Affairs Bureau and Metro Plus AM 1044 jointly launched radio shows Hong Kong-Pak Tonight in Urdu and Harmo Sagarmatha in Nepalese^[2]. Arabic is used frequently among members of Muslim communities in Hong Kong, it is quickly becoming a popular language to learn by students. ^[3]. The population of Hong Kong increased steadily over the last few years of the 1990s, reaching about 7. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Japanese people in Hong Kong are composed primarily of expatriate businesspeople and their families, although there are also a sizable number of single females. ... An anti-discrimination poster in Admiralty MTR station illustrates a few targeted South Asian cultures. ... Hindi ( , Devanagari: or , IAST: , IPA: ), an Indo-European language spoken mainly in northern and central India, is the official language of the Union along with English. ... Urdu ( , , trans. ... Nepali (Khaskura) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in Nepal, Bhutan, and some parts of India and Myanmar (Burma). ... Sindhī (سنڌي, सिन्धी) is the language of the Sindh region of South Asia, which is now a province of Pakistan. ... Punjabi (also Panjabi; in Gurmukhī, Panjābī in Shāhmukhī) is the language of the Punjab regions of India and Pakistan. ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... AM broadcasting is radio broadcasting using Amplitude Modulation. ... Urdu ( , , trans. ... Arabic ( or just ) is the largest living member of the Semitic language family in terms of speakers. ... There is also a collection of Hadith called Sahih Muslim A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Persian: Mosalman or Mosalmon Urdu: مسلمان, Turkish: Müslüman, Albanian: Mysliman, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of the religion of Islam. ...

See Also

• Bilingualism in Canada
• English Language
• Cantonese
• Colonial Hong Kong
• Bilingual Streetsign
• Culture of Hong Kong
• Literature of Hong Kong
• Demographics of Hong Kong
• Hong Kong English
• Chinglish
• Chinese Pidgin English

Anti-clockwise: Hong Kong Cantonese, Hong Kong English, Mandarin Chinese, Korean, transliterated Japanese, Tagalog.

Bilingual (English/French) stop sign on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Cantonese is a major dialect group or language of the Chinese language, a member of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. ... The History of Hong Kong began as a coastal island geographically located in southern China. ... Bilingual sign (or, by extension Multilingual) is the representation on a panel (sign, usually traffic sign, safety sign and informational sign) of texts in more than one language. ... Chinese people in Hong Kong have adopted many western folkways, but a substantial number of them still adhere to traditional Chinese traditions on various aspects of social living; for instance family solidarity, “courtesy and face” in interpersonal relationship. ... Literature of Hong Kong is writing from Hong Kong or by writers based in Hong Kong. ... The population of Hong Kong increased steadily over the last few years of the 1990s, reaching about 7. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... An example of written chinglish on a signpost. ... Chinese Pidgin English is a Pidgin language of Nauru and other countries in Asia and Oceania. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Cantonese is a major dialect group or language of the Chinese language, a member of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... This article is on all of the Northern Chinese dialects. ... Japanese  ) is a language spoken by over 130 million people, in Japan and Japanese emigrant communities around the world. ... Tagalog (pronunciation: ) is one of the major languages of the Republic of the Philippines. ...

Footnotes