The Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong is one of the largest Catholic dioceses in the world. It was established as an apostolic prefecture on April 22, 1841. It became an apostolic vicariate on October 4, 1874, and was made a diocese on April 11, 1946.
Located in the Guangdong Province in southeast China, Hong Kong had been a British colony for almost 150 years, until it became a Special Administrative Region of China after its reversion to China on July 1, 1997.
Within its 1,106 sq. kilometers, Hong Kong has a large foreign population of about 529,870. The top three nationalities are from the Philippines, Indonesia, and the United States. Chinese and English are the official languages, and Cantonese is the most commonly spoken Chinese dialect. Under the Basic Law—the mini-constitution that took effect upon reversion to China—Hong Kong enjoys a high degree of autonomy except in defense and foreign affairs. It exercises executive, legislative, and independent judicial power, including that of final adjudication.
According to the Basic Law, the Chief Executive is selected by election or through consultations held locally and is appointed by the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China.
Hong Kong is a major trading and financial centre of the world. It is also a large exporter of services, including civil aviation, shipping, travel and tourism, trade-related services, and various financial and banking services. It is one of the world's top exporters of garments, watches and clocks, toys, games, electronic products, and certain light industrial products.
The website of the Hong Kong Diocese is: www.catholic.org.hk
