[:en]New Territories[:zh]新界[:] – Hong Kong history 香港歷史

New Territories is one of the three main regions of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong’s territory, and contains around half of the population of Hong Kong. Historically, it is the region described in The Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory. According to that the territories comprise the mainland area north of the Boundary Street of Kowloon Peninsula and south of the Sham Chun River which is the border between Hong Kong and Mainland China, as well as over 200 outlying Islands including Lantau Island, Lamma Island, Cheung Chau, and Peng Chau in the territory of Hong Kong.

Later, after New Kowloon was defined from the area between the Boundary Street and the Kowloon Ranges spanned from Lai Chi Kok to Lei Yue Mun, and the extension of the urban areas of Kowloon, New Kowloon was gradually urbanised and absorbed into Kowloon. In modern times New Kowloon is almost always considered[by whom?] part of Kowloon and instead of the New Territories – except statutorily.

Hence, the New Territories now comprises only the mainland north of the Kowloon Ranges and south of the Sham Chun River, as well as the Outlying Islands. It comprises an area of 952 km2 (368 sq mi). Nevertheless, New Kowloon has remained statutorily part of the New Territories instead of Kowloon.

The New Territories were leased from Qing China to the United Kingdom in 1898 for 99 years in the Second Convention of Peking (The Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory). Upon the expiration of the lease, sovereignty was transferred to the People’s Republic of China in 1997, together with the Qing ceded territories of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon Peninsula.

History
Hong Kong Island was ceded to Britain in 1842 and Kowloon south of Boundary Street and Stonecutters Island in 1860. The colony of Hong Kong attracted a large number of Chinese and Westerners to seek their fortune in the city. Its population increased rapidly and the city became overcrowded. The outbreak of bubonic plague in 1894 became a concern to the Hong Kong Government. There was a need to expand the colony to accommodate its growing population. The Qing Dynasty’s defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War had shown that it was incapable of defending itself. Victoria City and Victoria Harbour were vulnerable to any hostile forces launching attacks from the hills of Kowloon.

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新界是香港全境三大區域之一，也是香港境內除香港島及九龍外的其餘區域。新界可以分為兩大部份，分別是與九龍半島相連的新界內陸和以大嶼山為主的233個島嶼所組成的離島。新界內陸面積為747.18平方公里，連同233個離島計算，總面積則為975.23平方公里，佔香港陸地總面積接近90%，而52.2%香港人口居於新界。

歷史
秦始皇平定百越之後，今天的新界被納入爲秦境，屬番禺縣管轄。由晉朝至明朝初期期間，今天的新界之地曾分別屬寶安縣、東官縣、東莞縣，廣州府等行政區管轄。至明朝，寶安縣改名爲新安縣，竝屬之管轄。直至1898年6月9日，即英國在香港島建立殖民地的56年後，英國政府與清政府在北京簽訂《展拓香港界址專條》，租借由九龍界限街以北，至深圳河以南土地，連同附近233個島嶼，為期99年，到1997年為止。然而在1899年4月14日，英國在接管新界時，遭新界原居民反抗，爆發新界六日戰，4月19日才正式接管。自此，原屬新安縣（即寶安縣）之深圳河以南土地（包括新界、新九龍）才屬於英國管有。與此同時新安縣（即寶安縣）失去大片土地，剩餘土地僅得深圳河以北至東莞縣，即今日深圳市的大部分土地。

由於新租借的土地並沒有統一名稱，所以英國人便把這塊土地稱為「New Territories」（即「新領土」），中文名稱「新界」，可指為「新的租界」之意。分隔租借地（新界）和割讓地（九龍）的界限線後來發展為界限街。惟因城市發展，界限街以北至九龍群山以南之土地已歸入九龍一部分，稱為「新九龍」。但根據《香港法例》第1章釋義及通則條例附表5，新界的定義仍包括新九龍。

此外由於十八區區界變更，新界的範圍亦隨着改變。