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30-691: Settlements in the area, except the Islands District, have been connected by the Castle Peak Road since its completion in the 1920s, which also links Kowloon and facilitates trading. In 1985, " West New Territories " and " South New Territories " electoral-college constituencies were created. West New Territories consisted of Yuen Long District and Tuen Mun District , while South New Territories consisted of Tsuen Wan District , Islands District and Sai Kung District . The electoral colleges lasted for two terms until they were replaced by

60-640: 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. Alarmed by the encroachment of other European powers in China, Britain also feared for

90-423: A population density of 4,140 per square kilometre (10,720/sq mi). 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

120-732: Is also commonly called "main road" ( 大馬路 ). This section was bypassed by the Yuen Long Highway in 1992. It then turns north at Au Tau , just west of Kam Tin . This section is paralleled by San Tin Highway , constructed between 1991 and 1993. It then passes through Mai Po , San Tin , Lok Ma Chau (near the Chinese border), Pak Shek Au and Kwu Tung before terminating at Fan Kam Road in Sheung Shui . New Territories The New Territories (abbr. N.T. , Chinese : 新界)

150-490: Is divided into 22 sections. It serves south, west and north New Territories , being one of the most distant roads in early Hong Kong. The road was named after Castle Peak , a peak in the western New Territories. The area to the east of the peak was hence named Castle Peak. Later at the dawn of the development of new town, the area was renamed to its old name, Tuen Mun. The road was originally known in Chinese as Tsing Shan To ( 青山道 ) for its entire length. The Chinese name of

180-584: Is one of the three areas 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 treaty, the territories comprise the mainland area north of Boundary Street on

210-672: Is one-way eastbound between Kom Tsun Street & its terminus at Tai Po Road. After leaving New Kowloon, it goes uphill past Kau Wa Keng and Tai Ching Cheung along a four-lane expressway to Kwai Chung and downhill into Tsuen Wan. The stretch within Tsuen Wan is also commonly called "main road" ( 大馬路 ), especially among the older generations. Next, it goes along the south shore of the Western New Territories, via Yau Kom Tau , Ting Kau , Sham Tseng , Tsing Lung Tau , Tai Lam , Siu Lam and So Kwun Wat and then reaches

240-549: The Democratic Party , merger of the United Democrats and Meeting Point. Following the handover in 1997, the " New Territories West " constituency replaced the colonial constituencies. It remained in place until 2021 under the change of electoral system, " New Territories North ", " New Territories North West ", and " New Territories South West " were installed as the new constituencies. The Islands District

270-567: The Six-Day War of 1899 , a number of clans attempted to resist the British, mobilising clan militias that had been organised and armed to protect against longshore raids by pirates. The militia men attempted a frontal attack against the temporary police station in Tai Po that was the main British base but were beaten back by superior force of arms. An attempt by the clansmen at guerilla warfare

300-646: The Tuen Mun New Town , which was also known as Castle Peak (after which the road was named). Much of this stretch was bypassed by Tuen Mun Road between 1977 and 1983. This section is popular with cyclists as it links Tuen Mun and Tsuen Wan. It continues north-east as a six-laned road, paralleling the Light Rail through Lam Tei , Hung Shui Kiu , Ping Shan and goes through another new town, Yuen Long New Town . The section within Yuen Long, again,

330-647: The United Democrats of Hong Kong (UDHK) and Meeting Point won three of the four seats, with one of the seats in New Territories West taken by Tai Chin-wah with a strong rural background. Tai was soon founded guilty of fraud and the vacancy was taken up by Zachary Wong of the Meeting Point. Another by-election was held in New Territories West after Ng Ming-yum of the Meeting Point died of cancer, of which Tang Siu-tong who had

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360-714: 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 expiry 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. In 2021, the population of the New Territories was recorded at 3,984,077, with

390-623: The geographical constituencies in 1991 when the first direct election to the Legislative Council were introduced. In the 1991 election, the directly elected " New Territories West " and " New Territories South " constituencies were created, each returning two members to the Legislative Council using the two-seat constituency two vote system. New Territories West continued to consist of Yuen Long and Tuen Mun Districts, while New Territories South consisted of Tsuen Wan, Islands and Kwai Tsing Districts . The pro-democracy coalition of

420-489: The indigenous inhabitants with regards to land use, land inheritance and marriage laws; the majority of which remained in place into the 1960s when polygamy was outlawed. Some of the concessions with regard to land use and inheritance remain in place in Hong Kong to this day and is a source of friction between indigenous inhabitants and other Hong Kong residents. Lord Lugard was Governor from 1907 to 1912, and he proposed

450-558: The 1980s, talks between the United Kingdom and the People's Republic of China led to the signing of the Sino-British Joint Declaration (1984), in which the whole of Hong Kong would be returned, instead of only the New Territories. The New Territories comprises nine districts each with their own District Council : According to the 2021 census , the population of the New Territories was 3,984,077, representing 53.7% of Hong Kong's total population. 90.4% of

480-679: The 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

510-614: The extension of the urban areas of Kowloon, New Kowloon was gradually urbanised and absorbed into Kowloon. 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 square kilometres (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 by

540-558: The facilitation of trade and police control as reasons for the road's construction. It was built and gradually widened in sections. The road starts east at Tai Po Road in Sham Shui Po and passes through Cheung Sha Wan and Lai Chi Kok in New Kowloon. On both sides of the road are old residential blocks, with some dated back to pre- World War II . Towards Lai Chi Kok, it is surrounded by industrial buildings instead. The road

570-406: The late 1970s, when many new towns were built to accommodate the population growth from urbanised areas of Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. Despite rapid development of the new towns, which now accommodate a population of over 3 million, the Hong Kong Government confines built-up areas to a few areas and reserves large parts of the region as parkland . As the expiry date of the lease neared in

600-430: The residents of New Territories use Cantonese as their main language. 3.5% of its residents use English , 2.0% use Mandarin Chinese , and 2.3% of New Territories' residents use other Chinese dialects. 93.1% of the district's population is of Chinese descent. The largest ethnic minority groups are Filipinos (2.1%), Indonesians (1.8%), South Asians (1.1%), Mixed (0.8%) and Whites (0.7%). New Kowloon covers

630-417: The return of Weihaiwei to the Chinese government, in return for the ceding of the leased New Territories in perpetuity. The proposal was not received favourably, although if it had been acted on, Hong Kong might have remained forever in British hands. Much of the New Territories was, and to a limited extent still is, made up of rural areas. Attempts at modernising the area did not become fully committed until

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660-401: The rural support was elected. The electoral system was overhauled after one term, replaced by the single-constituency single-vote system in the 1995 Legislative Council election with five new constituencies, namely " New Territories North-west ", " New Territories West ", " New Territories Central ", " New Territories South-west " and " New Territories South ". All five seats were taken by

690-569: The section of the road in the New Territories was later changed to Tsing Shan Kung Lo ( 青山公路 ) Lit. "Castle Peak public road" or "Castle Peak Highway". In everyday conversation, however, the term Tsing Shan To survives for the stretches within Tsuen Wan and Yuen Long. The road was constructed soon after the British leased the New Territories in 1898. Speaking in the Legislative Council in 1909, Governor Frederick Lugard cited

720-805: The security of Hong Kong. Using the most favoured nation clause that it had negotiated with Peking, the United Kingdom demanded the extension of Kowloon to counter the influence of France in southern China in June 1898. In July, it secured Weihaiwei in Shandong in the north as a base for operations against the Germans in Qingdao (Tsingtao) and the Russians in Port Arthur. Chinese officials stayed in

750-537: The takeover of the New Territories was fixed as 17 April 1899, and Tai Po was chosen as the administrative centre. The transfer was not smooth and peaceful. In early April 1899, Captain Superintendent of Police, Francis Henry May and some policemen erected a flagstaff and temporary headquarters at Tai Po and posted the Governor's proclamation of the takeover date. Fearing for their traditional land rights, in

780-562: The town. There was no mountain range as a natural border. Lockhart suggested moving the frontier to the line of hills north of Shenzhen. This suggestion was not received favourably and the Chinese official suggested the frontier be moved to the hill much further south of the Sham Chun River. It was settled in March 1899 that the boundary remain at the Sham Chun River. The new Hong Kong Governor, Henry Blake arrived in November 1898. The date for

810-430: The walled cities of Kowloon City and Weihaiwei. The extension of Kowloon was called the New Territories. The additional land was estimated to be 365 square miles (950 km ) or 12 times the size of the existing Colonial Hong Kong at the time. Although the convention was signed on the 9 June 1898 and became effective on 1 July, the British did not take over the New Territories immediately. During this period, there

840-491: Was no Hong Kong Governor and Wilsone Black acted as administrator. James Stewart Lockhart , the Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong , was sent back from England to make a survey of New Territories before formal transfer. The survey found that the new frontier at Sham Chun River (Shenzhen river) suggested by Wilsone Black was far from ideal. It excluded the town of Shenzhen (Sham Chun), and the boundary would divide

870-467: Was put down by the British near Lam Tsuen with over 500 Chinese men killed, and collapsed when British artillery was brought to bear on the walled villages of the clansmen. Most prominent of the villages in the resistance Kat Hing Wai , of the Tang clan , was symbolically disarmed, by having its main gates dismounted and removed. However, in order to prevent future resistance the British made concessions to

900-548: Was redistributed to Hong Kong Island West constituency for the first time. Castle Peak Road Castle Peak Road is the longest road in Hong Kong. Completed in 1920, it runs in the approximate shape of an arc of a semi-circle. It runs West from Tai Po Road in Sham Shui Po , New Kowloon , to Tuen Mun , then north to Yuen Long then east to Sheung Shui , in the very north of the New Territories . It

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