Kowloon

Kowloon 九龍
Kowloon as viewed from Hong Kong Island
Nickname(s): Dragon City
Location within Hong Kong
City	Kowloon
Area
• Land	47 km2 (18 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	2,108,419 (2.1 million)
• Density	43,033/km2 (111,450/sq mi)
Time zone	Hong Kong Time (UTC+8)

Kowloon (/ˌkaʊˈluːn/; Chinese: ; Sidney Lau: gau²lung⁴) is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. It is bordered by the Lei Yue Mun strait to the east, Mei Foo Sun Chuen and Stonecutter's Island to the west, a mountain range, including Tate's Cairn and Lion Rock to the north, and Victoria Harbour to the south. It had a population of 2,019,533 and a population density of 43,033/km² in 2006. The peninsula's area is approximately 47 km² (18 sq mi).

The name Kowloon stems from the term Nine Dragons, which refers to eight mountains and a Chinese emperor: Kowloon Peak, Tung Shan, Tate's Cairn, Temple Hill, Unicorn Ridge, Lion Rock, Beacon Hill, Crow's Nest and Emperor Bing of Song. The part of Kowloon south of Boundary Street, together with Stonecutters Island, was ceded by Qing China to the United Kingdom under the Convention of Peking of 1860. For many years the area remained largely undeveloped, used by the British mainly for tiger-hunting expeditions. The part of Kowloon north of Boundary Street (New Kowloon) was leased by the British as part of the New Territories under the 1898 Second Convention of Peking for 99 years. Within New Kowloon is Kowloon City, which refers to an area of Hong Kong where the Kowloon Walled City used to be located. The Kowloon Walled City itself was demolished in 1993. The same area was called Guanfuchang (官富場) during the Song dynasty (960–1279). Statutorily, "Kowloon" is used to refer to the area south of Boundary Street and the Stonecutters Island. "New Kowloon" has also remained part of the New Territories.