Languages of Hong Kong

The Basic Law of Hong Kong stipulates that Chinese and English are the two official languages of Hong Kong. During the British colonial era, English was the sole official language until 1974. As the majority of the population in Hong Kong are descendants of migrants from China's Canton Province, the vast majority speak standard Cantonese or other Yue Chinese varieties as a first language, with smaller numbers of speakers of Hakka Language or the Teochew dialect of Southern Min. In addition, immigrants and expatriates from the West and other Asian countries have contributed much to Hong Kong's linguistic and demographic diversity.

Chinese and English are both official languages of Hong Kong under the Hong Kong Basic Law (article 9) and the Official Languages Ordinance (chapter 5 of the Laws of Hong Kong). No law stipulates choice of spoken Chinese dialect.

Historically, English was the sole official language of Hong Kong from 1883 to 1974. Only after demonstrations and petitions from Hong Kong people demanding equal status for Chinese did the language become official in Hong Kong from 1974 onward. In March 1987, the Official Languages Ordinance was amended to require all new legislation to be enacted bilingually in both English and Chinese. In 1990, the Hong Kong Basic Law declared English's co-official language status with Chinese after the 1997 handover.

As a result of immigration into Hong Kong from Canton Province, Cantonese is the dominant Chinese variant spoken in the territory with smaller numbers of speakers from other dialects. There are also numerous sinitic languages spoken by the native peoples of the New Territories, many of which are mutually unintelligible. Cantonese is a vernacular and when reduced to writing is normally converted to a standard written Chinese quite dissimilar to the spoken word.

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