Special Administrative Regions

Special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China 中華人民共和國的特別行政區 Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó de tèbié xíngzhèngqū Regiões administrativas especiais da República Popular da China
Flag
Regional flags of Hong Kong and Macau SARs
Macau and Hong Kong in Pearl River Delta in southeastern China
Largest SAR/city	Hong Kong
Languages	Standard Chinese (in Traditional characters), English (in HK), Cantonese (de facto in HK and Macau), Portuguese (in Macau)
Demonym	Chinese
Special Administrative Regions	2 S.A.R.'s Hong Kong Macau
Government	One country, two systems
• Head of State	Xi Jinping
• Head of Central government	Li Keqiang
• Chief Executive of Hong Kong	CY Leung
• Chief Executive of Macau	Fernando Chui Sai On
Area
• Total	1,135.7 km2 (438.5 sq mi)
Population
• 2014 estimate	7,858,800
• Density	6,920/km2 (17,922.7/sq mi)
Currency	Hong Kong dollar Macanese pataca
Date format	yyyy年m月d日 or yyyy-mm-dd or dd/mm/yyyy (CE; CE-1949)

The special administrative regions (SAR) are one type of provincial-level administrative divisions of China directly under Central People's Government, which enjoys the highest degree of autonomy, and no or less interference by either Central Government or the Chinese Communist Party.

The legal basis for the establishment of SARs, unlike the administrative divisions of Mainland China, is provided for by Article 31, rather than Article 30, of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China of 1982. Article 31 reads: "The state may establish special administrative regions when necessary. The systems to be instituted in special administrative regions shall be prescribed by law enacted by the National People's Congress in the light of the specific conditions".

At present, there are two SARs established according to the Constitution, namely the Hong Kong SAR and the Macau SAR, former British and Portuguese dependencies respectively, transferred to China in 1997 and 1999 pursuant to the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984 and the Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration of 1987 respectively. Pursuant to their Joint Declarations, which are binding inter-state treaties registered with the United Nations, and their Basic laws, the Chinese SARs "shall enjoy a high degree of autonomy." There is additionally the Wolong Special Administrative Region in Sichuan province, which is however not established according to Article 31 of the Constitution. Generally, two SARs does not constitute the part of Mainland China by both Chinese and SAR authorities.