Hong Kong (Vegetarian World)

The Nation of Hong Kong (福建) is a member of both the British Commonwealth of Nations and the. It has a long history of colonialism going back to 1841 and only ending in 1997. In 1841, s British fleet commander (without authorization) demanded that Gwong open its ports to trade. Gwong was in a strategic position to trade with East Asian and Southeast Asian countries, and the only trading port in the eastern Orient that the British had control of was Sundarapore. To the ultimatum, Gwong replied that it had no intention of doing any business with the British, and that if Britain continued to push, it would invite another European nation to do business with it instead. To this, the commander ordered his men to invade Hong Kong Island. The British public was shocked when they heard of the commander's actions, invading a sovereign country. However, although the commander was taken off duty, Britain did not give Hong Kong back to Gwong, as it served their interests.

Hong Kong grew from a group of unassuming towns to a major Oriental port over the next hundred years. The Japanese conquered Hong Kong during the, but after the war, it began its greatest period of growth yet. However, after the Pan-Global War, Great Britain started to slowly divest itself of most of its colonies. In 1961, a referendum was voted on by the people of Hong Kong. There were three choices: 1) a continued status as a British crown colony, 2) independence, and 3) unification with Gwong. The result was that 56% of the votes were for continued status as a crown colony, easily defeating the other choices.  (A change in the status quo required 60% of votes.)  Similar referenda were put forward in 1971, 1981, and finally 1991.  With the shocking growth of Sundarapore over the past thirty years, the people of Hong Kong realized that perhaps (already first-world) conditions could improve further if they were granted independence.  This led to over sixty percent (62%) of voters favoring independence in the 1991 referendum.  Finally, in 1997, Hong Kong gained its independence while remaining a member of the British Commonwealth.  With special privileges put forward, it also became a member of the Chinese Union in 2000.

Vegetarianism

 * 83% Vegetarian
 * 17% Non-Vegetarian

Ethnic Groups

 * 93% Han Chinese
 * 05% Europeans (chiefly British)
 * 03% other (Indians, Luzonese, Japanese, etc)

Religion

 * 37% atheist
 * 26% Buddhist*
 * 14% Daoist*
 * 13% agnostic
 * 03% Cathar
 * 03% Jain
 * 01% Hindu
 * 01% Christian
 * 02% other

*Buddhism and Daoism are practiced together by many people. Also, even atheists and agnostics sometimes take part in some religious rituals, even if they aren't religious.)

Languages

 * 57% Jyut
 * 31% English
 * 04% Min languages (chiefly Min Nan)
 * 03% Hakka
 * 03% other Chinese languages
 * 02% other languages