Hong Kong

Hong Kong (香港; "Fragrant Harbour"), officially Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, is an autonomous territory on the southern coast of China at the Pearl River Estuary and the South China Sea. Hong Kong is known for its skyline and deep natural harbour. It has a land area of 1104 km² and shares its northern border with Guangdong Province of Mainland China. With around 7.2 million inhabitants of various nationalities, Hong Kong is one of the world's most densely populated metropolises.

After the First Opium War (1839–42), Hong Kong became a British colony with the perpetual cession of Hong Kong Island, followed by Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 and a 99-year lease of the New Territories from 1898. Hong Kong remained under British control for about a century until the Second World War, when Japan occupied the colony from December 1941 to August 1945. After the Surrender of Japan, the British resumed control. In the 1980s, negotiations between the United Kingdom and the China resulted in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, which provided for the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong on 30 June 1997. The territory became a special administrative region of China with a high degree of autonomy on 1 July 1997 under the principle of one country, two systems. Disputes over the perceived misapplication of this principle have contributed to popular protests, including the 2014 Umbrella Revolution.

List of minor planets: 3001–4000

See also

D-Sides

D-Sides is a 2007 compilation album by the British virtual band Gorillaz. The album contains B-sides and remixes from singles and bonus tracks for the band's second studio album Demon Days. It was released on 19 November 2007 in the UK and on 20 November in the United States and is available in standard and deluxe editions. The Japanese deluxe edition includes three extra tracks, plus the video for 'Rockit'.D-Sides performed similarly to its 2002 predecessor, G Sides, reaching #63 on the UK Albums Chart, while it reached #166 on the US Billboard 200 chart.

Background

In a 2006 interview with Verbicide Magazine, band members were asked if a new remix album would be produced for Demon Days as there was for Gorillaz. They answered that it was a possibility and that might involve the Spacemonkeyz again. In the same interview, they were asked if there might also be another G Sides. Again, their answer was that it might be possible. In January 2007, websites began listing a March release date for a Phase 2 B-sides album. One of the websites, musictap.net, later pushed this back to 3 April. According to Gorillaz-Unofficial, the reaction of official parties behind Gorillaz is that the release date is just a rumour for now. On 29 August, musictap.net reported that the B-side album would be titled D-Sides and would be released on 20 November. On 18 September 2007, the official Gorillaz fansite confirmed the release of the album, as well as unveiling the album artwork and track listing. D-Sides was released on 19 November 2007 in the UK and on 20 November 2007 in the U.S.

Legislative Council of Hong Kong

The Legislative Council (Chinese: 立法會) or the LegCo is the unicameral legislature of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

The meetings of the Legislative Council is held at Legislative Council Complex since 2011. It has 70 members in which 35 returned from geographical constituencies plus 5 from a District Council functional constituency by direct elections; and 30 returned from other functional constituencies by indirect elections.

Under the Articles 66 to 79 of the Basic Law of Hong Kong, the main functions of the Legislative Council are to enact, amend or repeal laws; examine and approve budgets, taxation and public expenditure; and raise questions on the work of the government. In addition, the Legislative Council is also given the power to endorse the appointment and removal of the judges of the Court of Final Appeal and the Chief Judge of the High Court, as well as the power to impeach the Chief Executive of Hong Kong.

Article 68 of the Basic Law states the ultimate aim is the election of all the members of the Legislative Council by universal suffrage. Together with the similar article for Chief Executive, Article 68 has helped make universal suffrage of the Legislative Council and Chief Executive the most dominant issue of Hong Kong politics.

Legislative Council of Fiji

The Fijian Legislative Council was the colonial precursor to the present-day Parliament, which came into existence when Fiji became independent on 10 October 1970.

The first Legislative Council

Immediately after Fiji was ceded to the United Kingdom, on 10 October 1874, the first Governor, Sir Hercules Robinson, established an Executive Council with himself as President and comprising six other Europeans. This was a temporary measure to make policy decisions necessary to found and legitimize the new Colonial Government and to carry out the day-to-day affairs of the Government. With the arrival of Sir Arthur Gordon, on 1 September 1875, a permanent machinery for governing the new colony was established. In addition to the Executive Council, Gordon established a Legislative Council composed entirely of nominated members, of whom six were official (public officers, usually heads of Government departments), including the Governor of Fiji, the Colonial Secretary (the day-to-day executive power), the Chief Justice of Fiji and the Attorney General of Fiji; and four unofficial (representatives of the community not directly employed by the Government) members nominated by the Governor with the approval of the Secretary of State for the Colonies. Thus all ten members of the Legislative Council were Europeans.

Legislative Council (Nyasaland)

The Legislative Council was the legislature of Nyasaland.

History

The Legislative Council was established in 1907 by the Nyasaland Order in Council. It initially consisted of the Governor, several ex-officio members, including the Attorney General, the Chief Secretary and the financial Financial Secretary, official members (Europeans employed by the British authorities), unofficial members (Europeans not employed by the authorities) and extraordinary members who were appointed by the Governor when special advice was required. The new Council met for the first time on 7 May 1908. In the first Council the unofficial members had a five-year term, reduced to three thereafter.

By 1932 the Chamber of Agriculture and Commerce was responsible for nominating two candidates for vacancies of the unofficial (from which the Governor would choose), whilst one member was usually appointed from the Missionary Societies. In 1932 the number of official and unofficial members was increased to four of each.

Legislative Council of Kenya

The Legislative Council (LegCo) was the legislature of Kenya between 1907 and 1963.

History

The Legislative Council was established in 1907 in order to serve as a legislature for the East Africa Protectorate. Initially a wholly-appointed body, it met for the first time in August 1907. The first elections took place in 1920, in which eleven European members were elected. Appointed members remained in the majority.

By the next elections in 1924, an addition five seats for Indians and one for Arabs had been added, although the Indian population boycotted the elections in protest at not being given parity with Europeans. Only one Indian was elected in 1927, and the Indian seats were filled from 1931 onwards. The first African was appointed to the Council in 1944.

Prior to the 1952 elections the number of European constituencies was increased to 14 and the Indian seats to six. Elections under this system were held in 1956, but supplementary elections were held in 1957 to elect eight African members for the first time.