HKDSE Geography/E1/Hong Kong's Landscape

In this chapter, we will look at how various factors shape Hong Kong's landscape. Let's look at Hong Kong's general landscape first.

Relief	Hilly
Slopes	Steep
Highest point	Tai Mo Shan
Ridges	NE to SW; disjointed with abrupt height changes
Points of high altitude	East NT, central Lantau
Natural lowlands	Rare; found as narrow coastal plains and river valleys
Floodplains	Largest extent of lowland: Yuen Long, Kam Tin, Faling, all floodplains
Coastal plains	In bay areas and reclaimed lowlands (both sides of Victoria Harbour)
Rivers	Numerous
Longest river	Sham Chun River
Other rivers	Short and lack a middle course
Gradient	Steep until they reach lowlands
Section before lowlands	Upper course
After that	Lower course
Rivers	Straight
Rivers drain into	Small lowland basins like Sha Tin Valley, Mui Wo
Stream order	3 to 4
Most common drainage patterns	Dendritic is the most common, followed by radial and rectangular
Coastline	Long and indented
Landforms	Bays, headlands, peninsulas, offshore islands
Largest island	Lantau
Submerged landscape	In East NT; created in the last glacial age when the sea level rose*

*Hills became islands. Spurs and ridges became headlands. Valleys became water inlets like Tolo Channel.

In later parts, we will discuss how Hong Kong's landscape is affected by rock type, internal and external processes, and human activities.