If you want one map on one wall that shows Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories together, you want what collectors call a whole-territory sheet.
The phrase means two different things either side of 1898, and that difference decides which year you should hang. This piece sets out the five years most people end up choosing between.
1. What "whole territory" means
A whole-territory sheet covers Hong Kong Island, the Kowloon peninsula and the New Territories on one sheet, at a scale large enough to place each district but not to read every street.
The dividing line is 1898. Before that, "Hong Kong" meant the island (1842) plus Kowloon (1860); the New Territories were leased in 1898 for ninety-nine years. So pre-1898 sheets show Hong Kong, Kowloon and the surrounding Xin'an county; only after 1898 do you get maps labelled with the New Territories as such.
2. Five years, and what each one adds
| Year | Coverage | What the sheet shows |
|---|---|---|
| 1890 | Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, Xin'an | As it looked before the 1898 lease |
| 1909 | Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, New Territories | Dated additions printed in the margin |
| 1919 | Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, New Territories | After the railway ran the full length |
| 1924 | Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, New Territories | Kai Tak not yet open, Kowloon Bay not yet reclaimed |
| 1935 | Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, New Territories | Kai Tak in operation, Kowloon City changing |
The differences are less about draughtsmanship than about the state of the city. The 1909 sheet carries dated additions in its margin; on the 1924 sheet Kowloon Bay is still water and Kai Tak is not yet open; by 1935 Kai Tak is operating and Kowloon City is changing.
3. 1890: before the New Territories were leased
The 1890 sheet shows the pre-1898 arrangement: the island, the Kowloon peninsula, and the surrounding county. Compared with later whole-territory maps, the give-away is the boundary — there is no formal New Territories line drawn across it.
4. 1909: the dated edition
The most practical thing about the 1909 sheet is the dated note printed in the margin. You do not need to remember which printing you have; the sheet tells you. It is the quickest way to tell two printings of the same map apart.
5. 1924 and 1935: either side of Kai Tak
On the 1924 sheet Kowloon Bay is still water and the airport is not yet open. Put it beside the 1935 sheet and you can watch the bay being filled in, stage by stage.
By 1935 Kai Tak is operating and Kowloon City is changing. If you want the moment Hong Kong acquired an airport, the 1935 sheet shows it most directly.
6. Choosing: three questions
Which period? Before 1898, take 1890 or earlier. Early twentieth century, 1909. Interwar, 1924 or 1935.
How wide is the wall? Whole-territory sheets carry a lot of detail: 50×70 cm and up is where district names stay readable. Narrow walls suit the long-format sheets.
Do you want the date printed on the sheet? If yes, 1909.
7. The margin is worth reading
Most people look at the coastline and ignore the margin, which is usually where the most useful information sits: the year, the printing, the scale, the publisher. Those are exactly the details that separate one version from another.
A sheet can carry 1898 in its title and still be a later printing: "War Office, Aug.1905" and "Additions, Dec.1909" printed at the edge tell you it was issued in 1905 and updated in 1909. If your copy has notes like that, you do not have to guess.
8. Landscape or long format?
Whole-territory sheets are usually landscape, which suits the wall above a sofa or a bed. For a narrow wall — a corridor, the gap between two doors — the long-format sheets (for example 25 × 50 cm or 50 × 100 cm) sit flatter and project less.
A practical rule: a wall wider than about 120 cm takes a landscape 50×70 or larger; a wall narrower than about 80 cm takes a long-format sheet.
One last thing worth knowing before you choose: the same bay can look completely different on two sheets twenty years apart, and that gap is the point. A single map shows you a place; two maps show you what happened to it.
See them in print
All five years are available on canvas, digitally restored, in six sizes from A4 to 80×120 cm, with an optional solid wood frame in natural, black or white.
See the old Hong Kong map canvas collection (18 years)
Sources consulted
- LCSD: Hong Kong City Hall
- Hongkong Post: General Post Office
- Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal
- Lands Department, Hong Kong Map Service 2.0
Related reading
Xin'an County maps: 1819 vs 1866 Volonteri
Kai Tak Airport in 1955
Buying guide: year, size and material