Hong Kong

Located between China, Esperanza and Nippon, Hong Kong (also known as Hong Kong 2) is a city-state conformed by several vertical cities and a Space Port. It is also the main center of legitimate commerce in Midoria, and counting Beijing, the second center of commerce in all the planet.

Hong Kong is home to the Babylon Tower, main office and HQ of Babylon Research.

Geography
The territory of Hong Kong is divided between East and West by the Saang River, which is fed by a moutain range in the North. To avoid water conflicts, the mountain range was included in the territory of Hong Kong. North the mountains and west of Hong Kong is the territory of China.

South of Hong Kong, crossing the Dragon Sea, lies the Island country of Nippon.

East of Hong Kong, crossing the Amerasian Strait, lies the state of New Texas in the country of Esperanza.

External Affairs
Hong Kong is a neutral country. People can cross the borders freely, as Hong Kong has no Visa requirements. However, transit of goods requires going through Customs.

Economic Activity
Since its foundation, Hong Kong was dedicated to commerce. Being between three countries, Hong Kong is home to several commercial treaties.

Mining is forbidden in Hong Kong.

Government
The government of Hong Kong is democratic; Every 5 years a new president is elected.

Citadels also elect their governor, and the laws of each Citadel are independent from each other. There is only one common rule among citadels: Citizens must pay taxes. This rule is specially important in the citadels above The Slums, because Police are a necessity to prevent looting and invasions from the ground.

Internal Political Division
Hong Kong is divided into six main regions: East Coast, West Coast, East Mainland, West Mainland, the Farm Lands, and the Space Port.

East Coast
The East Coast is the more luxurious part of Hong Kong. With 2 vertical cities or citadels, and various hotels along the coast, it is the center of tourism of Hong Kong. The heavily guarded fishing docks are also located in the East Coast.

East Mainland
With 4 citadels surrounded by a highly regulated urban zone, East Mainland is the Commercial region of Hong Kong. The Babylon Tower, main HQ of Babylon Research, was erected in the middle of the 4 citadels. Several android factories and the pyramidal HQ of Zigurat Labor Resources are also located in East Mainland Hong Kong.

West Coast
The West Coast of Hong Kong is the second-poorest part of the country. The Lower Markets are located here, and are protected by self-organized local police forces, conformed in the majority by former Techno Goons. People from the Citadels, protected by bodyguards, use to buy food and raw clothing materials here due to their lower costs, even taking into account the Police Tax. The Police Tax is an informal tax which funds the local police.

West Mainland
The West Mainland of Hong Kong, whose ground level is called "The Slums" or "The Wormhole", is the poorest part of the country. Due to the stratification of its lower-class citadels (also called The Bird Cages), citadel families whose members have a higher crime rate are pushed to lower strata of the citadels, with repeat offenders reaching the lowest strata. To prevent a family from being dishonored in such way, undesirable members of a family are expelled from the citadel altogether, leading to the high criminal rate in the slums.

As the population density increases in the slums, new citadels are built in previously agreed sectors. Families are eager to exchange their houses for citadel spaces. Currently there are 10 Bird Cages in the West Mainland.

Frequent police raids in the slums led to the birth of Techno Goons, bands of mercenaries and violent criminals who offer their services in exchange for money, protection from the Police, or cybernetic implants. The Black Market of Hong Kong is located somewhere within the wormhole, and can only be found by knowing the right people.

The Industrial Zone of Hong Kong is located in the easternmost part of the West Mainland. It's heavily guarded by robots and militarized androids.

The Farm Lands
Controlled by joined forces of local and state Police, the farm lands are the horizontal farming parts of Hong Kong. Farmers live in rural communes, away from the technological chaos of the city. Techno Goons are not admitted in the Farm Lands unless they don all their visible implants or exchange their electromechanical implants for biomechanical ones.

The Space Port
Located at the bottom of a small peninsula South West of the country, the Space Port uses its Mass Driver to send shuttles to The Orbital Ring. The Space Port also features a runway to receive incoming shuttles.

Stories taking place in Hong Kong

 * Connectome
 * Nym: A Cybernetic Cinderella