Profile - Hong Kong

7/30/2019 Profile - Hong Kong

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Hong Kong

Introduction Hong Kong

Background: Occupied by the UK in 1841, Hong Kong was formally ceded by Chinathe following year; various adjacent lands were added later in the 19thcentury. Pursuant to an agreement signed by China and the UK on 19December 1984, Hong Kong became the Hong Kong SpecialAdministrative Region (SAR) of China on 1 July 1997. In thisagreement, China promised that, under its "one country, two systems"formula, China's socialist economic system would not be imposed onHong Kong and that Hong Kong would enjoy a high degree of autonomyin all matters except foreign and defense affairs for the next 50 years.

Geography Hong Kong

Location: Eastern Asia, bordering the South China Sea and China

Geographiccoordinates:

22 15 N, 114 10 E

Map references: Southeast Asia

Area: total: 1,092 sq km

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10/4/2008https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/print/hk.html


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land: 1,042 sq kmwater: 50 sq km

Area -comparative:

six times the size of Washington, DC

Landboundaries:

total: 30 km

regional border: China 30 kmCoastline: 733 km

Maritimeclaims:

territorial sea: 3 nm

Climate: subtropical monsoon; cool and humid in winter, hot and rainy fromspring through summer, warm and sunny in fall

Terrain: hilly to mountainous with steep slopes; lowlands in north

Elevationextremes:

lowest point: South China Sea 0 mhighest point: Tai Mo Shan 958 m

Naturalresources:

outstanding deepwater harbor, feldspar

Land use: arable land: 5.05%permanent crops: 1.01%other: 93.94% (2001)

Irrigated land: 20 sq km (1998 est.)

Naturalhazards:

occasional typhoons

Environment -current issues: air and water pollution from rapid urbanization

Environment -internationalagreements:

party to: Marine Dumping (associate member), Ship Pollution (associatemember)

Geography -note:

more than 200 islands

People Hong Kong

Population: 7,018,636 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 12.6% (male 463,300/female 422,945)15-64 years: 74.4% (male 2,535,246/female 2,684,495)65 years and over: 13% (male 425,500/female 487,150) (2008 est.)

Median age: total: 41.7 yearsmale: 41.4 yearsfemale: 42 years (2008 est.)

Populationgrowth rate:

0.532% (2008 est.)




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Birth rate: 7.37 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate: 6.6 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migrationrate:

4.55 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.08 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1.1 male(s)/female15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female65 years and over: 0.87 male(s)/femaletotal population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortalityrate:

total: 2.93 deaths/1,000 live birthsmale: 3.11 deaths/1,000 live birthsfemale: 2.73 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancyat birth:

total population: 81.77 yearsmale: 79.07 yearsfemale: 84.69 years (2008 est.)

Total fertilityrate:

1 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adultprevalence rate:

0.1% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS -people living

with HIV/AIDS:

2,600 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS -deaths:

fewer than 200 (2003 est.)

Nationality: noun: Chinese/Hong Kongeradjective: Chinese/Hong Kong

Ethnic groups: Chinese 95%, Filipino 1.6%, Indonesian 1.3%, other 2.1% (2006 census)

Religions: eclectic mixture of local religions 90%, Christian 10%

Languages: Chinese (Cantonese) 89.2% (official), other Chinese dialects 6.4%,English 3.2% (official), other 1.2% (2001 census)

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over has ever attended schooltotal population: 93.5%male: 96.9%

female: 89.6% (2002)

School lifeexpectancy(primary to

tertiaryeducation):

total: 14 yearsmale: 14 yearsfemale: 13 years (2006)

Educationexpenditures:

3.9% of GDP (2006)




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Government Hong Kong

Country name: conventional long form: Hong Kong Special Administrative Regionconventional short form: Hong Konglocal long form: Xianggang Tebie Xingzhengqulocal short form: Xianggangabbreviation: HK

Dependencystatus:

special administrative region of China

Governmenttype:

limited democracy

Administrativedivisions:

none (special administrative region of China)

Independence: none (special administrative region of China)

Nationalholiday:

National Day (Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic ofChina), 1 October (1949); note - 1 July 1997 is celebrated as Hong Kong

Special Administrative Region Establishment Day

Constitution: Basic Law, approved in March 1990 by China's National People'sCongress, is Hong Kong's "mini-constitution"

Legal system: based on English common law

Suffrage: direct election - 18 years of age for a number of non-executive positions;universal for permanent residents living in the territory of Hong Kong forthe past seven years; indirect election - limited to about 220,000members of functional constituencies and an 800-member electioncommittee drawn from broad regional groupings, central government

bodies, and municipal organizationsExecutive

branch:chief of state: President of China HU Jintao (since 15 March 2003)head of government: Chief Executive Donald TSANG (since 24 June2005)cabinet: Executive Council consists of 15 official members and 16 non-official memberselections: chief executive elected for five-year term by 800-memberelectoral committee; last held on 25 March 2007 (next to be held in2012)election results: Donald TSANG elected chief executive receiving 84.1%of the vote of the election committee; Alan LEONG received 15.9%

Legislativebranch:

unicameral Legislative Council or LEGCO (60 seats; 30 seats indirectlyelected by functional constituencies, 30 elected by popular vote;members serve four-year terms)elections: last held 7 September 2008 (next to be held in September2012)election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by parties - pro-Beijing 37; pro-democracy 23

Judicial branch: Court of Final Appeal in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region




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Political partiesand leaders:

Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood or ADPL [FrederickFUNG Kin-kee]; Citizens Party [Alex CHAN Kai-chung]; Civic Party[KUAN Hsin-chi]; Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progressof Hong Kong or DAB [TAM Yiu Cheng]; Democratic Party [AlbertHO]; Frontier Party [Emily LAU Wai-hing]; League of Social Democrats[Raymond WONG]; Liberal Party [James TIEN Pei-chun]note: political blocs include: pro-democracy - ADPL, Democratic Party,Frontier Party, League of Social Democrats; pro-Beijing - DAB, LiberalParty, The Alliance (a group of five generally pro-government and pro-business Legco members from functional constituencies); there is nopolitical party ordinance, so there are no registered political parties;politically active groups register as societies or companies

Politicalpressure

groups andleaders:

Chinese General Chamber of Commerce (pro-China); ChineseManufacturers' Association of Hong Kong; Confederation of TradeUnions or CTU (pro-democracy) [LAU Chin-shek, president; LEECheuk-yan, general secretary]; Federation of Hong Kong Industries;Federation of Trade Unions or FTU (pro-China) [CHENG Yiu-tong,

executive councilor]; Hong Kong Alliance in Support of the PatrioticDemocratic Movement in China [Szeto WAH, chairman]; Hong Kongand Kowloon Trade Union Council (pro-Taiwan); Hong Kong GeneralChamber of Commerce; Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union[CHEUNG Man-kwong, president]; Neighborhood and Workers' ServiceCenter or NWSC (pro-democracy); The Alliance [BernardCHARNWUT, exco member]

Internationalorganization

participation:

ADB, APEC, BIS, ICC, IHO, IMF, IMO (associate), IOC, ISO(correspondent), ITUC, UNWTO (associate), UPU, WCL, WCO, WMO,WTO

Diplomaticrepresentation

in the US:

none (special administrative region of China); Hong Kong Economic andTrade Office in Washington and two other cities carries out normalliaison and communication with the US Government and other USentities

Diplomaticrepresentation

from the US:

chief of mission: Consul General Joseph A. DONOVAN, Jr.consulate(s) general: 26 Garden Road, Hong Kongmailing address: PSC 461, Box 1, FPO AP 96521-0006telephone: [852] 2523-9011FAX: [852] 2845-1598

Flagdescription:

red with a stylized, white, five-petal bauhinia flower in the center

Economy Hong Kong

Economy -overview:

Hong Kong has a free market economy highly dependent on internationaltrade. In 2006, the total value of goods and services trade, including thesizable share of reexports, was equivalent to 400% of GDP. The territoryhas become increasingly integrated with mainland China over the pastfew years through trade, tourism, and financial links. The mainland haslong been Hong Kong's largest trading partner, accounting for 46% ofHong Kong's total trade by value in 2006. As a result of China's easing of




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travel restrictions, the number of mainland tourists to the territory hassurged from 4.5 million in 2001 to 13.6 million in 2006, when theyoutnumbered visitors from all other countries combined. Hong Kong hasalso established itself as the premier stock market for Chinese firmsseeking to list abroad. Bolstered by several successful initial publicofferings in early 2007, by September 2007 mainland companiesaccounted for one-third of the firms listed on the Hong Kong StockExchange, and more than half of the Exchange's market capitalization.During the past decade, as Hong Kong's manufacturing industry movedto the mainland, its service industry has grown rapidly and now accountsfor 91% of the territory's GDP. Hong Kong's natural resources arelimited, and food and raw materials must be imported. GDP growthaveraged a strong 5% from 1989 to 2007, despite the economy sufferingtwo recessions during the Asian financial crisis in 1997-98 and the globaldownturn in 2001-02. Hong Kong continues to link its currency closelyto the US dollar, maintaining an arrangement established in 1983.

GDP(purchasing

power parity):

$293.3 billion (2007 est.)

GDP (officialexchange rate):

$206.7 billion (2007 est.)

GDP - realgrowth rate:

6.4% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita(PPP):

$42,000 (2007 est.)

GDP -composition by

sector:

agriculture: 0.1%industry: 8.1%

services: 91.7% (2007 est.)Labor force: 3.64 million (2007 est.)

Labor force - byoccupation:

manufacturing 6.5%, construction 2.1%, wholesale and retail trade,restaurants, and hotels 43.3%, financing, insurance, and real estate20.7%, transport and communications 7.8%, community and socialservices 19.5%note: above data exclude public sector (2007 est.)

Unemploymentrate:

4% (2007 est.)

Populationbelow povertyline:

NA%

Householdincome or

consumption bypercentage

share:

lowest 10%: NA%highest 10%: NA%

Distribution of 53.3 (2007)




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family income -Gini index:

Inflation rate(consumer

prices):

2% (2007 est.)

Investment

(gross fixed):

20.3% of GDP (2007 est.)

Budget: revenues: $36.9 billionexpenditures: $29.4 billion (FY07-08 est.)

Public debt: 12.5% of GDP (2007 est.)

Agriculture -products:

fresh vegetables; poultry, pork; fish

Industries: textiles, clothing, tourism, banking, shipping, electronics, plastics, toys,watches, clocks

Industrialproduction

growth rate:-0.8% (2007 est.)

Electricity -production:

38.6 billion kWh (2006)

Electricity -production by

source:

fossil fuel: 100%hydro: 0%nuclear: 0%other: 0% (2001)

Electricity -consumption:


Electricity -exports:


Electricity -imports:


Oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2006 est.)

Oil -consumption:

292,000 bbl/day (2006 est.)

Oil - exports: 22,420 bbl/day (2006)

Oil - imports: 314,700 bbl/day (2006)

Oil - provedreserves:

0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)

Natural gas -production:

0 cu m (2006 est.)

Natural gas -consumption:

2.944 billion cu m (2006 est.)




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Natural gas -exports:

0 cu m (2006 est.)

Natural gas -imports:

2.944 billion cu m (2006)

Natural gas -proved

reserves:

0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

Current accountbalance:

$28.04 billion (2007 est.)

Exports: $345.9 billion f.o.b., including reexports (2007 est.)

Exports -commodities:

electrical machinery and appliances, textiles, apparel, footwear, watchesand clocks, toys, plastics, precious stones, printed material

Exports -partners:

China 48.7%, US 13.7%, Japan 4.5% (2007)

Imports: $365.6 billion (2007 est.)

Imports -commodities:

raw materials and semi-manufactures, consumer goods, capital goods,foodstuffs, fuel (most is re-exported)

Imports -partners:

China 46.3%, Japan 10%, Taiwan 7.1%, Singapore 6.8%, US 4.9%,South Korea 4.2% (2007)

Economic aid -recipient:

$6.95 million (2004)

Reserves offoreign

exchange and

gold:

$152.7 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Debt - external: $588 billion (2007 est.)

Stock of directforeign

investment - athome:

$1.185 trillion (2007 est.)

Stock of directforeign

investment -abroad:


Market value ofpublicly traded

shares:


Currency(code):

Hong Kong dollar (HKD)

Currency code: HKD

Exchange rates: Hong Kong dollars per US dollar - 7.802 (2007), 7.7678 (2006), 7.7773(2005), 7.788 (2004), 7.7868 (2003)




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Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March

Communications Hong Kong

Telephones -main lines in

use:

3.875 million (2007)

Telephones -mobile cellular:

10.55 million (2007)

Telephonesystem:

general assessment: modern facilities provide excellent domestic andinternational servicesdomestic: microwave radio relay links and extensive fiber-optic networkinternational: country code - 852; multiple international submarinecables provide connections to Asia, US, Australia, the Middle East, andWestern Europe; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Pacific Ocean and2 Indian Ocean); coaxial cable to Guangzhou, China

Radio

broadcaststations:

AM 5, FM 9, shortwave 0 (2004)

Radios: 4.45 million (1997)

Televisionbroadcast

stations:

55 (2 TV networks, each broadcasting on 2 channels) (2007)

Televisions: 1.84 million (1997)

Internet countrycode:

.hk

Internet hosts: 812,137 (2007)Internet Service

Providers(ISPs):

17 (2000)

Internet users: 3.961 million (2007)

Transportation Hong Kong

Airports: 2 (2007)

Airports - withpaved runways:

total: 2over 3,047 m: 11,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2007)

Heliports: 5 (2007)

Roadways: total: 2,009 kmpaved: 2,009 km (2007)

Merchantmarine:

total: 1,074 ships (1000 GRT or over) 37,295,109 GRT/61,581,647DWTby type: barge carrier 2, bulk carrier 512, cargo 140, carrier 3, chemical




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tanker 61, combination ore/oil 2, container 192, liquefied gas 21,passenger 6, passenger/cargo 5, petroleum tanker 110, roll on/roll off 4,specialized tanker 9, vehicle carrier 7foreign-owned: 659 (Belgium 2, Canada 42, China 322, Denmark 21,Germany 5, Greece 27, Indonesia 7, Japan 85, Norway 40, Philippines 9,Portugal 1, Russia 1, Singapore 11, South Korea 5, Syria 1, Taiwan 11,UAE 2, UK 38, US 29)registered in other countries: 339 (Bahamas 5, Belize 4, Bermuda 4,Cambodia 14, China 10, Cyprus 2, Georgia 2, Honduras 1, India 1,Kiribati 3, Liberia 45, Malaysia 14, Malta 3, Marshall Islands 5,Mongolia 2, Nigeria 2, Norway 6, Panama 142, Philippines 1, Seychelles1, Singapore 44, St Vincent and the Grenadines 7, Tuvalu 10, UK 2,Vietnam 1, unknown 8) (2008)

Ports andterminals:

Hong Kong

Military Hong Kong

Militarybranches: no regular indigenous military forces; Hong Kong garrison of China'sPeople's Liberation Army (PLA) includes elements of the PLA GroundForces, PLA Navy, and PLA Air Force; these forces are under the directleadership of the Central Military Commission in Beijing and underadministrative control of the adjacent Guangzhou Military Region (2007)

Manpoweravailable for

military service:

males age 16-49: 1,772,820females age 16-49: 1,941,448 (2008 est.)

Manpower fit formilitary service:

males age 16-49: 1,438,165females age 16-49: 1,561,252 (2008 est.)

Manpowerreachingmilitarily

significant ageannually:

male: 42,173female: 38,753 (2008 est.)

Militaryexpenditures:

NA

Military - note: defense is the responsibility of China

Transnational

IssuesHong Kong

Disputes -international:

none

Illicit drugs: despite strenuous law enforcement efforts, faces difficult challenges incontrolling transit of heroin and methamphetamine to regional and worldmarkets; modern banking system provides conduit for money laundering;rising indigenous use of synthetic drugs, especially among young people

This page was last updated on 2 October, 2008




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Profile - Hong Kong

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