Occupied by the UK in 1841, Hong Kong was formally ceded by China the following year; various adjacent lands were added later in the 19th century. Pursuant to an agreement signed by China and the UK on 19 December 1984, Hong Kong became the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China on 1 July 1997. In this agreement, China has promised that, under its "one country, two systems" formula, China's socialist economic system will not be imposed on Hong Kong and that Hong Kong will enjoy a high degree of autonomy in all matters except foreign and defense affairs for the next 50 years.
Location
Eastern Asia, bordering the South China Sea and China
Geographic coordinates
22 15 N, 114 10 E
Map references
Southeast Asia
Area
total
1,092 sq km
land
1,042 sq km
water
50 sq km
Area - comparative
six times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries
total
30 km
regional border
China 30 km
Coastline
733 km
Maritime claims
territorial sea: 3 nm
Climate
subtropical monsoon; cool and humid in winter, hot and rainy from spring through summer, warm and sunny in fall
Terrain
hilly to mountainous with steep slopes; lowlands in north
Elevation extremes
lowest point
South China Sea 0 m
highest point
Tai Mo Shan 958 m
Natural resources
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.)
Natural hazards
occasional typhoons
Environment - current issues
air and water pollution from rapid urbanization
Environment - international agreements
party to: Marine Dumping (associate member), Ship Pollution (associate member)
Geography - note
more than 200 islands
Population
6,980,412 (July 2007 est.)
Age structure
0-14 years
13% (male 476,089/female 434,326)
15-64 years
74% (male 2,515,518/female 2,652,660)
65 years and over
12.9% (male 419,479/female 482,340) (2007 est.)
Median age
total
41.2 years
male
40.9 years
female
41.4 years (2007 est.)
Population growth rate
0.561% (2007 est.)
Birth rate
7.34 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Death rate
6.45 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Net migration rate
4.72 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Sex ratio
at birth
1.08 male(s)/female
under 15 years
1.096 male(s)/female
15-64 years
0.948 male(s)/female
65 years and over
0.87 male(s)/female
total population
0.956 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
Infant mortality rate
total
2.94 deaths/1,000 live births
male
3.12 deaths/1,000 live births
female
2.74 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
Life expectancy at birth
total population
81.68 years
male
78.99 years
female
84.6 years (2007 est.)
Total fertility rate
0.98 children born/woman (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate
0.1% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS
2,600 (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths
less than 200 (2003 est.)
Nationality
noun
Chinese/Hong Konger
adjective
Chinese/Hong Kong
Ethnic groups
Chinese 94.9%, Filipino 2.1%, other 3% (2001 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 school
total population
93.5%
male
96.9%
female
89.6% (2002)
Country name
conventional long form
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
conventional short form
Hong Kong
local long form
Xianggang Tebie Xingzhengqu
local short form
Xianggang
abbreviation
HK
Dependency status
special administrative region of China
Government type
limited democracy
Administrative divisions
none (special administrative region of China)
Independence
none (special administrative region of China)
National holiday
National Day (Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China), 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's Congress, is Hong Kong's "mini-constitution"
Legal system
based on English common law
Suffrage
direct election 18 years of age; universal for permanent residents living in the territory of Hong Kong for the past seven years; indirect election limited to about 200,000 members of functional constituencies and an 800-member election committee drawn from broad regional groupings, municipal organizations, and central government bodies
Executive branch
chief of state
President of China HU Jintao (since 15 March 2003)
head of government
Chief Executive Donald TSANG (since 24 June 2005)
cabinet
Executive Council consists of 14 official members and 15 non-official members
elections
chief executive elected for five-year term by 800-member electoral committee; last held on 25 March 2007 (next to be held in 2012)
election results
Donald TSANG elected chief executive receiving 84.1% of the vote; Alan LEONG received 15.9%
Legislative branch
unicameral Legislative Council or LEGCO (60 seats; in 2004 30 seats indirectly elected by functional constituencies, 30 elected by popular vote; members serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 12 September 2004 (next to be held in September 2008)
election results: percent of vote by party - pro-democracy 63%, pro-Beijing 37%; seats by party - (pro-Beijing 34) DAB 12, Liberal Party 10, FTU 1, independents 11; (pro-democracy 25) Democratic Party 9, CTU 2, ADPL 1, Frontier Party 1, NWSC 1, independents 11; non-voting LEGCO president 1
Judicial branch
Court of Final Appeal in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Political parties and leaders
Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood or ADPL [Frederick FUNG Kin-kee]; Citizens Party [Alex CHAN Kai-chung]; Civic Party [KUAN Hsin-chi]; Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong or DAB [MA Lik]; Democratic Party [Albert HO]; Frontier Party [Emily LAU Wai-hing]; Liberal Party [James TIEN Pei-chun]
note: political blocs include: pro-democracy - ADPL, Democratic Party, Frontier Party; pro-Beijing - DAB, Liberal Party
Political pressure groups and leaders
Chinese General Chamber of Commerce (pro-China); Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong; Confederation of Trade Unions or CTU (pro-democracy) [LAU Chin-shek, president; LEE Cheuk-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 Patriotic Democratic Movement in China [Szeto WAH, chairman]; Hong Kong and Kowloon Trade Union Council (pro-Taiwan); Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce; Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union [CHEUNG Man-kwong, president]; Neighborhood and Workers' Service Center or NWSC (pro-democracy); The Alliance [Bernard CHAN, exco member]
red with a stylized, white, five-petal bauhinia flower in the center
Economy - overview
Hong Kong has a free market economy highly dependent on international trade. The territory has become more closely linked to mainland China over the past few years. Even before Hong Kong reverted to Chinese administration on 1 July 1997, it had extensive trade and investment ties with China. Hong Kong's service industry over the past decade has grown rapidly as its manufacturing industry has moved to the mainland. Hong Kong also has stepped up its efforts to gain approval to offer more mainland financial services in a bid to remain competitive with China's growing financial centers. Hong Kong's natural resources are limited, and food and raw materials must be imported. Gross imports and exports (including reexports to and from third countries) each exceed GDP in dollar value. Per capita GDP exceeds that of the four big economies of Western Europe. GDP growth averaged a strong 5% from 1989 to 2006, but Hong Kong suffered two recessions in the past eight years because of the Asian financial crisis in 1997-98 and the global downturn in 2001-02. Although the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003 also battered Hong Kong's economy, a solid rise in exports, a boom in tourism from the mainland because of China's easing of travel restrictions, and a return of consumer confidence resulted in the resumption of strong growth from late 2003 through 2006. Moreover, several large initial public offerings of Chinese companies on the Hong Kong stock exchange since late 2005 have helped to boost Hong Kong's status as a financial hub and have contributed to the improved performance of the market in late 2006.
GDP (purchasing power parity)
$258.8 billion (2006 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate)
$188.7 billion (2006 est.)
GDP - real growth rate
6.8% (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP)
$37,300 (2006 est.)
GDP - composition by sector
agriculture
0.1%
industry
9%
services
90.9% (2006 est.)
Labor force
3.63 million (2006 est.)
Labor force - by occupation
manufacturing 7.5%, construction 2.9%, wholesale and retail trade, restaurants, and hotels 43.9%, financing, insurance, and real estate 19.6%, transport and communications 7.1%, community and social services 18.8%
note: above data exclude public sector (2005 est.)
Unemployment rate
4.9% (2006 est.)
Population below poverty line
NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share
lowest 10%
NA%
highest 10%
NA%
Distribution of family income - Gini index
52.3 (2001)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
2.2% (2006 est.)
Investment (gross fixed)
21.1% of GDP (2006 est.)
Budget
revenues
$35.16 billion
expenditures
$33.02 billion; including capital expenditures of $5.9 billion (2006 est.)
$611.6 billion f.o.b., including reexports (2006 est.)
Exports - commodities
electrical machinery and appliances, textiles, apparel, footwear, watches and clocks, toys, plastics, precious stones, printed material
Exports - partners
China 47%, US 15.1%, Japan 4.9% (2006)
Imports
$329.8 billion (2006 est.)
Imports - commodities
raw materials and semi-manufactures, consumer goods, capital goods, foodstuffs, fuel (most is re-exported)
Imports - partners
China 45.9%, Japan 10.3%, Taiwan 7.5%, Singapore 6.3%, US 4.8%, South Korea 4.6% (2006)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold
$132 billion (November 2006 est.)
Debt - external
$472.9 billion (30 June 2006 est.)
Currency (code)
Hong Kong dollar (HKD)
Currency code
HKD
Exchange rates
Hong Kong dollars per US dollar - 7.7678 (2006), 7.7773 (2005), 7.788 (2004), 7.7868 (2003), 7.7989 (2002)
Fiscal year
1 April - 31 March
Telephones - main lines in use
3.795 million (2005)
Telephones - mobile cellular
8.693 million (2005)
Telephone system
general assessment
modern facilities provide excellent domestic and international services
domestic
microwave radio relay links and extensive fiber-optic network
international
country code - 852; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Pacific Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean); coaxial cable to Guangzhou, China; access to 5 international submarine cables providing connections to ASEAN member nations, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, Middle East, and Western Europe
Radio broadcast stations
AM 5, FM 9, shortwave 0 (2004)
Radios
4.45 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations
55 (2 TV networks, each broadcasting on 2 channels) (2006)
Televisions
1.84 million (1997)
Internet country code
.hk
Internet hosts
800,834 (2006)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
17 (2000)
Internet users
4.879 million (2005)
Airports
3 (2006)
Airports - with paved runways
total
3
over 3,047 m
1
1,524 to 2,437 m
1
under 914 m
1 (2006)
Heliports
3 (2006)
Roadways
total
1,955 km
paved
1,955 km (2005)
Merchant marine
total
924 ships (1000 GRT or over) 30,838,025 GRT/51,957,682 DWT
by type
barge carrier 2, bulk carrier 495, cargo 121, chemical tanker 44, container 133, liquefied gas 22, passenger 6, passenger/cargo 7, petroleum tanker 76, roll on/roll off 3, specialized tanker 7, vehicle carrier 8
foreign-owned
562 (Australia 1, Belgium 3, Canada 28, China 274, Denmark 6, Germany 6, Greece 27, Indonesia 4, Japan 67, South Korea 6, Norway 26, Philippines 16, Portugal 1, Singapore 24, Syria 1, Taiwan 6, UAE 2, UK 43, US 21)
registered in other countries
417 (Bahamas 8, Belize 8, Bermuda 10, Cambodia 15, China 7, Cyprus 1, France 1, French Southern and Antarctic Lands 2, Greece 1, Honduras 2, India 1, Liberia 37, Malaysia 14, Malta 2, Marshall Islands 7, Norway 55, Panama 169, Philippines 3, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 6, Singapore 50, Taiwan 3, Tuvalu 8, unknown 7) (2006)
Ports and terminals
Hong Kong
Military branches
no regular indigenous military forces; Hong Kong garrison of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) includes elements of Ground Forces, Navy, and Air Force; these forces are under the direct leadership of the Central Military Commission in Beijing and under administrative control of the adjacent Guangzhou Military Region
Military service age and obligation
18 years of age (2004)
Manpower available for military service
males age 18-49
1,743,972
females age 18-49
1,904,967 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service
males age 18-49
1,403,088
females age 18-49
1,527,278 (2005 est.)
Manpower reaching military service age annually
males age 18-49
40,343
females age 18-49
38,234 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP
NA
Military - note
defense is the responsibility of China
Disputes - international
none
Illicit drugs
despite strenuous law enforcement efforts, faces difficult challenges in controlling transit of heroin and methamphetamine to regional and world markets; modern banking system provides conduit for money laundering; rising indigenous use of synthetic drugs, especially among young people
