:Hong Kong Geography

Total area:
    1,040 km2
Land area:
    990 km2
Comparative area:
    slightly less than six times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries:
    30 km; China 30 km
Coastline:
    733 km
Maritime claims:
  Exclusive fishing zone:
    3 nm
  Territorial sea:
    3 nm
Disputes:
    none
Climate:
    tropical 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
Natural resources:
    outstanding deepwater harbor, feldspar
Land use:
    arable land 7%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures 1%; forest and
    woodland 12%; other 79%; includes irrigated 3%
Environment:
    more than 200 islands; occasional typhoons

:Hong Kong People

Population:
    5,889,095 (July 1992), growth rate 0.6% (1992)
Birth rate:
    13 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
    5 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
    - 2 migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
    7 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
    76 years male, 83 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
    1.4 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
    adjective - Hong Kong
Ethnic divisions:
    Chinese 98%, other 2%
Religions:
    eclectic mixture of local religions 90%, Christian 10%
Languages:
    Chinese (Cantonese), English
Literacy:
    77% (male 90%, female 64%) age 15 and over having ever attended school
    (1971)
Labor force:
    2,800,000 (1990); manufacturing 28.5%, wholesale and retail trade,
    restaurants, and hotels 27.9%, services 17.7%, financing, insurance, and
    real estate 9.2%, transport and communications 4.5%, construction 2.5%,
    other 9.7% (1989)
Organized labor:
    16% of labor force (1990)

:Hong Kong Government

Long-form name:
    none; abbreviated HK
Type:
    dependent territory of the UK; scheduled to revert to China in 1997
Capital:
    Victoria
Administrative divisions:
    none (dependent territory of the UK)
Independence:
    none (dependent territory of the UK); the UK signed an agreement with China
    on 19 December 1984 to return Hong Kong to China on 1 July 1997; in the
    joint declaration, China promises to respect Hong Kong's existing social and
    economic systems and lifestyle for 50 years after transition
Constitution:
    unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice; new Basic Law
    approved in March 1990 in preparation for 1997
Legal system:
    based on English common law
National holiday:
    Liberation Day, 29 August (1945)
Executive branch:
    British monarch, governor, chief secretary of the Executive Council
Legislative branch:
    Legislative Council
Judicial branch:
    Supreme Court
Leaders:
  Chief of State:
    Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952)
  Head of Government:
    Governor-designate Chris PATTEN (since July 1992); Chief Secretary Sir David
    Robert FORD (since February 1987)
Suffrage:
    direct election - universal at age 21 as a permanent resident living in the
    territory of Hong Kong for the past seven years; indirect election - limited
    to about 100,000 professionals of electoral college and functional
    constituencies
Elections:
  Legislative Council:
    indirect elections last held 12 September 1991 and direct elections were
    held 15 September 1991 (next to be held for the first time in September
    1995); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (60 total; 21
    indirectly elected by functional constituencies, 18 directly elected, 18
    appointed by governor, 3 ex officio members); indirect elections - number of
    seats by functional constituency NA; direct elections - UDHK 12, Meeting
    Point 3, ADPL 1, other 2
Communists:
    5,000 (est.) cadres affiliated with Communist Party of China
Other political or pressure groups:
    Federation of Trade Unions (pro-China), Hong Kong and Kowloon Trade Union
    Council (pro-Taiwan), Confederation of Trade Unions (prodemocracy), Hong
    Kong General Chamber of Commerce, Chinese General Chamber of Commerce
    (pro-China), Federation of Hong Kong Industries, Chinese Manufacturers'
    Association of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union, Hong Kong
    Alliance in Support of the Patriotic Democratic Movement in China
Member of:
    APEC, AsDB, CCC, ESCAP (associate), GATT, ICFTU, IMO (associate), IOC, ISO
    (correspondent), WCL, WMO

:Hong Kong Government

Diplomatic representation:
    as a dependent territory of the UK, the interests of Hong Kong in the US are
    represented by the UK
  US:
    Consul General Richard L. WILLIAMS; Consulate General at 26 Garden Road,
    Hong Kong (mailing address is Box 30, Hong Kong, or FPO AP 96522-0002);
    telephone [852] 239-011
Flag:
    blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant with the Hong
    Kong coat of arms on a white disk centered on the outer half of the flag;
    the coat of arms contains a shield (bearing two junks below a crown) held by
    a lion (representing the UK) and a dragon (representing China) with another
    lion above the shield and a banner bearing the words HONG KONG below the
    shield

:Hong Kong Economy

Overview:
    Hong Kong has a bustling free market economy with few tariffs or nontariff
    barriers. Natural resources are limited, and food and raw materials must be
    imported. Manufacturing accounts for about 18% of GDP, employs 28% of the
    labor force, and exports about 90% of its output. Real GDP growth averaged a
    remarkable 8% in 1987-88, then slowed to 2.5-3.0% in 1989-90. Unemployment,
    which has been declining since the mid-1980s, is now about 2%. A shortage of
    labor continues to put upward pressure on prices and the cost of living.
    Short-term prospects remain solid so long as major trading partners continue
    to be reasonably prosperous. The crackdown in China in 1989-91 casts a
    shadow over the longer term economic outlook.
GDP:
    exchange rate conversion - $80.9 billion, per capita $13,800; real growth
    rate 3.8% (1991 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
    12.0% (1991 est.)
Unemployment rate:
    2.0% (1991 est.)
Budget:
    $8.8 billion (FY90)
Exports:
    $82.0 billion (f.o.b., 1990), including reexports of $53.1 billion
  commodities:
    clothing, textiles, yarn and fabric, footwear, electrical appliances,
    watches and clocks, toys
  partners:
    China 25%, US 24%, Germany 7%, Japan 6%, UK 2%, (1990)
Imports:
    $82.4 billion (c.i.f., 1990)
  commodities:
    foodstuffs, transport equipment, raw materials, semimanufactures, petroleum
  partners:
    China 37%, Japan 16%, Taiwan 9%, US 8% (1990)
External debt:
    $9.5 billion (December 1990 est.)
Industrial production:
    growth rate 4% 1991 (est)
Electricity:
    8,600,000 kW capacity; 25,637 million kWh produced, 4,378 kWh per capita
    (1991)
Industries:
    textiles, clothing, tourism, electronics, plastics, toys, watches, clocks
Agriculture:
    minor role in the economy; rice, vegetables, dairy products; less than 20%
    self-sufficient; shortages of rice, wheat, water
Illicit drugs:
    a hub for Southeast Asian heroin trade; transshipment and major financial
    and money-laundering center
Economic aid:
    US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-87), $152 million; Western (non-US)
    countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $923 million
Currency:
    Hong Kong dollar (plural - dollars); 1 Hong Kong dollar (HK$) = 100 cents
Exchange rates:
    Hong Kong dollars (HK$) per US$ - 7.800 (1991), 7.790 (1990), 7.800 (1989),
    7.810 (1988), 7.760 (1987); note - linked to the US dollar at the rate of
    about 7.8 HK$ per 1 US$ since 1985
Fiscal year:
    1 April - 31 March

:Hong Kong Communications

Railroads:
    35 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, government owned
Highways:
    1,484 km total; 794 km paved, 306 km gravel, crushed stone, or earth
Ports:
    Hong Kong
Merchant marine:
    142 ships (1,000 GRT or over), totaling 5,035,223 GRT/8,598,134 DWT;
    includes 1 passenger, 1 short-sea passenger, 15 cargo, 5 refrigerated cargo,
    26 container, 13 petroleum tanker, 1 chemical tanker, 6 combination ore/oil,
    5 liquefied gas, 68 bulk, 1 combination bulk; note - a flag of convenience
    registry; ships registered in Hong Kong fly the UK flag, and an estimated
    500 Hong Kong - owned ships are registered elsewhere
Civil air:
    16 major transport aircraft
Airports:
    2 total; 2 usable; 2 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over
    3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; none with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications:
    modern facilities provide excellent domestic and international services;
    3,000,000 telephones; microwave transmission links and extensive optical
    fiber transmission network; broadcast stations - 6 AM, 6 FM, 4 TV; 1 British
    Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) repeater station and 1 British Forces
    Broadcasting Service repeater station; 2,500,000 radio receivers; 1,312,000
    TV sets (1,224,000 color TV sets); satellite earth stations - 1 Pacific
    Ocean INTELSAT and 2 Indian Ocean INTELSAT; coaxial cable to Guangzhou,
    China; links to 5 international submarine cables providing access to ASEAN
    member nations, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, Middle East, and Western Europe

:Hong Kong Defense Forces

Branches:
    Headquarters of British Forces, Royal Navy, Royal Air Force, Royal Hong Kong
    Auxiliary Air Force, Royal Hong Kong Police Force
Manpower availability:
    males 15-49, 1,732,360; 1,334,923 fit for military service; 46,285 reach
    military age (18) annually
Defense expenditures:
    exchange rate conversion - $300 million, 0.5% of GDP (1989 est.); this
    represents one-fourth of the total cost of defending itself, the remainder
    being paid by the UK
Note:
    defense is the responsibility of the UK