2010 Edition

Background

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 the People's Republic of China on 1 July 1997. In this agreement, China promised that, under its "one country, two systems" formula, China's socialist economic system would not be imposed on Hong Kong and that Hong Kong would enjoy a high degree of autonomy in all matters except foreign and defense affairs for the next 50 years.

Area

land

1,054 sq km

total

1,104 sq km

water

50 sq km

Area - comparative

six times the size of Washington, DC

Climate

subtropical monsoon; cool and humid in winter, hot and rainy from spring through summer, warm and sunny in fall

Coastline

733 km

Elevation extremes

highest point

Tai Mo Shan 958 m

lowest point

South China Sea 0 m

Environment - current issues

air and water pollution from rapid urbanization

Environment - international agreements

party to

Marine Dumping (associate member), Ship Pollution (associate member)

Geographic coordinates

22 15 N, 114 10 E

Geography - note

more than 200 islands

Irrigated land

20 sq km (1998 est.)

Land boundaries

regional border

China 30 km

total

30 km

Land use

arable land

5.05%

other

93.94% (2001)

permanent crops

1.01%

Location

Eastern Asia, bordering the South China Sea and China

Map references

Southeast Asia

Maritime claims

territorial sea

3 nm

Natural hazards

occasional typhoons

Natural resources

outstanding deepwater harbor, feldspar

Terrain

hilly to mountainous with steep slopes; lowlands in north

Age structure

0-14 years: 12.2% (male 450,833/female 411,997) 15-64 years: 74.6% (male 2,551,256/female 2,713,532) 65 years and over: 13.1% (male 434,090/female 493,363) (2010 est.)

Birth rate

7.45 births/1,000 population (2010 est.)

Death rate

6.91 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.)

Education expenditures

3.3% of GDP (2008)

Ethnic groups

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

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate

0.1% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths

fewer than 200 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS

2,600 (2003 est.)

Infant mortality rate

female

2.72 deaths/1,000 live births (2010 est.)

male

3.09 deaths/1,000 live births

total

2.91 deaths/1,000 live births

Languages

Cantonese 90.8% (official), English 2.8% (official), Putonghua (Mandarin) 0.9%, other Chinese dialects 4.4%, other 1.1% (2006 census)

Life expectancy at birth

female

84.88 years (2010 est.)

male

79.24 years

total population

81.96 years

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school

female

89.6% (2002)

male

96.9%

total population

93.5%

Median age

female

43.2 years (2010 est.)

male

42.4 years

total

42.8 years

Nationality

adjective

Chinese/Hong Kong

noun

Chinese/Hong Konger

Net migration rate

4.22 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2010 est.)

Population

7,089,705 (July 2010 est.)

Population growth rate

0.476% (2010 est.)

Religions

eclectic mixture of local religions 90%, Christian 10%

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

female

13 years (2006)

male

14 years

total

14 years

Sex ratio

at birth

1.076 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.09 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.88 male(s)/female

total population

0.95 male(s)/female (2010 est.)

Total fertility rate

1.04 children born/woman (2010 est.)

Urbanization

rate of urbanization

1% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)

urban population

100% of total population (2008)

Administrative divisions

none (special administrative region of China)

Constitution

Basic Law, approved in March 1990 by China's National People's Congress, is Hong Kong's charter

Country name

abbreviation

HK

conventional long form

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

conventional short form

Hong Kong

local long form

Xianggang Tebie Xingzhengqu

local short form

Xianggang

Dependency status

special administrative region of China

Diplomatic representation from the US

chief of mission

Consul General Stephen M. YOUNG

consulate(s) general

26 Garden Road, Hong Kong

FAX

[852] 2845-1598

mailing address

PSC 461, Box 1, FPO AP 96521-0006

telephone

[852] 2523-9011

Diplomatic representation in the US

none (special administrative region of China); Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office carries out normal liaison and communication with the US Government and other US entities

FAX

[1] 202 331-0318

NKETO offices

New York, San Francisco

office

1520 18th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036

representative

Donald TONG

telephone

[1] 202 331-8947

Executive branch

cabinet

Executive Council or ExCo consists of 15 official members and 14 non-official members (For more information visit the World Leaders website )

chief of state

President of China HU Jintao (since 15 March 2003)

election results

Donald TSANG elected chief executive receiving 84.1% of the vote of the election committee; Alan LEONG Kah-kit received 15.9%

elections

chief executive elected for five-year term by 800-member electoral committee; election last held on 25 March 2007 (next to be held in 2012) note: the LegCo voted in June 2010 to expand the electoral committee to 1,200 seats for the next election

head of government

Chief Executive Donald TSANG Yam-kuen (since 24 June 2005)

Flag description

red with a stylized, white, five-petal Bauhinia flower in the center; each petal contains a small, red, five-pointed star in its middle; the red color is the same as that on the Chinese flag and represents the motherland; the fragrant Bauhinia - developed in Hong Kong the late 19th century - has come to symbolize the region; the five stars echo those on the flag of China

Government type

limited democracy

Independence

none (special administrative region of China)

International organization participation

ADB, APEC, BIS, FATF, ICC, IHO, IMF, IMO (associate), Interpol (subbureau), IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITUC, UNWTO (associate), UPU, WCO, WTO

Judicial branch

Court of Final Appeal in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

Legal system

based on English common law

Legislative branch

unicameral Legislative Council or LegCo (60 seats; 30 members indirectly elected by functional constituencies, 30 elected by popular vote; members serve four-year terms) note: the LegCo voted in June 2010 to expand to 70 seats for the next election; the measure was approved by the National People's Congress Standing Committee in August 2010; the 10 new seats will be chosen by popular vote

election results

percent of vote by party - pro-democracy 57%; pro-Beijing 40%, independent 3%; seats by parties - (pro-Beijing 35) DAB 13, Liberal Party 7, FTU 1, others 14; (pro-democracy 23) Democratic Party 8, Civic Party 5, CTU 3, League of Social Democrats 3, ADPL 2, The Frontier 1, NWSC 1; others 11; independents and non-voting LegCo president 2

elections

last held on 7 September 2008 (next to be held in September 2012)

National anthem

note: as a Special Administrative Region of China, "Yiyonggjun Jinxingqu" is official (see 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

Political parties and leaders

others

Confederation of Trade Unions or CTU; Federation of Trade Unions or FTU; Neighborhood and Workers Service Center or NWSC note: political blocs include: pro-democracy - ADPL, Civic Party, Democratic Party, League of Social Democrats; pro-Beijing - DAB, Liberal Party, The Professional Forum (an informal group of three generally pro-government and pro-business LegCo members from functional constituencies and one independent elected from a geographic constituency); there is no political party ordinance, so there are no registered political parties; politically active groups register as societies or companies

parties

Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood or ADPL [LIU Sung Lee]; Civic Party [Audrey EU Yuet-mee]; Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong or DAB [TAM Yiu Cheng]; Democratic Party [Albert HO Chun-yan]; League of Social Democrats [Raymond WONG Yuk-man]; Liberal Party [Miriam LAU Kin-yee]; The Frontier (disbanded)

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 [LEUNG Yiu-chung, LegCo member] (pro-democracy); Civic Act-up [Cyd HO Sau-lan, LegCo member] (pro-democracy)

Suffrage

direct election - 18 years of age for half the legislature and a majority of seats in 18 district councils; universal for permanent residents living in the territory of Hong Kong for the past seven years indirect election - limited to about 220,000 members of functional constituencies for the other half of the legislature and an 800-member election committee for the chief executive drawn from broad sectoral groupings, central government bodies, and municipal organizations

Agriculture - products

fresh vegetables; poultry, pork; fish

Central bank discount rate

0.5% (31 December 2009) 0.5% (31 December 2008)

Commercial bank prime lending rate

5% (31 December 2009 est.) 5% (31 December 2008 est.)

Current account balance

$18.07 billion (2010 est.) $18.28 billion (2009 est.)

Debt - external

$69.86 billion (31 December 2010 est.) $655.1 billion (30 September 2009)

Distribution of family income - Gini index

53.3 (2007)

Economy - overview

Hong Kong has a free market economy highly dependent on international trade and finance - the value of goods and services trade, including the sizable share of re-exports, is about four times GDP. Hong Kong's open economy left it exposed to the global economic slowdown, but its increasing integration with China, through trade, tourism, and financial links, helped it recover more quickly than many observers anticipated. The Hong Kong government is promoting the Special Administrative Region (SAR) as the site for Chinese renminbi (RMB) internationalization. Hong Kong residents are allowed to establish RMB-denominated savings accounts; RMB-denominated corporate and Chinese government bonds have been issued in Hong Kong; and RMB trade settlement is allowed. The territory far exceeded the RMB conversion quota set by Beijing for trade settlements in 2010 due to the growth of earnings from exports to the mainland. RMB deposits grew to roughly 3.6% of total system deposits in Hong Kong by October 2010, an increase of over 250% since the beginning of the year. The government is pursuing efforts to introduce additional use of RMB in Hong Kong financial markets and is seeking to expand the RMB quota for 2011. The mainland has long been Hong Kong's largest trading partner, accounting for about half of Hong Kong's exports by value. Hong Kong's natural resources are limited, and food and raw materials must be imported. As a result of China's easing of travel restrictions, the number of mainland tourists to the territory has surged from 4.5 million in 2001 to 17.7 million in 2009, outnumbering visitors from all other countries combined. Hong Kong has also established itself as the premier stock market for Chinese firms seeking to list abroad. In 2009 mainland Chinese companies constituted about 40% of the firms listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and accounted for 60% of the Exchange's market capitalization. During the past decade, as Hong Kong's manufacturing industry moved to the mainland, its service industry has grown rapidly and in 2009 accounted for more than 90% of the territory's GDP. GDP growth averaged a strong 4% from 1989 to 2008. Hong Kong's GDP fell in 2009 as a result of the global financial crisis, but a recovery began in third quarter 2009, and the economy grew nearly 6% in 2010. The Hong Kong government adopted several temporary fiscal policy support measures in response to the crisis that it may discontinue if strong growth is sustained. Credit expansion and tight housing supply conditions caused Hong Kong property prices to rise rapidly in 2010, and some lower income segments of the population are increasingly unable to afford adequate housing. Hong Kong continues to link its currency closely to the US dollar, maintaining an arrangement established in 1983.

Electricity - consumption

42.1 billion kWh (2009 est.)

Electricity - exports

3.926 billion kWh (2009 est.)

Electricity - imports

11.7 billion kWh (2009 est.)

Electricity - production

39.4 billion kWh (2009 est.)

Exchange rates

Hong Kong dollars (HKD) per US dollar - 7.78 (2010), 7.7518 (2009), 7.751 (2008), 7.802 (2007), 7.7678 (2006)

Exports

$382.6 billion (2010 est.) $321.8 billion (2009 est.)

Exports - commodities

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

Exports - partners

China 51.2%, US 11.6%, Japan 4.4% (2009 est.)

GDP - composition by sector

agriculture

0.1%

industry

7.6%

services

92.3% (2010 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP)

$45,600 (2010 est.) $43,400 (2009 est.) $44,800 (2008 est.) note: data are in 2010 US dollars

GDP - real growth rate

5.7% (2010 est.) -2.8% (2009 est.) 2.2% (2008 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate)

$226.5 billion (2010 est.)

GDP (purchasing power parity)

$323.3 billion (2010 est.) $305.9 billion (2009 est.) $314.7 billion (2008 est.) note: data are in 2010 US dollars

Household income or consumption by percentage share

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

Imports

$413 billion (2010 est.) $348.7 billion (2009 est.)

Imports - commodities

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

Imports - partners

China 46.4%, Japan 8.8%, Taiwan 6.5%, Singapore 6.5%, US 5.3% (2009)

Industrial production growth rate

-0.3% (2010 est.)

Industries

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

2.2% (2010 est.) -0.5% (2009 est.)

Investment (gross fixed)

22.2% of GDP (2010 est.)

Labor force

3.7 million (2010 est.)

Labor force - by occupation

community and social services

19.7% note: above data exclude public sector (2008 est.)

construction

1.9% wholesale and retail trade, restaurants, and hotels: 42.9% financing, insurance, and real estate: 21.4%

manufacturing

6.1%

transport and communications

7.9%

Market value of publicly traded shares

$2.292 trillion (31 December 2009) $1.32 trillion (31 December 2008) $1.163 trillion (31 December 2007 est.)

Natural gas - consumption

2.83 billion cu m (2009 est.)

Natural gas - exports

0 cu m (2009 est.)

Natural gas - imports

2.83 billion cu m (2009 est.)

Natural gas - production

0 cu m (2009 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves

0 cu m (1 January 2010 est.)

Oil - consumption

359,000 bbl/day (2009 est.)

Oil - exports

160,000 bbl/day (2009)

Oil - imports

440,000 bbl/day (2009)

Oil - production

0 bbl/day (2009 est.)

Oil - proved reserves

0 bbl (1 January 2010 est.)

Population below poverty line

NA%

Public debt

18.2% of GDP (2010 est.) 37.4% of GDP (2009 est.)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

$262.7 billion (31 December 2010 est.) $255.8 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

Stock of broad money

$850.8 billion (31 December 2009) $808.8 billion (31 December 2008)

Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad

$873.1 billion (31 December 2010 est.) $834.1 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - at home

$962.2 billion (31 December 2010 est.) $912.2 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

Stock of domestic credit

$374.8 billion (31 December 2010 est.) $351.2 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

Stock of narrow money

$84.88 billion (31 December 2010 est) $75.49 billion (31 December 2009 est)

Unemployment rate

4.6% (2010 est.) 5.2% (2009 est.)

Broadcast media

2 commercial terrestrial television networks each with multiple stations; multi-channel satellite and cable TV systems are available; 3 radio networks, one of which is government-funded, operate about 15 radio stations (2008)

Internet country code

.hk

Internet hosts

817,701 (2010)

Internet users

4.873 million (2009)

Telephone system

domestic

microwave radio relay links and extensive fiber-optic network

general assessment

modern facilities provide excellent domestic and international services

international

country code - 852; multiple international submarine cables provide connections to Asia, US, Australia, the Middle East, and Western Europe; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Pacific Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean); coaxial cable to Guangzhou, China

Telephones - main lines in use

4.188 million (2009)

Telephones - mobile cellular

12.207 million (2009)

Airports

2 (2010)

Airports - with paved runways

total

2 over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2010)

Heliports

9 (2010)

Merchant marine

by type

barge carrier 2, bulk carrier 629, cargo 177, carrier 11, chemical tanker 134, container 274, liquefied gas 37, passenger 4, passenger/cargo 9, petroleum tanker 139, roll on/roll off 5, vehicle carrier 8

foreign-owned

855 (Belgium 16, Bermuda 12, Canada 70, China 432, Cyprus 3, Denmark 41, France 3, Germany 10, Greece 22, Indonesia 8, Iran 1, Japan 84, Libya 1, Norway 49, Russia 1, Singapore 13, South Korea 3, Taiwan 26, UAE 2, UK 27, US 31)

registered in other countries

297 (Bahamas 2, Bermuda 5, Cambodia 11, China 15, Cyprus 2, Georgia 4, Honduras 1, India 1, Kiribati 1, Liberia 47, Malaysia 8, Malta 2, Marshall Islands 3, former Netherlands Antilles 1, NZ 1, Panama 125, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 4, Seychelles 1, Sierra Leone 4, Singapore 38, Thailand 1, Tuvalu 1, UK 8, unknown 11) (2010)

total

1,429

Ports and terminals

Hong Kong

Roadways

paved

2,050 km (2009)

total

2,050 km

Manpower available for military service

males age 16-49: 1,729,179 females age 16-49: 1,899,296 (2010 est.)

Manpower fit for military service

males age 16-49: 1,405,324 females age 16-49: 1,526,196 (2010 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually

female

38,240 (2010 est.)

male

41,717

Military - note

defense is the responsibility of China

Military branches

no regular indigenous military forces; Hong Kong garrison of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) includes elements of the PLA Ground Forces, PLA Navy, and PLA 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 (2009)

Military expenditures

NA

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 page last updated on January 20, 2011 ======================================================================