Match 109 DB Rec# - 7,561 Dataset-WOFACT
Title :Hong Kong
Text :
Hong Kong
Header
Affiliation:
(dependent territory of the UK)
Geography
Location:
Eastern Asia, bordering the South China Sea and China
Map references:
Southeast Asia
Area:
total area:
1,040 sq km
land area:
990 sq km
comparative area:
slightly less than six times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries:
total 30 km, China 30 km
Coastline:
733 km
Maritime claims:
territorial sea:
3 nm
International 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%
Irrigated land:
20 sq km (1989)
Environment:
current issues:
air and water pollution from rapid urbanization
natural hazards:
occasional typhoons
international agreements:
NA
Note:
more than 200 islands
People
Population:
5,542,869 (July 1995 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years:
19% (female 499,460; male 549,734)
15-64 years:
70% (female 1,866,540; male 2,016,684)
65 years and over:
11% (female 331,391; male 279,060) (July 1995 est.)
Population growth rate:
-0.12% (1995 est.)
Birth rate:
12.02 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Death rate:
6.02 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Net migration rate:
-7.22 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
5.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
80.18 years
male:
76.78 years
female:
83.78 years (1995 est.)
Total fertility rate:
1.39 children born/woman (1995 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
Chinese
adjective:
Chinese
Ethnic divisions:
Chinese 95%, other 5%
Religions:
eclectic mixture of local religions 90%, Christian 10%
Languages:
Chinese (Cantonese), English
Literacy:
age 15 and over has ever attended school (1971)
total population:
77%
male:
90%
female:
64%
Labor force:
2.8 million (1990)
by occupation:
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)
Government
Names:
conventional long form:
none
conventional short form:
Hong Kong
Abbreviation:
HK
Digraph:
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)
National holiday:
Liberation Day, 29 August (1945)
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
Suffrage:
direct election 21 years of age; universal for permanent residents 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
Executive branch:
chief of state:
Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952)
head of government:
Governor Chris PATTEN (since 9 July 1992); Chief Secretary Anson CHAN Fang
On-Sang (since 29 November 1993)
cabinet:
Executive Council; appointed by the governor
Legislative branch:
unicameral
Legislative Council:
indirect elections last held 12 September 1991 and direct elections were
held for the first time 15 September 1991 (next to be held 17 September 1995
when the number of directly-elected seats increases to 50); 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
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court
Political parties and leaders:
Democratic Party, Martin LEE, chairman; Democratic Alliance for the
Betterment of Hong Kong, TSANG Yuk-shing, chairman; Hong Kong Democratic
Foundation, Dr. Patrick SHIU Kin-ying, chairman
Government
note:
in April 1994, the United Democrats of Hong Kong (UDHK) and Meeting Point
merged to form the Democratic Party; the merger became effective in October
1994
Other political or pressure groups:
Liberal Party, Allen LEE, chairman; Association for Democracy and People's
Livelihood (ADPL), Frederick FUNG Kin Kee, chairman; Liberal Democratic
Federation, HU Fa-kuang, chairman; Federation of Trade Unions (pro-China),
LEE Chark-tim, president; Hong Kong and Kowloon Trade Union Council
(pro-Taiwan); Confederation of Trade Unions (pro-democracy), LAU Chin-shek,
chairman; 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, CHEUNG Man-kwong, president; Hong Kong Alliance in Support of the
Patriotic Democratic Movement in China, Szeto WAH, chairman
Member of:
APEC, AsDB, CCC, ESCAP (associate), GATT, ICFTU, IMO (associate), INTERPOL
(subbureau), IOC, ISO (correspondent), WCL, WMO
Diplomatic representation in US:
none (dependent territory of the UK)
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission:
Consul General Richard W. MUELLER
consulate(s) general:
26 Garden Road, Hong Kong
mailing address:
PSC 464, Box 30, Hong Kong, or FPO AP 96522-0002
telephone:
[852] 523-9011
FAX:
[852] 845-4845
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
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 17% of GDP. Goods and services
exports account for about 50% of GDP. Real GDP growth averaged a remarkable
8% in 1987-88, slowed to 3.0% in 1989-90, and picked up to 4.2% in 1991,
5.0% in 1992, 5.2% in 1993, and 5.5% in 1994. 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. Prospects
for 1995-96 remain bright so long as major trading partners continue to be
reasonably prosperous and so long as investors feel China will support free
market practices after the takeover in 1997.
National product:
GDP - purchasing power parity - $136.1 billion (1994 est.)
National product real growth rate:
5.5% (1994 est.)
National product per capita:
$24,530 (1994 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
8.5% (1994)
Unemployment rate:
1.9% (1994 est.)
Budget:
revenues:
$19.2 billion
expenditures:
$19.7 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY93/94)
Exports:
$168.7 billion (including re-exports of $121.0 billion )(f.o.b., 1994 est.)
commodities:
clothing, textiles, yarn and fabric, footwear, electrical appliances,
watches and clocks, toys
partners:
China 32%, US 23%, Germany 5%, Japan 5%, UK 3% (1993 est.)
Imports:
$160 billion (c.i.f., 1994 est.)
commodities:
foodstuffs, transport equipment, raw materials, semimanufactures, petroleum;
a large share is re-exported
partners:
China 36%, Japan 19%, Taiwan 9%, US 7% (1993 est.)
External debt:
none (1993)
Industrial production:
growth rate 2% (1993 est.)
Electricity:
capacity:
8,930,000 kW
production:
33 billion kWh
consumption per capita:
4,628 kWh (1993)
Industries:
textiles, clothing, tourism, electronics, plastics, toys, watches, clocks
Agriculture:
minor role in the economy; local farmers produce 26% fresh vegetables, 27%
live poultry; 8% of land area suitable for farming
Economy
Illicit drugs:
a hub for Southeast Asian heroin trade; transshipment and major financial
and money-laundering center; increasing indigenous amphetamine and cocaine
abuse
Economic aid:
recipient:
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-87), $152 million; Western (non-US)
countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $923 million
Currency:
1 Hong Kong dollar (HK$) = 100 cents
Exchange rates:
Hong Kong dollars (HK$) per US$ - 7.800 (1994), 7.800 (1993), 7.741 (1992),
7.771 (1991), 7.790 (1990); 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
Transportation
Railroads:
total:
35 km
standard gauge:
35 km 1.435-m gauge
Highways:
total:
1,100 km
paved:
794 km
unpaved:
gravel, crushed stone, earth 306 km
Ports:
Hong Kong
Merchant marine:
total:
217 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 7,657,749 GRT/13,181,496 DWT
ships by type:
bulk 116, cargo 29, chemical tanker 2, combination bulk 2, combination
ore/oil 6, container 28, liquefied gas tanker 5, oil tanker 18, refrigerated
cargo 7, short-sea passenger 1, vehicle carrier 3
note:
a flag of convenience registry; includes 15 countries among which are UK
with 53 ships, China 15, Bermuda 7, Japan 6, Belgium 3, Germany 3, Greece 3,
Canada 2, Netherlands 2, Singapore 2
Airports:
total:
3
with paved runways over 3,047 m:
1
with paved runways under 914 m:
2
Communications
Telephone system:
3,000,000 telephones; modern facilities provide excellent domestic and
international services
local:
NA
intercity:
microwave transmission links and extensive optical fiber transmission
network
international:
3 INTELSAT (1 Pacific Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean) earth stations; 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
Radio:
broadcast stations:
AM 6, FM 6, shortwave 0
radios:
2.5 million
Television:
broadcast stations:
4 (British Broadcasting Corporation repeater 1; British Forces Broadcasting
Service repeater 1)
televisions:
1.312 million (1,224,000 color TV sets)
Defense Forces
Branches:
Headquarters of British Forces, Army, Royal Navy, Royal Air Force, Royal
Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force, Royal Hong Kong Police Force
Manpower availability:
males age 15-49 1,634,559; males fit for military service 1,245,905; males
reach military age (18) annually 40,996 (1995 est.)
Defense expenditures:
exchange rate conversion - $207 million, 0.2% of GDP (FY92/93); this
represents 65% of the total cost of defending the colony, the remainder
being paid by the UK
Note:
defense is the responsibility of the UK
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The World Factbook 1995,
SuDoc No: PREX 3.15:995
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