Hong Kong




                                  Header


Affiliation:
     (dependent territory of the UK)


                                 Geography


Location:
     Eastern Asia, on the southeast coast of China bordering the South
     China Sea
Map references:
     Asia, Southeast Asia, Standard Time Zones of the World
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:
exclusive fishing zone:
     3 nm
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:
     5,548,754 (July 1994 est.)
Population growth rate:
     -0.09% (1994 est.)
Birth rate:
     12.16 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Death rate:
     5.85 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Net migration rate:
     -7.21 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
     5.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
     80.09 years
male:
     76.67 years
female:
     83.71 years (1994 est.)
Total fertility rate:
     1.37 children born/woman (1994 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 having 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:
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 in
     September 1995 when the number of directly-elected seats increases to
     20); 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:
     United Democrats of Hong Kong, 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
note:
     in April 1994, the United Democrats of Hong Kong and Meeting Point
     merged to form the "Democratic Party;" the merger becomes effective in
     October 1994
Other political or pressure groups:
     Liberal Party, Allen LEE, chairman; Meeting Point, Anthony CHEUNG
     Bing-leung, chairman; Association for Democracy and People's
     Livelihood, 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
note:
     in April 1994, the United Democrats of Hong Kong and Meeting Point
     merged to form the "Democratic Party;" the merger becomes effective in
     October 1994
Member of:
     COCOM (cooperating), 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 MUELLER
consulate 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] 845-1598




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, and 5.2% in 1993.
     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 bright so
     long as major trading partners continue to be reasonably prosperous.
National product:
     GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $119 billion (1993 est.)
National product real growth rate:
     5.2% (1993)
National product per capita:
     $21,500 (1993 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
     9.5% (1993)
Unemployment rate:
     2.3% (1993 est.)
Budget:
revenues:
     $19.2 billion
expenditures:
     $19.7 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY94)
Exports:
     $145.1 billion (including re-exports of $104.2 billion )(f.o.b., 1993
     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:
     $149.6 billion (c.i.f., 1993 est.)
commodities:
     foodstuffs, transport equipment, raw materials, semimanufactures,
     petroleum
partners:
     China 36%, Japan 19%, Taiwan 9%, US 7% (1993 est.)
External debt:
     none (1993)
Industrial production:
     growth rate 2% (1993 est.)




Electricity:
capacity:
     9,566,000 kW
production:
     29.4 billion kWh
consumption per capita:
     4,980 kWh (1992)
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
Illicit drugs:
     a hub for Southeast Asian heroin trade; transshipment and major
     financial and money-laundering center
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 (1993), 7.741 (1992), 7.771
     (1991), 7.790 (1990), 7.800 (1989); 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


                              Communications


Railroads:
     35 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, government owned
Highways:
total:
     1,100 km
paved:
     794 km
unpaved:
     gravel, crushed stone, earth 306 km
Ports:
Merchant marine:
     201 ships (1,000 GRT or over), totaling 6,972,233 GRT/11,965,809 DWT,
     bulk 105, cargo 23, chemical tanker 3, combination bulk 2, combination
     ore/oil 6, container 29, liquefied gas 7, oil tanker 16, refrigerated
     cargo 7, short-sea passenger 1, vehicle carrier 2
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
Airports:
total:
     2




usable:
     2
with permanent-surface runways:
     2
with runways over 3,659 m:
     0
with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
     1
with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
     0
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


                              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 age 15-49 1,636,397; fit for military service 1,251,901; reach
     military age (18) annually 42,044 (1994 est.)
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