HONG KONG
(dependent territory of the UK)
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 1,040 km2; land area: 990 km2
Comparative area: slightly less than six times the size of
Washington, DC
Land boundary: 30 km with China
Coastline: 733 km
Maritime claims:
Exclusive fishing zone: 3 nm;
Territorial sea: 3 nm
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
PEOPLE
Population: 5,855,800 (July 1991), growth rate 0.6% (1991)
Birth rate: 13 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: - 2 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 7 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 77 years male, 84 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 1.4 children born/woman (1991)
Nationality: adjective--Hong Kong
Ethnic divisions: Chinese 98%, other 2%
Religion: eclectic mixture of local religions 90%, Christian 10%
Language: 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)
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 Sir David Clive WILSON (since 9
April 1987);
Chief Secretary Sir David Robert FORD (since NA February 1987)
Political parties:
United Democrats of Hong Kong (UDHK), Martin LEE Chu-ming;
Liberal Democratic Federation (LDF), HU Fa-kuang;
Hong Kong Democratic Foundation (HKDF), Patrick SHIU Kin-ying;
Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood (ADPL),
Frederick FUNG Kin-kee;
Meeting Point, Anthony CHEUNG Bing-leung;
Progressive Hong Kong Society (PHKS), Maria TAM Wai-chu
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 held 15 September 1991 (next to be held by
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 2, ADPL 1, other 3; note--direct
elections were held for the first time in September 1991
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: AsDB, CCC, ESCAP (associate), GATT, ICFTU,
IMO (associate), IOC, ISO (correspondent), WCL, WMO
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 San Francisco 96659-0002); telephone 852 (5) 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 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 less than 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
prosperous. The crackdown in China in 1989-90 casts a long shadow over
the longer term economic outlook.
GDP: $64.0 billion, per capita $11,000; real growth rate 2.5%
(1990)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 9.8% (1990)
Unemployment rate: 1.8% (1990)
Budget: $8.8 billion (FY90)
Exports: $80.3 billion (f.o.b., 1990), including reexports of
$51.2 billion;
commodities--clothing, textile yarn and fabric, footwear,
electrical appliances, watches and clocks, toys;
partners--US 32%, China 19%, FRG 7%, UK 6%, Japan 6% (1989)
Imports: $79.5 billion (c.i.f., 1990);
commodities--foodstuffs, transport equipment, raw materials,
semimanufactures, petroleum;
partners--China 35%, Japan 17%, Taiwan 9%, US 8% (1989)
External debt: $9.5 billion (December 1990 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate 1.7% (1989)
Electricity: 8,485,000 kW capacity; 25,000 million kWh produced,
4,340 kWh per capita (1990)
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
(1970-88), $910 million
Currency: Hong Kong dollar (plural--dollars);
1 Hong Kong dollar (HK$) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: Hong Kong dollars (HK$) per US$--7.800 (March
1989), 7.810 (1988), 7.760 (1987), 7.795 (1986), 7.811 (1985);
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: 1,484 km total; 794 km paved, 306 km gravel, crushed
stone, or earth
Ports: Hong Kong
Merchant marine: 134 ships (1,000 GRT or over), totaling 4,690,770
GRT/8,091,177 DWT; includes 1 passenger, 1 short-sea passenger, 16 cargo,
5 refrigerated cargo, 16 container, 1 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 9
petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 2 chemical tanker, 6
combination ore/oil, 6 liquefied gas, 71 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; stations--6 AM,
6 FM, 4 TV; 1 British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) relay station and
1 British Forces Broadcasting Service relay 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, Gurkha Brigade,
Royal Hong Kong Police Force
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 1,718,112; 1,328,230 fit for
military service; 45,437 reach military age (18) annually
Defense expenditures: $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