Hong Kong

dependent territory of the UK scheduled to revert to China in 1997Independence none (dependent territory of the UK

Hong Kong as the 1994 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 119 fields, one of 36 editions from 1990 to 2025.

field in that editiontext changed from the edition beforenot in that editionthe open editionEach field below ends in its editions, 1990 to 2025. Point at a year above to follow it down.

CapitalVictoria
LocationEastern Asia, on the southeast coast of China bordering the South
1994

Every edition of Hong Kong

Populationas each edition published it
5.55 million July 1994 est. · 5.76m in 1990
Population growth% a year
-0.09% 1994 est. · -0.06% in 1993
Median ageyears
Not in this edition 37.5 yrs in 2003
Life expectancyyears at birth
Not in this edition 79.99 yrs in 1993
Fertility ratechildren per woman
1.37 children per woman 1994 est. · 1.4 in 1990
Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births
5.8 deaths per 1,000 live births 1994 est. · 6 in 1990
GDP per capitaeach edition's own dollars
$21,500 1993 est. · $14,600 in 1993
GDP real growth% a year
5.2% 1993 · 5.9% in 1993

Geography

Eastern Asia, on the southeast coast of China bordering the South | China Sea

23 fields
Land boundaries
30km
total · China 30 km
Irrigated land
20sq km
(1989)

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

total area

1,040 sq km

land area

990 sq km

comparative area

slightly less than six times the size of Washington, DC

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

arable land

7%

permanent crops

1%

meadows and pastures

1%

forest and woodland

12%

other

79%

current issues

air and water pollution from rapid urbanization

natural hazards

occasional typhoons

international agreements

NA

Note

more than 200 islands

People

21 fields
Population
5,548,754
(July 1994 est.)growth rate: -0.09% (1994 est.)

Per 1,000 population(1994 est.)

Birth
12.16Death
5.85Net migration
-7.21
Labor force
2.8million
(1990)
Literacy
15
age · and over having ever attended school (1971)

Infant mortality rate

5.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

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.)

noun

Chinese

adjective

Chinese

Ethnic divisions

Chinese 95%, other 5%

Religions

eclectic mixture of local religions 90%, Christian 10%

Languages

Chinese (Cantonese), English

total population

77%

male

90%

female

64%

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

Dependent territory of the UK scheduled to revert to China in 1997

30 fields

conventional long form

none

conventional short form

Hong Kong

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

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

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 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)

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

Hong Kong has a bustling free market economy with few tariffs or | nontariff barriers.

26 fields
GDP per capita, PPP
$21,500
(1993 est.)
Real growth rate
5.2%
(1993)industrial production growth: growth rate 2% (1993 est.)
Unemployment rate
2.3%
(1993 est.)

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.)

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)

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

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

14 fields

Railroads

35 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, government owned

total

1,100 km

paved

794 km

unpaved

gravel, crushed stone, earth 306 km

Ports

Hong Kong

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

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

Headquarters of British Forces, Royal Navy, Royal Air Force, Royal | Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force, Royal Hong Kong Police Force

5 fields

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

Affiliation

(territory of the US)

Central Intelligence Agency. “Hong Kong.” The World Factbook 1994. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/hong-kong/1994.

How to cite ← 1993 edition 1995 edition →