The 2001 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency
1,042 sq km
water: 50 sq km
Area - comparative: six times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries: total: 30 km
border countries: China 30 km
Coastline: 733 km
Maritime claims: 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
Elevation extremes: lowest point: South China Sea 0 m
highest point: Tai Mo Shan 958 m
Natural resources: outstanding deepwater harbor, feldspar
Land use: arable land: 6%
permanent crops: 1%
permanent pastures: 1%
forests and woodland: 20%
other: 72% (1997 est.)
Irrigated land: 20 sq km (1997 est.)
Natural hazards: occasional typhoons
Environment - current issues: air and water pollution from rapid urbanization
Environment - international agreements: party to: Marine Dumping (associate member), Ship Pollution (associate member)
Geography - note: more than 200 islands
Hong Kong People
Population: 7,210,505 (July 2001 est.)
Age structure: 0–14 years: 17.73% (male 677,785; female 600,781)
15–64 years: 71.52% (male 2,554,329; female 2,602,662)
65 years and over: 10.75% (male 354,199; female 420,749) (2001 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.3% (2001 est.)
Birth rate: 11.13 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Death rate: 6.02 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Net migration rate: 7.9 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.13 male(s)/female
15–64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.84 male(s)/female
total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2001 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 5.83 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 79.67 years
male: 76.97 years
female: 82.55 years (2001 est.)
Total fertility rate: 1.29 children born/woman (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.06% (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 2,500 (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 100 (1999 est.)
Nationality: noun: Chinese
adjective: Chinese
Ethnic groups: Chinese 95%, other 5%
Religions: eclectic mixture of local religions 90%, Christian 10%
Languages: Chinese (Cantonese), English; both are official
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school
total population: 92.2%
male: 96%
female: 88.2% (1996 est.)
Hong Kong Government
Country name: conventional long form: Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region
conventional short form: Hong Kong
local long form: Xianggang Tebie Xingzhengqu
local short form: Xianggang
abbreviation: HK
Dependency status: special administrative region of China
Government type: NA
Administrative divisions: none (special administrative region of
China)
Independence: none (special administrative region of 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
Constitution: Basic Law approved in March 1990 by China's National
People's Congress is Hong Kong's "mini-constitution"
Legal system: based on English common law
Suffrage: direct election 18 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 members of functional constituencies and an 800-member election committee drawn from broad regional groupings, municipal organizations, and central government bodies
Executive branch: chief of state: President of China JIANG Zemin (since 27 March 1993)
head of government: Chief Executive TUNG Chee-hwa (since 1 July 1997)
cabinet: Executive Council consists of three ex-officio members and 10 appointed members; ex-officio members are: Chief Secretary Anson CHAN (since 29 November 1993), Financial Secretary Donald TSANG (since 7 March 1995), and Secretary of Justice Elsie LEUNG (since 1 July 1997)
elections: NA
Legislative branch: unicameral Legislative Council or LEGCO (60 seats; 30 indirectly elected by functional constituencies, 24 elected by popular vote, and 6 elected by an 800-member election committee; members serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 10 September 2000 (next to be held NA 2004)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Democratic Party 12, Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong 10, Liberal Party 7, Frontier Party 5, Hong Kong Progressive Alliance 4, New Century Forum 2, Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood 1, independents 19
Judicial branch: The Court of Final Appeal in the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region
Political parties and leaders: Association for Democracy and
People's Livelihood [Frederick FUNG Kin-kee, chairman]; Citizens
Party [leader NA]; Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong
Kong [Jasper TSANG Yok-sing, chairman]; Democratic Party [Martin LEE
Chu-ming, chairman]; Frontier Party [Emily LAU Wai-hing,
chairwoman]; Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's
Livelihood [leader NA]; Hong Kong Progressive Alliance [Ambrose LAU
Hon-chuen]; Liberal Party [James TIEN Pei-chun, chairman]; New
Century Forum [NQ Ching-fai, chairman]
note: political blocs include: pro-democracy - Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood, Citizens Party, Democratic Party, Frontier Party; pro-Beijing - Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Progressive Alliance, Liberal Party, New Century Forum
Political pressure groups and leaders: Chinese General Chamber of