]! ^! Occupied by the UK in 1841, Hong Kong was formally ceded by China the following year; various adjacent lands were added later in the 19th century. Pursuant to an agreement signed by China and the UK on 19 December 1984, Hong Kong became the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China on 1 July 1997. In this agreement, China has promised that, under its "one country, two systems" formula, China's socialist economic system will not be imposed on Hong Kong and that Hong Kong will enjoy a high degree of autonomy in all matters except foreign and defense affairs for the next 50 years. 
]" ^" Eastern Asia, bordering the South China Sea and China ^# 22 15 N, 114 10 E ^$ Southeast Asia ^% `! 1,092 sq km `" 1,042 sq km `# 50 sq km ^& six times the size of Washington, DC ^' `! 30 km regional border: China 30 km ^( 733 km ^) `$ 3 nm ^* subtropical monsoon; cool and humid in winter, hot and rainy from spring through summer, warm and sunny in fall ^+ hilly to mountainous with steep slopes; lowlands in north ^, `% South China Sea 0 m `& Tai Mo Shan 958 m ^- outstanding deepwater harbor, feldspar ^. `' 5.05% `( 1.01% `) 93.94% (2001) ^/ 20 sq km (1998 est.) ^0 occasional typhoons ^1 air and water pollution from rapid urbanization _P `P Marine Dumping (associate member), Ship Pollution (associate member) ^2 more than 200 islands 
]# ^3 6,980,412 (July 2007 est.) ^4 `+ 13% (male 476,089/female 434,326) `, 74% (male 2,515,518/female 2,652,660) `- 12.9% (male 419,479/female 482,340) (2007 est.) ^5 `! 41.2 years `. 40.9 years `/ 41.4 years (2007 est.) ^6 0.561% (2007 est.) ^7 7.34 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^8 6.45 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^9 4.72 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^: `0 1.08 male(s)/female `1 1.096 male(s)/female `, 0.948 male(s)/female `- 0.87 male(s)/female `2 0.956 male(s)/female (2007 est.) ^; `! 2.94 deaths/1,000 live births `. 3.12 deaths/1,000 live births `/ 2.74 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) ^< `2 81.68 years `. 78.99 years `/ 84.6 years (2007 est.) ^= 0.98 children born/woman (2007 est.) ^> 0.1% (2003 est.) ^? 2,600 (2003 est.) ^@ less than 200 (2003 est.) ^A `3 Chinese/Hong Konger `4 Chinese/Hong Kong ^B Chinese 95%, other 5% ^C eclectic mixture of local religions 90%, Christian 10% ^D Chinese (Cantonese), English; both are official ^E `5 age 15 and over has ever attended school `2 93.5% `. 96.9% `/ 89.6% (2002) 
]$ ^F `6 Hong Kong Special Administrative Region `7 Hong Kong `Z Xianggang Tebie Xingzhengqu `[ Xianggang `] HK ^G special administrative region of China ^H limited democracy ^J none (special administrative region of China) ^K none (special administrative region of China) ^L 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 ^M Basic Law, approved in March 1990 by China's National People's Congress, is Hong Kong's "mini-constitution" ^N based on English common law ^O 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 200,000 members of functional constituencies and an 800-member election committee drawn from broad regional groupings, municipal organizations, and central government bodies ^P `; President of China HU Jintao (since 15 March 2003) `< Chief Executive Donald TSANG (since 24 June 2005) `= Executive Council consists of 14 official members and 15 non-official members `> chief executive elected for five-year term by 800-member electoral committee; last held on 25 March 2007 (next to be held in 2012) `? Donald TSANG elected chief executive receiving 84.1% of the vote; Alan LEONG received 15.9% ^Q unicameral Legislative Council or LEGCO (60 seats; in 2004 30 seats indirectly elected by functional constituencies, 30 elected by popular vote; members serve four-year terms) `> last held 12 September 2004 (next to be held in September 2008) `? percent of vote by party - pro-democracy 63%, pro-Beijing 37%; seats by party - (pro-Beijing 34) DAB 12, Liberal Party 10, FTU 1, independents 11; (pro-democracy 25) Democratic Party 9, CTU 2, ADPL 1, Frontier Party 1, NWSC 1, independents 11; non-voting LEGCO president 1 ^R Court of Final Appeal in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ^S Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood or ADPL [Frederick FUNG Kin-kee]; Citizens Party [Alex CHAN Kai-chung]; Civic Party [KUAN Hsin-chi]; Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong or DAB [MA Lik]; Democratic Party [Albert HO]; Frontier Party [Emily LAU Wai-hing]; Liberal Party [James TIEN Pei-chun] `* political blocs include: pro-democracy - ADPL, Democratic Party, Frontier Party; pro-Beijing - DAB, Liberal Party ^T Chinese General Chamber of Commerce (pro-China); Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong; Confederation of Trade Unions or CTU (pro-democracy) [LAU Chin-shek, president; LEE Cheuk-yan, general secretary]; Federation of Hong Kong Industries; Federation of Trade Unions or FTU (pro-China) [CHENG Yiu-tong, executive councilor]; Hong Kong Alliance in Support of the Patriotic Democratic Movement in China [Szeto WAH, chairman]; Hong Kong and Kowloon Trade Union Council (pro-Taiwan); Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce; Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union [CHEUNG Man-kwong, president]; Neighborhood and Workers' Service Center or NWSC (pro-democracy); The Alliance [Bernard CHAN, exco member] ^U APEC, AsDB, BIS, ICC, IHO, IMF, IMO (associate), IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITUC, UNWTO (associate), UPU, WCL, WCO, WMO, WTO ^V none (special administrative region of China) ^W `R Consul General James B. CUNNINGHAM `V 26 Garden Road, Hong Kong `` PSC 461, Box 1, FPO AP 96521-0006 `T [852] 2523-9011 `U [852] 2845-1598 ^X red with a stylized, white, five-petal bauhinia flower in the center 
]% ^Y Hong Kong has a free market economy highly dependent on international trade. The territory has become more closely linked to mainland China over the past few years. Even before Hong Kong reverted to Chinese administration on 1 July 1997, it had extensive trade and investment ties with China. Hong Kong's service industry over the past decade has grown rapidly as its manufacturing industry has moved to the mainland. Hong Kong also has stepped up its efforts to gain approval to offer more mainland financial services in a bid to remain competitive with China's growing financial centers. Hong Kong's natural resources are limited, and food and raw materials must be imported. Gross imports and exports (including reexports to and from third countries) each exceed GDP in dollar value. Per capita GDP exceeds that of the four big economies of Western Europe. GDP growth averaged a strong 5% from 1989 to 2006, but Hong Kong suffered two recessions in the past eight years because of the Asian financial crisis in 1997-98 and the global downturn in 2001-02. Although the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003 also battered Hong Kong's economy, a solid rise in exports, a boom in tourism from the mainland because of China's easing of travel restrictions, and a return of consumer confidence resulted in the resumption of strong growth from late 2003 through 2006. Moreover, several large initial public offerings of Chinese companies on the Hong Kong stock exchange since late 2005 have helped to boost Hong Kong's status as a financial hub and have contributed to the improved performance of the market in late 2006. ^Z $253.1 billion (2006 est.) ^[ $187.1 billion (2006 est.) ^\ 5.9% (2006 est.) ^] $36,500 (2006 est.) ^^ `@ 0.1% `A 9% `B 90.9% (2006 est.) ^_ 3.63 million (2006 est.) ^` manufacturing 7.5%, construction 2.9%, wholesale and retail trade, restaurants, and hotels 43.9%, financing, insurance, and real estate 19.6%, transport and communications 7.1%, community and social services 18.8% `* above data exclude public sector (2005 est.) ^a 4.9% (2006 est.) _! NA% _" `C NA% `D NA% _d 52.3 (2001) _# 2.2% (2006 est.) _V 21.1% of GDP (2006 est.) _$ `E $35.16 billion `F $33.02 billion; including capital expenditures of $5.9 billion (2006 est.) _% 1% of GDP (2006 est.) _& fresh vegetables; poultry, pork; fish _' textiles, clothing, tourism, banking, shipping, electronics, plastics, toys, watches, clocks _( 4% (2006 est.) _) 38.45 billion kWh (2005) _* 44.55 billion kWh (2005) _+ 4.497 billion kWh (2005) _, 10.39 billion kWh (2005) _- 0 bbl/day (2005 est.) _. 285,000 bbl/day (2005 est.) _/ 0 bbl/day (2005) _0 273,000 bbl/day (2005) _1 0 cu m (2005 est.) _2 2.2 billion cu m (2005 est.) _X 0 cu m (2004 est.) _Y 2.524 billion cu m (2004 est.) _Q $20.9 billion (2006 est.) _3 $611.6 billion f.o.b., including reexports (2006 est.) _4 electrical machinery and appliances, textiles, apparel, footwear, watches and clocks, toys, plastics, precious stones, printed material _5 China 45%, US 16.1%, Japan 5.3% (2005) _6 $329.8 billion (2006 est.) _7 raw materials and semi-manufactures, consumer goods, capital goods, foodstuffs, fuel (most is re-exported) _8 China 45%, Japan 11%, Taiwan 7.2%, Singapore 5.8%, US 5.1%, South Korea 4.4% (2005) _[ $132 billion (November 2006 est.) _9 $472.9 billion (30 June 2006 est.) _; Hong Kong dollar (HKD) _< Hong Kong dollars per US dollar - 7.7678 (2006), 7.7773 (2005), 7.788 (2004), 7.7868 (2003), 7.7989 (2002) _= 1 April - 31 March 
]& _> 3.795 million (2005) _? 8.693 million (2005) _@ `G modern facilities provide excellent domestic and international services `H microwave radio relay links and extensive fiber-optic network `I country code - 852; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Pacific Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean); coaxial cable to Guangzhou, China; access to 5 international submarine cables providing connections to ASEAN member nations, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, Middle East, and Western Europe _A AM 5, FM 9, shortwave 0 (2004) _B 55 (2 TV networks, each broadcasting on 2 channels) (2006) _C .hk _D 800,834 (2006) _E 4.879 million (2005) 
]' _F 3 (2006) _G `! 3 `a 1 `b 1 `W 1 (2006) _] 3 (2006) _H `! 1,955 km `K 1,955 km (2005) _S `! 924 ships (1000 GRT or over) 30,838,025 GRT/51,957,682 DWT by type: barge carrier 2, bulk carrier 495, cargo 121, chemical tanker 44, container 133, liquefied gas 22, passenger 6, passenger/cargo 7, petroleum tanker 76, roll on/roll off 3, specialized tanker 7, vehicle carrier 8 `X 562 (Australia 1, Belgium 3, Canada 28, China 274, Denmark 6, Germany 6, Greece 27, Indonesia 4, Japan 67, South Korea 6, Norway 26, Philippines 16, Portugal 1, Singapore 24, Syria 1, Taiwan 6, UAE 2, UK 43, US 21) `d 417 (Bahamas 8, Belize 8, Bermuda 10, Cambodia 15, China 7, Cyprus 1, France 1, French Southern and Antarctic Lands 2, Greece 1, Honduras 2, India 1, Liberia 37, Malaysia 14, Malta 2, Marshall Islands 7, Norway 55, Panama 169, Philippines 3, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 6, Singapore 50, Taiwan 3, Tuvalu 8, unknown 7) (2006) _I Hong Kong 
]( _J no regular indigenous military forces; Hong Kong garrison of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) includes elements of Ground Forces, Navy, and Air Force; these forces are under the direct leadership of the Central Military Commission in Beijing and under administrative control of the adjacent Guangzhou Military Region _T 18 years of age (2004) _K males age 18-49: 1,743,972 females age 18-49: 1,904,967 (2005 est.) Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 1,403,088 females age 18-49: 1,527,278 (2005 est.) _L males age 18-49: 40,343 females age 18-49: 38,234 (2005 est.) _U NA _M defense is the responsibility of China 
]) _N none _O despite strenuous law enforcement efforts, faces difficult challenges in controlling transit of heroin and methamphetamine to regional and world markets; modern banking system provides conduit for money laundering; rising indigenous use of synthetic drugs, especially among young people 