Background: 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 the People's Republic of China on 1 July 1997. In this agreement China promised that under its 'one country two systems' formula China's socialist economic system would not be imposed on Hong Kong and that Hong Kong would enjoy a high degree of autonomy in all matters except foreign and defense affairs for the next 50 years.

Geographic coordinates: 22 15 N 114 10 E

Area
Rank: 184
Comparative: six times the size of Washington DC

Coastline: 733 km

Climate: subtropical 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

Irrigated land: NA; note - included in the total for China (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: occasional typhoons

Geography
Note: composed of more than 200 islands

Population: 7,153,519 (July 2012 est.)
Rank: 99
Growth rate: 0.421% (2012 est.)
Growth rate rank: 155
Below poverty line: NA%

Ethnic groups: Chinese 95% Filipino 1.6% Indonesian 1.3% other 2.1% (2006 census)

Languages: Cantonese (official) 90.8% English (official) 2.8% Putonghua (Mandarin) 0.9% other Chinese dialects 4.4% other 1.1% (2006 census)

Religions: eclectic mixture of local religions 90% Christian 10%

Population growth rate: 0.421% (2012 est.)
Rank: 155

Birth rate: 7.54 births/1000 population (2012 est.)
Rank: 221

Death rate: 7.23 deaths/1000 population (July 2012 est.)
Rank: 122

Net migration rate: 3.9 migrant(s)/1000 population (2012 est.)
Rank: 25

Environment
Current issues: air and water pollution from rapid urbanization

Infant mortality rate
Rank: 218

Life expectancy at birth
Rank: 8

Total fertility rate: 1.09 children born/woman (2012 est.)
Rank: 222

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.1% (2003 est.)
Adult prevalence rate rank: 128
People living with hivaids: 2,600 (2003 est.)
People living with hivaids rank: 130
Deaths: fewer than 200 (2003 est.)
Deaths rank: 106

Education expenditures: 4.5% of GDP (2009)
Rank: 80

Government type: limited democracy

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: The Basic Law approved March 1990 by China's National People's Congress is Hong Kong's charter

Legal system: mixed legal system of common law based on the English model and Chinese customary law (in matters of family and land tenure)

Suffrage: 18 years of age in direct elections for half the legislature and a majority of seats in 18 district councils; universal for permanent residents living in the territory of Hong Kong for the past seven years; note - in indirect elections suffrage is limited to about 220,000 members of functional constituencies for the other half of the legislature and an 1200-member election committee for the chief executive drawn from broad sectoral groupings central government bodies municipal organizations and elected Hong Kong officials

Legislative branch: unicameral Legislative Council or LegCo (60 seats; 30 members indirectly elected by functional constituencies 30 elected by popular vote; members serve four-year terms)

Judicial branch: Court of Final Appeal High Court (Court of Appeal and the Court of the First Instance) district courts magistrates' courts and other special courts

International organization participation: ADB APEC BIS FATF ICC (national committees) IHO IMF IMO (associate) Interpol (subbureau) IOC ISO (correspondent) ITUC (NGOs) UNWTO (associate) UPU WCO WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us: none (special administrative region of China); Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) carries out normal liaison and communication with the US Government and other US entities

Flag description: red with a stylized white five-petal Bauhinia flower in the center; each petal contains a small red five-pointed star in its middle; the red color is the same as that on the Chinese flag and represents the motherland; the fragrant Bauhinia - developed in Hong Kong the late 19th century - has come to symbolize the region; the five stars echo those on the flag of China

National symbols: orchid tree flower

Economy overview: Hong Kong has a free market economy highly dependent on international trade and finance - the value of goods and services trade including the sizable share of re-exports is about four times GDP. Hong Kong's open economy left it exposed to the global economic slowdown that began in 2008. Although increasing integration with China through trade tourism and financial links helped it to make an initial recovery more quickly than many observers anticipated it again faces a possible slowdown as exports to the Euro zone and US slump. The Hong Kong government is promoting the Special Administrative Region (SAR) as the site for Chinese renminbi (RMB) internationalization. Hong Kong residents are allowed to establish RMB-denominated savings accounts; RMB-denominated corporate and Chinese government bonds have been issued in Hong Kong; and RMB trade settlement is allowed. The territory far exceeded the RMB conversion quota set by Beijing for trade settlements in 2010 due to the growth of earnings from exports to the mainland. RMB deposits grew to roughly 7.8% of total system deposits in Hong Kong by the end of 2011 an increase of over 59% since the beginning of the year. The government is pursuing efforts to introduce additional use of RMB in Hong Kong financial markets and is seeking to expand the RMB quota. The mainland has long been Hong Kong's largest trading partner accounting for about half of Hong Kong's exports by value. Hong Kong's natural resources are limited and food and raw materials must be imported. As a result of China's easing of travel restrictions the number of mainland tourists to the territory has surged from 4.5 million in 2001 to 28 million in 2011 outnumbering visitors from all other countries combined. Hong Kong has also established itself as the premier stock market for Chinese firms seeking to list abroad. In 2011 mainland Chinese companies constituted about 43% of the firms listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and accounted for about 56% of the Exchange's market capitalization. During the past decade as Hong Kong's manufacturing industry moved to the mainland its service industry has grown rapidly. Growth slowed to 5% in 2011 and less than 2% in 2012. Credit expansion and tight housing supply conditions caused Hong Kong property prices to rise rapidly in 2010 and inflation to rise 5.3% in 2011 but the tempo slowed in 2012. Lower and middle income segments of the population are increasingly unable to afford adequate housing. Hong Kong continues to link its currency closely to the US dollar maintaining an arrangement established in 1983.

Real gdp purchasing power parity:
Rank: 36

Real gdp growth rate:
Rank: 148

Real gdp per capita:
Rank: 10

Agriculture products: fresh vegetables; poultry pork; fish

Industrial production growth rate: 0.8% (2011 est.)
Rank: 141

Labor force: 3.705 million (2012 est.)
Rank: 93

Unemployment rate: 3.4% (2011 est.)
Rank: 28

Population below poverty line: NA%

Distribution of family income gini index: 53.3 (2007)
Rank: 13

Budget
Surplus or deficit: 1.1% of GDP (2012 est.)
Surplus or deficit rank: 27

Taxes and other revenues: 19.6% of GDP (2012 est.)
Rank: 163

Public debt: 39.8% of GDP (2011 est.)
Rank: 113

Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March

Inflation rate consumer prices: 5.3% (2011 est.)
Rank: 108

Central bank discount rate: 0.5% (31 December 2010)
Rank: 140

Commercial bank prime lending rate: 5% (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 157

Stock of narrow money: $130.4 billion (31 December 2010)
Rank: 26

Stock of broad money: $917.5 billion (31 December 2010)
Rank: 19

Stock of domestic credit: $515.8 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 24

Market value of publicly traded shares:
Rank: 6

Current account balance: $12.91 billion (2011 est.)
Rank: 24

Exports: $438 billion (2011 est.)
Rank: 13
Commodities: electrical machinery and appliances textiles apparel footwear watches and clocks toys plastics precious stones printed material
Partners: China 52.4% US 9.9% Japan 4% (2011 est.)

Imports: $494.1 billion (2011 est.)
Rank: 10
Commodities: raw materials and semi-manufactures consumer goods capital goods foodstuffs fuel (most is reexported)
Partners: China 44.9% Japan 8.9% Taiwan 7.5% US 4.9% (2011 est.)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $285.4 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 9

Debt external: $750.8 billion (31 December 2010 est.)
Rank: 17

Stock of direct foreign investment at home: $1.138 trillion (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 3

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad: $1.046 trillion (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 5

Exchange rates:

Electricity
Production: 41.22 billion kWh (2011 est.)
Production rank: 57
Consumption: 43.14 billion kWh (2011 est.)
Consumption rank: 51
Exports: 2.75 billion kWh (2011 est.)
Exports rank: 40
Imports: 10.75 billion kWh (2011 est.)
Imports rank: 21
Installed generating capacity: 12.62 million kW (2009 est.)
Installed generating capacity rank: 49
Generation sources fossil fuels: 100% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)
Generation sources fossil fuels rank: 19
Generation sources nuclear: 0% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)
Generation sources nuclear rank: 105
Generation sources hydroelectricity: 0% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)
Generation sources hydroelectricity rank: 176
Generation sources other renewable sources: 0% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)
Generation sources other renewable sources rank: 139

Petroleum
Petroleum total petroleum production: 0 bbl/day (2011 est.)
Petroleum total petroleum production rank: 146
Crude oil exports: 0 bbl/day (2009 est.)
Crude oil exports rank: 125
Crude oil imports: 0 bbl/day (2009 est.)
Crude oil imports rank: 198
Crude oil proven reserves: 0 bbl (1 January 2012 est.)
Crude oil proven reserves rank: 145

Refined petroleum
Products production: 0 bbl/day (2008 est.)
Products production rank: 158
Products consumption: 291,400 bbl/day (2011 est.)
Products consumption rank: 45
Products exports: 16,620 bbl/day (2011)
Products exports rank: 78
Products imports: 375,000 bbl/day (2008 est.)
Products imports rank: 18

Natural gas
Production: 0 m³ (2010 est.)
Production rank: 143
Consumption: 3.46 billion m³ (2011 est.)
Consumption rank: 69
Exports: 0 m³ (2011 est.)
Exports rank: 85
Imports: 3.195 billion m³ (2011 est.)
Imports rank: 41
Proven reserves: 0 m³ (1 January 2012 est.)
Proven reserves rank: 149

Carbon dioxide emissions
From consumption of energy: 83.78 million Mt (2010 est.)
From consumption of energy rank: 43

Telephones
Main lines in use: 4.342 million (2011)
Main lines in use rank: 38
Mobile cellular: 15.293 million (2011)
Mobile cellular rank: 55

Broadcast media: 2 commercial terrestrial TV networks each with multiple stations; multi-channel satellite and cable TV systems available; 3 radio networks one of which is government-funded operate about 15 radio stations (2010)

Internet
Country code: .hk
Hosts: 870,041 (2012)
Hosts rank: 48
Users: 4.873 million (2009)
Users rank: 47

Military expenditures: NA

Airports: 2 (2012)
Rank: 199

Heliports: 9 (2012)

Roadways
Rank: 172

Merchant marine
Rank: 5

Ports and terminals: Hong Kong

Disputes international: none

Illicit drugs: 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 d