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 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 subsequent 50 years.

Geographic coordinates: 22 15 N, 114 10 E

Map reference: Southeast Asia

Area
Total: 1108 km²
Land: 1073 km²
Water: 35 km²
Rank: 184
Comparative: six times the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries
Total: 33 km
Regional borders: China 33 km

Coastline: 733 km

Maritime claims
Territorial sea: 12 nm

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

Elevation
Lowest point: South China Sea 0 m
Highest point: Tai Mo Shan 958 m

Natural resources: outstanding deepwater harbor, feldspar

Land use
Agricultural land: 5% (2011 est.)
Forest: 0% (2011 est.)
Other: 95% (2011 est.)

Irrigated land: 10 km² (2012)

Natural hazards: occasional typhoons

Geography
Note: consists of a mainland area (the New Territories) and more than 200 islands

Population
Distribution: population fairly evenly distributed: 7,213,338 (July 2018 est.)
Rank: 102
Growth rate: 0.29% (2018 est.)
Growth rate rank: 172
Below poverty line: 19.9% (2016 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Chinese/Hong Konger
Adjective: Chinese/Hong Kong

Ethnic groups: Chinese 92%, Filipino 2.5%, Indonesian 2.1%, other 3.4% (2016 est.)

Languages: Cantonese (official) 88.9%, English (official) 4.3%, Mandarin (official) 1.9%, other Chinese dialects 3.1%, other 1.9% (2016 est.)

Religions:

Age structure
0-14 years: 12.38% (male 471,983 /female 420,977)
15-24 years: 9.89% (male 372,991 /female 340,221)
25-54 years: 43.96% (male 1,354,676 /female 1,816,303)
55-64 years: 16.64% (male 571,329 /female 628,774)
65 years and over: 17.14% (male 580,248 /female 655,836) (2018 est.)

Dependency ratios
Total dependency ratio: 35.9 (2015 est.)
Youth dependency ratio: 15.2 (2015 est.)
Elderly dependency ratio: 20.7 (2015 est.)
Potential support ratio: 4.8 (2015 est.)

Median age
Total: 44.8 years (2018 est.)
Male: 43.7 years
Female: 45.5 years
Rank: 8

Population growth rate: 0.29% (2018 est.)
Rank: 172

Birth rate: 8.8 births/1000 population (2018 est.)
Rank: 209

Death rate: 7.6 deaths/1000 population (2018 est.)
Rank: 103

Net migration rate: 1.7 migrant(s)/1000 population (2018 est.)
Rank: 54

Population distribution: population fairly evenly distributed

Urbanization
Urban population: 100% of total population
Note: (2015-20 est.)
Rate of urbanization: 0.82% annual rate of change

Major urban areas
Population: 7.491 million Hong Kong (2019)

Environment
Current issues: air and water pollution from rapid urbanization; urban waste pollution; industrial pollution
International agreements party to: Marine Dumping (associate member), Ship Pollution (associate member)

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.08 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.12 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.1 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 0.75 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.91 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.88 male(s)/female
Total population: 0.87 male(s)/female (2018 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth: 29.8 years (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 2.7 deaths/1000 live births (2018 est.)
Male: 2.9 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 2.5 deaths/1000 live births
Rank: 213

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 83.1 years (2018 est.)
Male: 80.4 years
Female: 86 years
Rank: 6

Total fertility rate: 1.2 children born/woman (2018 est.)
Rank: 221

Contraceptive prevalence rate: 74.8% (2012)

Physicians density: 1.96 physicians/1000 population (2018)

Hospital bed density: 5.4 beds/1000 population (2018)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate note: NA
People living with hivaids note: NA
Deaths note: NA

Education expenditures: 3.3% of GDP (2018)
Rank: 128

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education
Total: 16 years
Male: 16 years
Female: 16 years (2014)

Country name
Conventional long form: Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Conventional short form: Hong Kong
Local long form: Heung Kong Takpit Hangching Ku (Eitel/Dyer-Ball)
Local short form: Heung Kong (Eitel/Dyer-Ball)
Abbreviation: HK
Etymology: probably an imprecise phonetic rendering of the Cantonese name meaning fragrant harbor

Government type: presidential limited democracy; a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China

Administrative divisions: none (special administrative region of the People's Republic 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
History: several previous (governance documents while under British authority); latest drafted April 1988 to February 1989, approved March 1990, effective 1 July 1997 (Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China serves as the constitution); note - since 1990, Chinas National Peoples Congress has interpreted specific articles of the Basic Law
Amendments: proposed by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), the People’s Republic of China State Council, and the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong; submittal of proposals to the NPC requires two-thirds majority vote by the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, approval by two thirds of Hong Kong’s deputies to the NPC, and approval by the Hong Kong chief executive; final passage requires approval by the NPC

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

Citizenship: see China

Suffrage: 18 years of age in direct elections for half of the Legislative Council seats and all of the seats in 18 district councils; universal for permanent residents living in the territory of Hong Kong for the past 7 years; note - in indirect elections, suffrage is limited to about 220,000 members of functional constituencies for the other half of the legislature and a 1,200-member election committee for the chief executive drawn from broad sectoral groupings, central government bodies, municipal organizations, and elected Hong Kong officials

Executive branch
Chief of state: President of China XI Jinping (since 14 March 2013)
Head of government: Chief Executive Carrie LAM (since 1 July 2017)
Cabinet: Executive Council or ExCo appointed by the chief executive
Electionsappointments: president indirectly elected by National Peoples Congress for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 17 March 2018 (next to be held in March 2023); chief executive indirectly elected by the Election Committee and appointed by the PRC Government for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 26 March 2017 (next to be held in 2022)
Election results: Carrie LAM elected chief executive; Election Committee vote - Carrie LAM 777, John TSANG 365, WOO Kwok-hing 21, invalid 23: note: the Legislative Council voted in June 2010 to expand the Election Committee to 1,200 members

Legislative branch
Description: unicameral Legislative Council or LegCo (70 seats; 35 members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by party-list proportional representation vote; 30 members indirectly elected by the approximately 220,000 members of various functional constituencies based on a variety of methods; 5 at large super-seat members directly elected by all of Hong Kong’s eligible voters who do not participate in a functional constituency; members serve 4-year terms)
Elections: last held on 4 September 2016; (next to be held in September 2020); note - byelection held on 11 March and 25 November 2018 to fill 5 seats left vacant after 5 legislators were removed from office
Election results:

Judicial branch
Highest courts: Court of Final Appeal (consists of the chief justice, 3 permanent judges, and 20 non-permanent judges); note - a sitting bench consists of the chief justice, 3 permanent judges, and 1 non-permanent judge
Judge selection and term of office: all judges appointed by the Hong Kong Chief Executive upon the recommendation of the Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission, an independent body consisting of the Secretary for Justice, other judges, and judicial and legal professionals; permanent judges serve until normal retirement at age 65, but term can be extended; non-permanent judges appointed for renewable 3-year terms without age limit
Subordinate courts: High Court (consists of the Court of Appeal and Court of First Instance); District Courts (includes Family and Land Courts); magistrates courts; specialized tribunals

Political parties and leaders:

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, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us HKETO offices: New York, San Francisco
From the us chief of mission: Consul General Hanscom SMITH (since July 2019); note - also accredited to Macau
From the us telephone: [852] 2,523-9,011
From the us embassy:
From the us mailing address: Unit 8,000, Box 1, DPO AP 96,521-0006
From the us FAX: [852] 2,845-1598
From the us consulate: 26 Garden Road, Hong Kong

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; national colors: red, white

National anthem: note: as a Special Administrative Region of China, 'Yiyongjun Jinxingqu' is the official anthem (see China)

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 reexports, is about four times GDP. Hong Kong has no tariffs on imported goods, and it levies excise duties on only four commodities, whether imported or produced locally: hard alcohol, tobacco, oil, and methyl alcohol. There are no quotas or dumping laws. Hong Kong continues to link its currency closely to the US dollar, maintaining an arrangement established in 1983.Excess liquidity, low interest rates and a tight housing supply have caused Hong Kong property prices to rise rapidly. The lower and middle-income segments of the population increasingly find housing unaffordable.Hong Kong's open economy has left it exposed to the global economic situation. Its continued reliance on foreign trade and investment makes it vulnerable to renewed global financial market volatility or a slowdown in the global economy.Mainland China has long been Hong Kong's largest trading partner, accounting for about half of Hong Kong's total trade 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 surged from 4.5 million in 2001 to 47.3 million in 2014, outnumbering visitors from all other countries combined. After peaking in 2014, overall tourist arrivals dropped 2.5% in 2015 and 4.5% in 2016. The tourism sector rebounded in 2017, with visitor arrivals rising 3.2% to 58.47 million. Travelers from Mainland China totaled 44.45 million, accounting for 76% of the total.The Hong Kong Government is promoting the Special Administrative Region (SAR) as the preferred business hub for 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, RMB trade settlement is allowed, and investment schemes such as the Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (RQFII) Program was first launched in Hong Kong. Offshore RMB activities experienced a setback, however, after the People’s Bank of China changed the way it set the central parity rate in August 2015. RMB deposits in Hong Kong fell from 1.0 trillion RMB at the end of 2014 to 559 billion RMB at the end of 2017, while RMB trade settlement handled by banks in Hong Kong also shrank from 6.8 trillion RMB in 2015 to 3.9 trillion RMB in 2017.Hong Kong has also established itself as the premier stock market for Chinese firms seeking to list abroad. In 2015, mainland Chinese companies constituted about 50% of the firms listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and accounted for about 66% 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. In 2014, Hong Kong and China signed a new agreement on achieving basic liberalization of trade in services in Guangdong Province under the Closer Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), adopted in 2003 to forge closer ties between Hong Kong and the mainland. The new measures, which took effect in March 2015, cover a negative list and a most-favored treatment provision. On the basis of the Guangdong Agreement, the Agreement on Trade in Services signed in November 2015 further enhanced liberalization, including extending the implementation of the majority of Guangdong pilot liberalization measures to the whole Mainland, reducing the restrictive measures in the negative list, and adding measures in the positive lists for cross-border services as well as cultural and telecommunications services. In June 2017, the Investment Agreement and the Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation (Ecotech Agreement) were signed under the framework of CEPA.Hong Kong’s economic integration with the mainland continues to be most evident in the banking and finance sector. Initiatives like the Hong Kong-Shanghai Stock Connect, the Hong Kong- Shenzhen Stock Connect the Mutual Recognition of Funds, and the Bond Connect scheme are all important steps towards opening up the Mainland’s capital markets and have reinforced Hong Kong’s role as China’s leading offshore RMB market. Additional connect schemes such as ETF Connect (for exchange-traded fund products) are also under exploration by Hong Kong authorities. In 2017, Chief Executive Carrie LAM announced plans to increase government spending on research and development, education, and technological innovation with the aim of spurring continued economic growth through greater sector diversification.

Real gdp purchasing power parity:
Rank: 43

Real gdp growth rate:
Rank: 87

Real gdp per capita:
Rank: 18

Gross national saving:
Rank: 47

Gdp composition by end use
Household consumption: 67% (2017 est.)
Government consumption: 9.9% (2017 est.)
Investment in fixed capital: 21.8% (2017 est.)
Investment in inventories: 0.4% (2017 est.)
Exports of goods and services: 188% (2017 est.)
Imports of goods and services: -187.1% (2017 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 0.1% (2017 est.)
Industry: 7.6% (2017 est.)
Services: 92.3% (2017 est.)

Agriculture products: fresh vegetables and fruit; poultry, pork; fish

Industries: trading and logistics, financial services, professional services, tourism, cultural and creative, clothing and textiles, shipping, electronics, toys, clocks and watches

Industrial production growth rate: 1.7% (2017 est.)
Rank: 139

Labor force: 3.965 million (2017 est.)
Rank: 94
By occupation agriculture: 3.8% (2013 est.)
By occupation industry: 2% (2016 est.)
By occupation services: 54.5% (2016 est.)
By occupation industry and services: 12.5% (2013 est.)
By occupation agriculturefishingforestrymining: 10.1% (2013)
By occupation manufacturing: 17.1% (2013 est.)
By occupation: note: above data exclude public sector

Unemployment rate:
Rank: 38

Population below poverty line: 19.9% (2016 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 1.8%
Note: NA (2016)
Highest 10: 38.1%

Distribution of family income gini index:
Rank: 9

Budget
Revenues: 79.34 billion (2017 est.)
Expenditures: 61.64 billion (2017 est.)
Surplus or deficit: 5.2% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
Surplus or deficit rank: 6

Taxes and other revenues: 23.2% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
Rank: 128

Public debt:
Rank: 208

Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March

Inflation rate consumer prices:
Rank: 81

Central bank discount rate:
Rank: 123

Commercial bank prime lending rate:
Rank: 150

Stock of narrow money:
Rank: 16

Stock of broad money:
Rank: 16

Stock of domestic credit:
Rank: 19

Market value of publicly traded shares:
Rank: 4

Current account balance:
Rank: 20

Exports:
Rank: 8
Partners: China 54.1%, US 7.7% (2017)
Commodities: electrical machinery and appliances, textiles, apparel, watches and clocks, toys, 'jewelry, goldsmiths' and silversmiths' wares, and other articles of precious or semi-precious materials'; Hong Kong plays an important role as entrepot to the Chinese mainland; in 2017, 58% of Hong Kong’s re-exports originated in mainland China, and 54% were destined for the Chinese mainland

Imports:
Rank: 7
Commodities: raw materials and semi-manufactures, consumer goods, capital goods, foodstuffs, fuel (most is reexported)
Partners: China 44.6%, Singapore 6.4%, Japan 6.1%, South Korea 5.5%, US 5.2% (2017)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
Rank: 7

Debt external:
Rank: 18

Stock of direct foreign investment at home:
Rank: 3

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad:
Rank: 5

Exchange rates:

Electricity
Access electrification total population: 100% (2016)
Production: 35.97 billion kWh (2016 est.)
Production rank: 60
Consumption: 41.84 billion kWh (2016 est.)
Consumption rank: 54
Exports: 1.205 billion kWh (2016 est.)
Exports rank: 55
Imports: 11.62 billion kWh (2016 est.)
Imports rank: 21
Installed generating capacity: 12.63 million kW (2016 est.)
Installed generating capacity rank: 55
Generation sources fossil fuels: 100% of total installed capacity (2016 est.)
Generation sources fossil fuels rank: 9
Generation sources nuclear: 0% of total installed capacity (2017 est.)
Generation sources nuclear rank: 108
Generation sources hydroelectricity: 0% of total installed capacity (2017 est.)
Generation sources hydroelectricity rank: 178
Generation sources other renewable sources: 0% of total installed capacity (2017 est.)
Generation sources other renewable sources rank: 192

Petroleum
Petroleum total petroleum production: 0 bbl/day (2018 est.)
Petroleum total petroleum production rank: 150
Crude oil exports: 0 bbl/day (2015 est.)
Crude oil exports rank: 138
Crude oil imports: 0 bbl/day (2015 est.)
Crude oil imports rank: 142
Crude oil proven reserves: 0 bbl (1 January 2018 est.)
Crude oil proven reserves rank: 146

Refined petroleum
Products production: 0 bbl/day (2015 est.)
Products production rank: 158
Products consumption: 403,100 bbl/day (2016 est.)
Products consumption rank: 38
Products exports: 13,570 bbl/day (2015 est.)
Products exports rank: 76
Products imports: 402,100 bbl/day (2015 est.)
Products imports rank: 22

Natural gas
Production: 0 m³ (2017 est.)
Production rank: 147
Consumption: 3.37 billion m³ (2017 est.)
Consumption rank: 69
Exports: 0 m³ (2017 est.)
Exports rank: 122
Imports: 3.37 billion m³ (2017 est.)
Imports rank: 43
Proven reserves: 0 m³ (1 January 2016 est.)
Proven reserves rank: 148

Carbon dioxide emissions
From consumption of energy: 102.5 million Mt (2017 est.)
From consumption of energy rank: 43

Telephones
Fixed lines total subscriptions: 4,266,837
Fixed lines subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 59 (2017 est.)
Fixed lines rank: 32
Mobile cellular total subscriptions: 18,340,347
Mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 255 (2017 est.)
Mobile cellular rank: 61

Telephone system
General assessment: modern facilities provide excellent domestic and international services; some of the highest peak average broadband speeds in the world; HK aims to be among the earliest adopters of 5G mobile technology as early as 2020; almost all households have access to high-speed broadband connectivity; in the next five years the government has organized the development of smart cities in six areas - smart mobility, smart living, smart environment, smart people, smart government, and smart economy  by 2022 (2018)
Domestic: microwave radio relay links and extensive fiber-optic network; fixed-line is 59 per 100 and mobile-cellular is 255 per 100 (2018)
International: country code - 852; APG, ASE, EAC-C2C, HK-G, Bay-to-Bay Express Cable System, H2 Cable, HKA, SJC, SJC2, PLCN, SeaMeWe-3, TGN-IA, APCN-2, AAG, FLAG and FEA submarine cables provide connections to Asia, US, Australia, the Middle East, and Europe; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Pacific Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean); coaxial cable to Guangzhou, China (2019)

Broadcast media: 4 commercial terrestrial TV networks each with multiple stations; multi-channel satellite and cable TV systems available; 3 licensed broadcasters of terrestrial radio, one of which is government funded, operate about 12 radio stations; note - 4 digital radio broadcasters operated in Hong Kong from 2010 to 2017, but all digital radio services were terminated in September 2017 due to weak market demand (2019)

Internet
Country code: .hk
Users total: 6.066 million
Users percent of population: 85% (July 2016 est.)
Users rank: 68

Broadband fixed subscriptions
Total: 2,645,752
Subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 37 (2017 est.)
Rank: 43

Military and security forces: no regular indigenous military forces; Hong Kong Police Force; Hong Kong garrison of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) includes elements of the PLA Army, PLA Navy, and PLA Air Force; these forces are under the direct leadership of the Central Military Commission in Beijing and under administrative control of the adjacent Southern Theater Command (2019)

National air transport system
Number of registered air carriers: 7
Note: mt-km (2015)
Inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 253
Annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers: 41,867,157 (2015)
Annual freight traffic on registered air carriers: 11.294 billion

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix: B-H (2016)

Airports: 2 (2013)
Rank: 201
With paved runways total: 2 (2017)
With paved runways over 3047 m: 1 (2017)
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 1 (2017)

Heliports: 9 (2013)

Roadways
Total: 2,107 km (2017)
Paved: 2,107 km (2017)
Rank: 166

Merchant marine
Total: 2,615
By type: bulk carrier 1143, container ship 499, general cargo 217, oil tanker 355, other 401 (2018)
Rank: 10

Ports and terminals
Major seaport: Hong Kong
Container port: Hong Kong (20,770,000) (2017)

Disputes international: Hong Kong plans to reduce its 2,800-hectare Frontier Closed Area (FCA) to 400 hectares by 2015; the FCA was established in 1951 as a buffer zone between Hong Kong and mainland China to prevent illegal migration from and the smuggling of goods

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 drugs, especially among young people