Country Facts - Hong Kong

The People

Nationality

Chinese

Ethnic Composition

Chinese	95%
Other	5%

Religious Composition

Buddhist philosophy and local religions	90%
Christian	10%

Languages Spoken

Chinese (Cantonese), English, both are official.

Education and Literacy

Full-time education is compulsory between the ages of 6 and 15. Adult literacy is 92.2 percent.

Labor Force

Total: 3.44 million (2001)
By occupation:

Wholesale and retail trade, restaurants, and hotels	31%
Financing, insurance, and real estate	13%
Community and social services	11%
Manufacturing	7%
Transport and communications	6%
Construction	2%
Other	30%

Geography

Land Mass Total

421 sq mi (1,092 sq km)

Land

402 sq mi (1,042 sq km)

Water

19 sq mi (50 sq km)

Land Boundaries

Total: 18 mi (30 km)

Border countries: China 18 mi (30 km)

Coastline

455 mi (733 km)

Maritime claim

Territorial sea: 3 nm

Climate/Weather

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: South China Sea 0 ft (0 m)
Highest: Tai Mo Shan 3,143 ft (958 m)

Natural Resources

Outstanding deepwater harbor, feldspar deposits.

Land use

Arable land	5%
Permanent crops	1%
Other	94%

(1998)

Natural hazards

Occasional typhoons.

Environment - current issues

Air and water pollution from rapid urbanization.

Geography Note

More than 200 surrounding islands.

Demographics

Population

7,303,334 (July 2002

)

Age structure

0-14 years:	17.5%	male 679,311	female 599,811
15-64 years:	71.6%	male 2,587,509	female 2,641,418
65 years and over:	10.9%	male 364,864	female 430,421

Growth Rate

1.26% (2002)

Life Expectancy

79.8 years (2002)
female: 82.69 years
male: 77.1 years

GDP Per Capita

Purchasing power parity
US$25,000 (2001)

Infant Mortality

5.73 deaths/1,000 live births (2002)

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:	0.85 male(s)/female
Total population:	0.99 male(s)/female

(2002)

Net migration rate

7.76 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002)

Economy & Trade

Hong Kong has a bustling free market economy highly dependent on international trade. Natural resources are limited, and food and raw materials must be imported. Indeed, imports and exports, including reexports, each exceed GDP in dollar value. Even before Hong Kong reverted to Chinese administration on 1 July 1997 it had extensive trade and investment ties with China. Per capita GDP compares with the level in the four big economies of Western Europe. GDP growth averaged a strong 5 percent in 1989-97. The widespread Asian economic difficulties in 1998 hit this trade-dependent economy quite hard, with GDP down 5 percent. The economy, with growth of 10 percent in 2000, recovered rapidly from the Asian financial crisis. The global downturn at the start of the 21st century badly hurt Hong Kong's exports and GDP growth locked in at 0 percent in 2001. GDP growth in 2002 was a decided improvement at almost 2 percent, and analysts predict similar growth in 2003. Hong Kong's economy is very much a function of the Chinese mainland, where 8 percent plus growth is expected. Unemployment in Hong Kong is, however, projected at 7 percent for 2003. The government has resisted the temptation to touch its reserves in order to relieve deficit but recognizes that "earning" its way out of the problem will be a prodigious effort.

Unemployment

5.2% (2001)

Inflation Rate

-1.6% (2001)

Industries

Textiles, clothing, tourism, electronics, plastics, toys, watches, clocks.

Exports

US$191 billion (including reexports; f.o.b., 2001)

Imports

US$203 billion (2001)

Total Trade

Purchasing power parity
GDP US$180 billion (2001)

Top Export Partners

China 34%, US 23%, Japan 6%, Germany 4%, UK 4%, Taiwan 3%, Singapore 2% (2000)

Top Import Partners

China 43%, Japan 12%, Taiwan 8%, US 7%, South Korea 5%, Singapore 3% (2000)

Top Exports

Clothing, textiles, footwear, electrical appliances, watches and clocks, toys, plastics, precious stones

Top Imports

Foodstuffs, transport equipment, raw materials, semimanufactures, petroleum, plastics, machinery, electrical equipment; a large share is reexported

Debt - external

US$58.8 billion (2001)

Fiscal Year:

April 1 to March 31

Business Workweek

	Monday - Friday	Saturday - Sunday
Offices	9a.m. to 5p.m., lunch hour 1p.m. to 2p.m.	Closed
Retail	10a.m. to 6p.m. Many large retailers are open until 9p.m.	Saturday 10a.m. to 6p.m.
Banks	9a.m. to 4:30p.m.	Saturday 9a.m. to 12:30p.m.
Government	9a.m. to 1p.m. and 2p.m. to 5p.m.	Saturdays 9a.m. to 1p.m.

Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays	2002	2003	2004
New Year's Day	January 1	January 1	January 1
Chinese New Year¹	February 1 to 3	January 22 to 24	February 9
Good Friday	March 29	April 18	April 9
Easter²	March 31	April 20	April 11
Easter Monday	April 1	April 21	April 12
Ching Ming³	April 5	April 4	April 4
Labor Day	May 1	May1	May 1
Birth of Buddha*¹	May 8	May 26	May 24
Reversion to Motherland and Inauguration of SAR	July 1	July 1	July 1
Mid-Autumn Festival*²	September 12	September 29	September
National Day	October 1	October 1	October 1
Chung Yeung Festival*³	October 4	October 22	October
Chinese Winter Solstice Festival	December 22	December 22	December 22
Christmas Day**¹	December 25	December 25	December 25
Boxing Day	December 26	December 26	December 26

¹	Celebrations denoting the beginning of the New Year based on the exact astronomical observations of the longitude of the sun and phases of the moon according the the Chinese calendar. Holidays can last up to five days.
²	Easter, a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is the first Sunday after the full moon and the vernal equinox (fixed in the Gregorian calendar at March 21), and often observed with Good Friday and Easter Monday. In the West, Easter is predicted using the Gregorian calendar, while Eastern Orthodox Christians use the much older Julian calendar, and celebrate 13 days later.
³	Day of reverence to ancestor's, it is considered unlucky to conduct business on this day. Usually takes place on April 4 or 5.
*¹	Buddhist holiday celebrating the birth of Buddha, based on the Chinese calendar. Most offten takes place in May.
*²	Known as the Harvest Moon Festival, and marked by family reunions, celebrations take place on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese calendar.
*³	Family remembrance day, called the Double 9 Festival, it occurs on the 9th day of the 9th month, based on calculations from the Chinese calendar.
**¹	Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. In A.D.320, Pope Julius I fixed the date at December 25 based on the Gregorian calendar. The Orthodox church calculates Christmas using the Julian calendar and celebrates 13 days later on January 7.

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press