The 2004 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency

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: 5.05% other: 93.94% (2001) permanent crops: 1.01%

      Irrigated land:

       20 sq km (1998 est.)

      Natural hazards:

       occasional typhoons

      Environment - current issues:

       air and water pollution from rapid urbanization

      Environment - international agreements:

       party to: Marine Dumping (associate member)

      Geography - note:

       more than 200 islands

      People Hong Kong

      Population:

       6,855,125 (July 2004 est.)

      Age structure:

       0–14 years: 14.2% (male 510,702; female 465,145)

       15–64 years: 73.3% (male 2,461,914; female 2,560,382)

       65 years and over: 12.5% (male 394,697; female 462,285) (2004 est.)

      Median age:

       total: 39.4 years

       male: 39.3 years

       female: 39.6 years (2004 est.)

      Population growth rate:

       0.65% (2004 est.)

      Birth rate:

       7.23 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)

      Death rate:

       5.98 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)

      Net migration rate:

       5.24 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)

      Sex ratio:

       at birth: 1.09 male(s)/female

       under 15 years: 1.1 male(s)/female

       15–64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female

       65 years and over: 0.85 male(s)/female

       total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2004 est.)

      Infant mortality rate:

       total: 2.97 deaths/1,000 live births

       female: 2.77 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)

       male: 3.16 deaths/1,000 live births

      Life expectancy at birth:

       total population: 81.39 years

       male: 78.72 years

       female: 84.3 years (2004 est.)

      Total fertility rate:

       0.91 children born/woman (2004 est.)

      HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

       0.1% (2003 est.)

      HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

       2,600 (2003 est.)

      HIV/AIDS - deaths:

       less than 200 (2003 est.)

      Nationality:

       noun: Chinese/Hong Konger

       adjective: Chinese/Hong Kong

      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: 93.5%

       male: 96.9%

       female: 89.6% (2002)

      Government Hong Kong

      Country name:

       conventional long form: Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

       conventional short form: Hong Kong

       local short form: Xianggang

       local long form: Xianggang Tebie Xingzhengqu

       abbreviation: HK

      Dependency status:

       special administrative region of China

      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:

       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 200,000 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 HU Jintao (since 15 March 2003)

       head of government: Chief Executive TUNG Chee-hwa (since 1 July 1997)

       cabinet: Executive Council consists of seven non-official members

       and 14 official members; including Chief Secretary Donald TSANG

       Yam-kuen (since 1 May 2001), Financial Secretary Henry TANG (since 2

       August 2003), and Secretary of Justice Elsie LEUNG (since 1 July

       1997)

       elections: TUNG Chee-hwa was elected to a second term in March 2002

       by an 800-member election committee dominated by pro-Beijing forces;

       the next election is scheduled to be held in 2007

      Legislative branch:

       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)

       elections: last held 12 September 2004 (next to be held in September

       2008)

       election results: percent of vote by party - pro-democracy