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Background:
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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.
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Location:
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Eastern Asia, bordering the South China Sea and China
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Geographic coordinates:
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22 15 N, 114 10 E
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Map references:
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Area:
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total: 1,092 sq km
land: 1,042 sq km
water: 50 sq km
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Area - comparative:
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six times the size of Washington, DC
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Land boundaries:
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total: 30 km
regional border: China 30 km
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Coastline:
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733 km
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Maritime claims:
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territorial sea: 3 nm
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Climate:
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subtropical monsoon; cool and humid in winter, hot and rainy from spring through summer, warm and sunny in fall
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Terrain:
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hilly to mountainous with steep slopes; lowlands in north
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Elevation extremes:
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lowest point: South China Sea 0 m
highest point: Tai Mo Shan 958 m
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Natural resources:
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outstanding deepwater harbor, feldspar
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Land use:
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arable land: 5.05%
permanent crops: 1.01%
other: 93.94% (2001)
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Irrigated land:
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20 sq km (1998 est.)
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Natural hazards:
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occasional typhoons
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Environment - current issues:
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air and water pollution from rapid urbanization
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Environment - international agreements:
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party to: Marine Dumping (associate member), Ship Pollution (associate member)
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Geography - note:
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more than 200 islands
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Population:
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6,980,412 (July 2007 est.)
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Age structure:
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0-14 years: 13% (male 476,089/female 434,326)
15-64 years: 74% (male 2,515,518/female 2,652,660)
65 years and over: 12.9% (male 419,479/female 482,340) (2007 est.)
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Median age:
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total: 41.2 years
male: 40.9 years
female: 41.4 years (2007 est.)
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Population growth rate:
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0.561% (2007 est.)
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Birth rate:
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7.34 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
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Death rate:
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6.45 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
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Net migration rate:
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4.72 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
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Sex ratio:
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at birth: 1.08 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.096 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.948 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.87 male(s)/female
total population: 0.956 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
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Infant mortality rate:
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total: 2.94 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 3.12 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 2.74 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
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Life expectancy at birth:
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total population: 81.68 years
male: 78.99 years
female: 84.6 years (2007 est.)
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Total fertility rate:
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0.98 children born/woman (2007 est.)
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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
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0.1% (2003 est.)
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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
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2,600 (2003 est.)
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HIV/AIDS - deaths:
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less than 200 (2003 est.)
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Nationality:
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noun: Chinese/Hong Konger
adjective: Chinese/Hong Kong
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Ethnic groups:
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Chinese 94.9%, Filipino 2.1%, other 3% (2001 census)
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Religions:
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eclectic mixture of local religions 90%, Christian 10%
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Languages:
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Chinese (Cantonese) 89.2% (official), other Chinese dialects 6.4%, English 3.2% (official), other 1.2% (2001 census)
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Literacy:
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definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school
total population: 93.5%
male: 96.9%
female: 89.6% (2002)
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This page was last updated on 24 January, 2008
- The Central Intelligence Agency's World Factbook - |
