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 Dec. 19, 1984, Hong Kong became the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China on July 1, 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.

Source: CIA World Fact Book

Population: 6,980,412 (July 2007 est.)

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Age structure: 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: total: 41.2 years male: 40.9 years female: 41.4 years (2007 est.)

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Population growth rate: 0.561% (2007 est.)

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Birth rate: 7.34 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Death rate: 6.45 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Net migration rate: 4.72 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Sex ratio: 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: 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: total population: 81.68 years male: 78.99 years female: 84.6 years (2007 est.)

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Total fertility rate: 0.98 children born/woman (2007 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.1% (2003 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 2,600 (2003 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 200 (2003 est.)

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Nationality: noun: Chinese/Hong Konger adjective: Chinese/Hong Kong Ethnic groups: Chinese 94.9%, Filipino 2.1%, other 3% (2001 census)

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

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Languages: Chinese (Cantonese) 89.2% (official), other Chinese dialects 6.4%, English 3.2% (official), other 1.2% (2001 census)

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Literacy: definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school total population: 93.5% male: 96.9% female: 89.6% (2002)

Hong Kong has a free market economy highly dependent on international trade. The territory has become more closely linked to mainland China over the past few years. Even before Hong Kong reverted to Chinese administration on 1 July 1997, it had extensive trade and investment ties with China. Hong Kong's service industry over the past decade has grown rapidly as its manufacturing industry has moved to the mainland. Hong Kong also has stepped up its efforts to gain approval to offer more mainland financial services in a bid to remain competitive with China's growing financial centers. Hong Kong's natural resources are limited, and food and raw materials must be imported. Gross imports and exports (including reexports to and from third countries) each exceed GDP in dollar value. Per capita GDP exceeds that of the four big economies of Western Europe. GDP growth averaged a strong 5% from 1989 to 2006, but Hong Kong suffered two recessions in the past eight years because of the Asian financial crisis in 1997-98 and the global downturn in 2001-02. Although the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003 also battered Hong Kong's economy, a solid rise in exports, a boom in tourism from the mainland because of China's easing of travel restrictions, and a return of consumer confidence resulted in the resumption of strong growth from late 2003 through 2006. Moreover, several large initial public offerings of Chinese companies on the Hong Kong stock exchange since late 2005 have helped to boost Hong Kong's status as a financial hub and have contributed to the improved performance of the market in late 2006.

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GDP (purchasing power parity): $259.1 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP (official exchange rate): $188.8 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP - real growth rate: 6.9% (2006 est.)

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GDP - per capita (PPP): $37,300 (2006 est.)

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GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 0.1% industry: 9% services: 90.9% (2006 est.)

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Labor force: 3.63 million (2006 est.)

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Labor force - by occupation: manufacturing 7.5%, construction 2.9%, wholesale and retail trade, restaurants, and hotels 43.9%, financing, insurance, and real estate 19.6%, transport and communications 7.1%, community and social services 18.8% note: above data exclude public sector (2005 est.)

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Unemployment rate: 4.9% (2006 est.)

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Population below poverty line: NA%

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Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%

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Distribution of family income - Gini index: 52.3 (2001)

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Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.2% (2006 est.)

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Investment (gross fixed): 21.1% of GDP (2006 est.)

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Budget: revenues: $35.16 billion expenditures: $33.02 billion; including capital expenditures of $5.9 billion (2006 est.)

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Public debt: 1% of GDP (2006 est.)

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Agriculture - products: fresh vegetables; poultry, pork; fish

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Industries: textiles, clothing, tourism, banking, shipping, electronics, plastics, toys, watches, clocks

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Industrial production growth rate: 4% (2006 est.)

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Electricity - production: 38.45 billion kWh (2005)

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Electricity - consumption: 44.55 billion kWh (2005)

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Electricity - exports: 4.497 billion kWh (2005)

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Electricity - imports: 10.39 billion kWh (2005)

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Oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2005 est.)

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Oil - consumption: 285,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)

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Oil - exports: 26,090 bbl/day (2004)

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Oil - imports: 344,200 bbl/day (2004)

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Oil - proved reserves: 0 bbl

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Natural gas - production: 0 cu m (2005 est.)

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Natural gas - consumption: 2.2 billion cu m (2005 est.)

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Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - imports: 2.524 billion cu m (2004 est.)

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Current account balance: $20.9 billion (2006 est.)

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Exports: $611.6 billion f.o.b., including reexports (2006 est.)

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Exports - commodities: electrical machinery and appliances, textiles, apparel, footwear, watches and clocks, toys, plastics, precious stones, printed material

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Exports - partners: China 47%, US 15.1%, Japan 4.9% (2006)

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Imports: $329.8 billion (2006 est.)

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Imports - commodities: raw materials and semi-manufactures, consumer goods, capital goods, foodstuffs, fuel (most is re-exported)

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Imports - partners: China 45.9%, Japan 10.3%, Singapore 6.3%, US 4.8%, South Korea 4.6% (2006)

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Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $132 billion (November 2006 est.)

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Debt - external: $472.9 billion (30 June 2006 est.)

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Currency (code): Hong Kong dollar (HKD)

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Exchange rates: Hong Kong dollars per US dollar - 7.7678 (2006), 7.7773 (2005), 7.788 (2004), 7.7868 (2003), 7.7989 (2002)

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Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March