Location: Eastern Asia, bordering the South China Sea and China.
Area: total: 1,108 sq k, land: 1,073 sq k , water: 35 sq km.
Natural resources: Outstanding deepwater harbor, feldspar.
Population: 7,191,503 (July 2017 est.).
Time Zone: UTC+8.
Languages: Cantonese (official) 88.9%, English (official) 4.3%, Mandarin (official) 1.9%, other Chinese dialects 3.1%, other 1.9% (2016 est.).
Dependency status:: Special administrative region of the People’s Republic of China.
Government type: Presidential limited democracy; a special administrative region of the People’s Republic of China.
Legal system: Mixed legal system of common law based on the English model and Chinese customary law (in matters of family and land tenure).
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.
Economy: 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, hydrocarbon oil, and methyl alcohol. There are no quotas or dumping laws.
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.
The mainland has long been Hong Kong’s largest trading partner, accounting for about half of Hong Kong’s total trade by value.
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.
Currency: Hong Kong dollar (HKD).