|
Hong Kong: The Facts
Population: 6.806
million (estimate at end-1998)
| Hong
Kong Island |
1.4
million |
20.9% |
| Kowloon |
2.1
million |
31.4% |
| New
Territories |
3.18
million |
47.5% |
| Marine |
0.01
million |
0.2% |
| (As
at July 1, 1998) |
Overall density
6 330 people per square kilometre.
Kwun Tong District has 54 620 people per square kilometre.
Housing
3.3 million people live in public housing, which includes 952 900
flats. In 1998, Hong Kong had 2 million domestic households, 46.1% occupied
by the owners, 49.5% by tenants, and 4.4% either rent-free or provided
by employers.
| Area:
1 097 square km |
| Hong
Kong Island |
80
square km |
| Kowloon |
48
square km |
| New
Territories |
794
square km |
| Outlying
Islands |
175
square km |
| Reclamation
since 1851 |
62
square km |
Age structure
Median age: 35.5 Under 15: 17.4%
Over 64: 10.5%
Sex ratio
Overall: 1 014 males per 1 000 females
Under 15: 1 077 Over 64: 844
| Crude
birth rate |
Crude
death rate |
| 7.9*
per 1 000 popn |
4.8
per 1 000 popn |
Expectation of
life at birth
Male 76.9* Female 82.3*
| Nationalities |
|
| Predominantly
of Chinese descent |
95% |
| Total foreign
passport-holders (end-1998): |
485 800 |
Largest groups |
|
| Philippines |
137 500 |
| Indonesia |
44 700 |
| USA |
35 500 |
| Canada |
33 200 |
| Thailand |
26 400 |
| UK |
22 700 |
| India |
22 400 |
| Australia |
22 200 |
| Japan |
18 600 |
| Nepal |
17 400 |
| Sub-total |
350 400 |
Religion and Custom
Buddhists and Taoists make up the vast majority. Christians 540 000;
Muslims 80 000; Hindus 12 000; Sikhs 1 200; Jews 1 000.
Weather
Average annual
rainfall
2 214.3 mm
|
Wettest period
|
| Hourly |
109.9
mm |
(May
8, 1992) |
| daily |
534.1
mm |
(July
19, 1926) |
| monthly |
1
241.1 mm |
(May
1889) |
Driest
10% humidity (January 16, 1959)
Highest temperature
36.1oC (August 19, 1900 and August 18, 1990)
Lowest temperature
0.0oC (January 18, 1893)
Highest wind speed
259 km/h at HK Observatory, 284 km/h at Tate's Cairn (Typhoon Wanda,
September 1, 1962)
Transport
Roads
The 1 865 km of roads carry 500 673 licensed vehicles, or about
268 vehicles per kilometre.
Bridges
Longest: Tsing Ma suspension bridge (main span 1 377 metres) and the
463-metre cable-stayed Kap Shui Mun bridge. A 280-metre viaduct links
the two.
Air movements
1998 - 163 223 flights; 27.2 million passengers; 1.63* million
tonnes of freight
Shipping movements
1998 - 40 734 ocean vessel arrivals; 41 046 departures;
total cargo 127.48 million tonnes
Container throughput
14.7* million TEUs.
Employment
Total number employed: 3.20 million in 1998
Major Employment
sectors (Third quarter of 1998)
| Wholesale,
retail and import/export, trades, restaurants and hotels |
|
1 002 400
31% of workforce |
| Finance,
insurance, real estate and business services |
|
432 500
14% of workforce |
| Community,
social and personal services |
|
748 700
23% of workforce |
| Transport
storage and communications |
|
396 200
12% of workforce |
|
|
|
| Unemployment
rate |
|
4.7% |
Average
wages
(All selected industries) |
|
$11,384
per month |
* provisional figure
|