272 lines
22 KiB
Plaintext
272 lines
22 KiB
Plaintext
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HONG KONG
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(dependent territory of the UK)
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GEOGRAPHY
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Total area: 1,040 km2; land area: 990 km2
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Comparative area: slightly less than six times the size of
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Washington, DC
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Land boundary: 30 km with China
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Coastline: 733 km
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Maritime claims:
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Exclusive fishing zone: 3 nm;
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Territorial sea: 3 nm
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Climate: tropical monsoon; cool and humid in winter, hot and rainy
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from spring through summer, warm and sunny in fall
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Terrain: hilly to mountainous with steep slopes; lowlands in north
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Natural resources: outstanding deepwater harbor, feldspar
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Land use: arable land 7%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures
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1%; forest and woodland 12%; other 79%; includes irrigated 3%
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Environment: more than 200 islands; occasional typhoons
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PEOPLE
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Population: 5,855,800 (July 1991), growth rate 0.6% (1991)
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Birth rate: 13 births/1,000 population (1991)
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Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
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Net migration rate: - 2 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
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Infant mortality rate: 7 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
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Life expectancy at birth: 77 years male, 84 years female (1991)
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Total fertility rate: 1.4 children born/woman (1991)
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Nationality: adjective--Hong Kong
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Ethnic divisions: Chinese 98%, other 2%
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Religion: eclectic mixture of local religions 90%, Christian 10%
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Language: Chinese (Cantonese), English
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Literacy: 77% (male 90%, female 64%) age 15 and over having ever
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attended school (1971)
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Labor force: 2,800,000 (1990); manufacturing 28.5%, wholesale and
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retail trade, restaurants, and hotels 27.9%, services 17.7%,
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financing, insurance, and real estate 9.2%, transport and communications
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4.5%, construction 2.5%, other 9.7% (1989)
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Organized labor: 16% of labor force (1990)
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GOVERNMENT
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Long-form name: none; abbreviated HK
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Type: dependent territory of the UK; scheduled to revert to
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China in 1997
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Capital: Victoria
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Administrative divisions: none (dependent territory of the UK)
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Independence: none (dependent territory of the UK); the UK
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signed an agreement with China on 19 December 1984 to return Hong Kong to
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China on 1 July 1997; in the joint declaration, China promises to respect
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Hong Kong's existing social and economic systems and lifestyle for 50
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years after transition
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Constitution: unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and
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practice; new Basic Law approved in March 1990 in preparation for 1997
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Legal system: based on English common law
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National holiday: Liberation Day, 29 August (1945)
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Executive branch: British monarch, governor, chief secretary of the
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Executive Council
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Legislative branch: Legislative Council
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Judicial branch: Supreme Court
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Leaders:
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Chief of State--Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952);
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Head of Government--Governor Sir David Clive WILSON (since 9
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April 1987);
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Chief Secretary Sir David Robert FORD (since NA February 1987)
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Political parties:
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United Democrats of Hong Kong (UDHK), Martin LEE Chu-ming;
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Liberal Democratic Federation (LDF), HU Fa-kuang;
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Hong Kong Democratic Foundation (HKDF), Patrick SHIU Kin-ying;
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Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood (ADPL),
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Frederick FUNG Kin-kee;
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Meeting Point, Anthony CHEUNG Bing-leung;
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Progressive Hong Kong Society (PHKS), Maria TAM Wai-chu
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Suffrage: direct election--universal at age 21
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as a permanent resident living in the territory of Hong Kong for
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the past seven years; indirect election--limited to about 100,000
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professionals of electoral college and functional constituencies
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Elections:
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Legislative Council--indirect elections last held 12 September 1991
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and direct elections held 15 September 1991 (next to be held by
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September 1995);
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results--percent of vote by party NA;
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seats--(60 total;
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21 indirectly elected by functional constituencies, 18 directly elected,
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18 appointed by governor, 3 ex officio members) indirect
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elections--number of seats by functional constituency NA; direct
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elections--UDHK 12, Meeting Point 2, ADPL 1, other 3; note--direct
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elections were held for the first time in September 1991
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Communists: 5,000 (est.) cadres affiliated with Communist Party
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of China
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Other political or pressure groups:
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Federation of Trade Unions (pro-China), Hong Kong and Kowloon Trade
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Union Council (pro-Taiwan), Confederation of Trade Unions (prodemocracy),
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Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, Chinese General Chamber of
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Commerce (pro-China), Federation of Hong Kong Industries, Chinese
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Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Professional Teachers'
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Union, Hong Kong Alliance in Support of the Patriotic Democratic Movement
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in China
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Member of: AsDB, CCC, ESCAP (associate), GATT, ICFTU,
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IMO (associate), IOC, ISO (correspondent), WCL, WMO
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Diplomatic representation: as a dependent territory of the UK,
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the interests of Hong Kong in the US are represented by the UK;
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US--Consul General Richard L. WILLIAMS; Consulate General at
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26 Garden Road, Hong Kong (mailing address is Box 30, Hong Kong, or
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FPO San Francisco 96659-0002); telephone 852 (5) 845-1598
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Flag: blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant
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with the Hong Kong coat of arms on a white disk centered on the outer
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half of the flag; the coat of arms contains a shield (bearing two junks
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below a crown) held by a lion (representing the UK) and a dragon
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(representing China) with another lion above the shield and a banner
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bearing the words HONG KONG below the shield
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ECONOMY
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Overview: Hong Kong has a free market economy with few tariffs
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or nontariff barriers. Natural resources are limited, and food and raw
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materials must be imported. Manufacturing accounts for about 18% of
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GDP, employs 28% of the labor force, and exports about 90% of its
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output. Real GDP growth averaged a remarkable 8% in 1987-88, then
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slowed to 2.5-3.0% in 1989-90. Unemployment, which has been declining
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since the mid-1980s, is now less than 2%. A shortage of labor continues
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to put upward pressure on prices and the cost of living. Short-term
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prospects remain solid so long as major trading partners continue to be
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prosperous. The crackdown in China in 1989-90 casts a long shadow over
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the longer term economic outlook.
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GDP: $64.0 billion, per capita $11,000; real growth rate 2.5%
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(1990)
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Inflation rate (consumer prices): 9.8% (1990)
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Unemployment rate: 1.8% (1990)
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Budget: $8.8 billion (FY90)
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Exports: $80.3 billion (f.o.b., 1990), including reexports of
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$51.2 billion;
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commodities--clothing, textile yarn and fabric, footwear,
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electrical appliances, watches and clocks, toys;
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partners--US 32%, China 19%, FRG 7%, UK 6%, Japan 6% (1989)
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Imports: $79.5 billion (c.i.f., 1990);
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commodities--foodstuffs, transport equipment, raw materials,
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semimanufactures, petroleum;
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partners--China 35%, Japan 17%, Taiwan 9%, US 8% (1989)
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External debt: $9.5 billion (December 1990 est.)
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Industrial production: growth rate 1.7% (1989)
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Electricity: 8,485,000 kW capacity; 25,000 million kWh produced,
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4,340 kWh per capita (1990)
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Industries: textiles, clothing, tourism, electronics, plastics,
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toys, watches, clocks
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Agriculture: minor role in the economy; rice, vegetables, dairy
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products; less than 20% self-sufficient; shortages of rice, wheat, water
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Illicit drugs: a hub for Southeast Asian heroin trade;
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transshipment and major financial and money-laundering center
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Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-87), $152
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million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
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(1970-88), $910 million
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Currency: Hong Kong dollar (plural--dollars);
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1 Hong Kong dollar (HK$) = 100 cents
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Exchange rates: Hong Kong dollars (HK$) per US$--7.800 (March
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1989), 7.810 (1988), 7.760 (1987), 7.795 (1986), 7.811 (1985);
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note--linked to the US dollar at the rate of about 7.8 HK$ per 1 US$
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since 1985
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Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March
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COMMUNICATIONS
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Railroads: 35 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, government owned
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Highways: 1,484 km total; 794 km paved, 306 km gravel, crushed
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stone, or earth
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Ports: Hong Kong
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Merchant marine: 134 ships (1,000 GRT or over), totaling 4,690,770
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GRT/8,091,177 DWT; includes 1 passenger, 1 short-sea passenger, 16 cargo,
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5 refrigerated cargo, 16 container, 1 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 9
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petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 2 chemical tanker, 6
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combination ore/oil, 6 liquefied gas, 71 bulk; note--a flag of
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convenience registry; ships registered in Hong Kong fly the UK flag and
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an estimated 500 Hong Kong-owned ships are registered elsewhere
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Civil air: 16 major transport aircraft
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Airports: 2 total; 2 usable; 2 with permanent-surface runways;
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none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m;
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none with runways 1,220-2,439 m
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Telecommunications: modern facilities provide excellent domestic
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and international services; 3,000,000 telephones; microwave transmission
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links and extensive optical fiber transmission network; stations--6 AM,
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6 FM, 4 TV; 1 British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) relay station and
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1 British Forces Broadcasting Service relay station; 2,500,000 radio
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receivers; 1,312,000 TV sets (1,224,000 color TV sets); satellite earth
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stations--1 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT and 2 Indian Ocean INTELSAT; coaxial
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cable to Guangzhou, China; links to 5 international submarine cables
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providing access to ASEAN member nations, Japan, Taiwan, Australia,
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Middle East, and Western Europe
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DEFENSE FORCES
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Branches: Headquarters of British Forces, Royal Navy, Royal
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Air Force, Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force, Gurkha Brigade,
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Royal Hong Kong Police Force
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Manpower availability: males 15-49, 1,718,112; 1,328,230 fit for
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military service; 45,437 reach military age (18) annually
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Defense expenditures: $300 million, 0.5% of GDP (1989 est.);
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this represents one-fourth of the total cost of defending itself,
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the remainder being paid by the UK
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Note: defense is the responsibility of the UK
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