Hong Kong

Country	Hong Kong
Flag
Population	7,055,071 (July 2009 est.)
GMT	+8
Location	Eastern Asia, bordering the South China Sea and China
Area	total: 1,092 sq km land: 1,042 sq km water: 50 sq km
Ethnic groups	Chinese 95%, Filipino 1.6%, Indonesian 1.3%, other 2.1% (2006 census)
Religions	eclectic mixture of local religions 90%, Christian 10%
Languages	Chinese (Cantonese) 89.2% (official), other Chinese dialects 6.4%, English 3.2% (official), other 1.2% (2001 census)
Government type	limited democracy
National holiday	National Day (Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China), 1 October (1949); note - 1 July 1997 is celebrated as Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day
Constitution	Basic Law, approved in March 1990 by China's National People's Congress, is Hong Kong's "mini-constitution"
Legal system	based on English common law
Background	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 the People's Republic of China on 1 July 1997. In this agreement, China promised that, under its "one country, two systems" formula, China's socialist economic system would not be imposed on Hong Kong and that Hong Kong would enjoy a high degree of autonomy in all matters except foreign and defense affairs for the next 50 years.
Internet country code	.hk