Land area

1,104 sq km

Hong Kong island: 81 sq km

Kowloon: 47 sq km

New Territories & outlying islands: 976 sq km

;(reclamation since 1887: 67 sq km)

Population

7,061,000 (mid-2010 government estimate)

Main regions

Population in '000 (mid-2006):

Hong Kong island: 1,264 Kowloon: 2,070

New Territories: 3,598

Climate

Subtropical

Weather in Victoria (altitude 33 metres)

Hottest months, July and August, 26-31°C; coldest month, January, 15-19°C; driest month, January, 23 mm average rainfall; wettest month, August, 391 mm average rainfall (climatological norms)

Languages

English and Chinese (mainly Cantonese)

Measures

UK imperial system, changing to metric system. Local measures used include: 10 fan = 1 tsun (Chinese inch) = 0.037 metres; 10 tsun = 1 chek (Chinese foot) = 0.371 metres; 10 tsin = 1 leung (tael) = 37.8 g; 16 leung = 1 kan (catty) = 0.605 kg; 100 kan = 1 tam (picul) = 60.48 kg

Currency

Hong Kong dollar (HK$); HK$1 = 100 cents. Average exchange rate in 2010: HK$7.77:US$1

Fiscal year

April-March

Time

GMT plus 8 hours

Public holidays

New Year's Day, January 1st; Chinese New Year, February 3rd-5th; Ching Ming Festival, April 5th; Good Friday, April 22nd; Easter, April 25th; International Labour Day, May 2nd; Buddha's Birthday, May 10th; Dragon Boat Festival, June 6th; Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day, July 1st; Mid-Autumn Festival, September 13th; China's National Day, October 1st; Chung Yeung Festival, October 5th; Christmas, December 26th and 27th