Mexico (2005) | Hong Kong (2006) | |
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Administrative divisions | 31 states (estados, singular - estado) and 1 federal district* (distrito federal); Aguascalientes, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Coahuila de Zaragoza, Colima, Distrito Federal*, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Mexico, Michoacan de Ocampo, Morelos, Nayarit, Nuevo Leon, Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro de Arteaga, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosi, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Veracruz-Llave, Yucatan, Zacatecas | none (special administrative region of China) |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 31.1% (male 16,844,400/female 16,159,511)
15-64 years: 63.3% (male 32,521,043/female 34,704,093) 65 years and over: 5.6% (male 2,715,010/female 3,258,846) (2005 est.) |
0-14 years: 13.5% (male 488,607/female 445,593)
15-64 years: 73.7% (male 2,495,679/female 2,620,336) 65 years and over: 12.8% (male 413,031/female 477,186) (2006 est.) |
Agriculture - products | corn, wheat, soybeans, rice, beans, cotton, coffee, fruit, tomatoes; beef, poultry, dairy products; wood products | fresh vegetables; poultry, pork; fish |
Airports | 1,833 (2004 est.) | 3 (2006) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 233
over 3,047 m: 12 2,438 to 3,047 m: 28 1,524 to 2,437 m: 84 914 to 1,523 m: 80 under 914 m: 29 (2004 est.) |
total: 3
over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2006) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 1,600
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 69 914 to 1,523 m: 454 under 914 m: 1,075 (2004 est.) |
- |
Area | total: 1,972,550 sq km
land: 1,923,040 sq km water: 49,510 sq km |
total: 1,092 sq km
land: 1,042 sq km water: 50 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly less than three times the size of Texas | six times the size of Washington, DC |
Background | The site of advanced Amerindian civilizations, Mexico came under Spanish rule for three centuries before achieving independence early in the 19th century. A devaluation of the peso in late 1994 threw Mexico into economic turmoil, triggering the worst recession in over half a century. The nation continues to make an impressive recovery. Ongoing economic and social concerns include low real wages, underemployment for a large segment of the population, inequitable income distribution, and few advancement opportunities for the largely Amerindian population in the impoverished southern states. Elections held in July 2000 marked the first time since the 1910 Mexican Revolution that the opposition defeated the party in government, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). Vicente FOX of the National Action Party (PAN) was sworn in on 1 December 2000 as the first chief executive elected in free and fair elections. | 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 China on 1 July 1997. In this agreement, China has promised that, under its "one country, two systems" formula, China's socialist economic system will not be imposed on Hong Kong and that Hong Kong will enjoy a high degree of autonomy in all matters except foreign and defense affairs for the next 50 years. |
Birth rate | 21.01 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 7.29 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $160 billion
expenditures: $158 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.) |
revenues: $31.31 billion
expenditures: $32.3 billion; including capital expenditures of $5.9 billion (2005 est.) |
Capital | Mexico (Distrito Federal) | - |
Climate | varies from tropical to desert | subtropical monsoon; cool and humid in winter, hot and rainy from spring through summer, warm and sunny in fall |
Coastline | 9,330 km | 733 km |
Constitution | 5 February 1917 | Basic Law, approved in March 1990 by China's National People's Congress, is Hong Kong's "mini-constitution" |
Country name | conventional long form: United Mexican States
conventional short form: Mexico local long form: Estados Unidos Mexicanos local short form: Mexico |
conventional long form: Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
conventional short form: Hong Kong local long form: Xianggang Tebie Xingzhengqu local short form: Xianggang abbreviation: HK |
Death rate | 4.73 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 6.29 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Debt - external | $149.9 billion (2004 est.) | $72.04 billion (2005 est.) |
Dependency status | - | special administrative region of China |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Antonio O. GARZA
embassy: Paseo de la Reforma 305, Colonia Cuauhtemoc, 06500 Mexico, Distrito Federal mailing address: P. O. Box 9000, Brownsville, TX 78520-0900 telephone: [52] (55) 5080-2000 FAX: [52] (55) 5525-5040 consulate(s) general: Ciudad Juarez, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Tijuana consulate(s): Hermosillo, Matamoros, Merida, Nogales, Nuevo, Laredo |
chief of mission: Consul General James B. CUNNINGHAM
consulate(s) general: 26 Garden Road, Hong Kong mailing address: PSC 461, Box 1, FPO AP 96521-0006 telephone: [852] 2523-9011 FAX: [852] 2845-1598 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador-designate Carlos Alberto de ICAZA Gonzalez
chancery: 1911 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20006 telephone: [1] (202) 728-1600 FAX: [1] (202) 728-1698 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, El Paso, Houston, Laredo (Texas), Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Nogales (Arizona), Phoenix, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, San Juan (Puerto Rico) consulate(s): Albuquerque, Brownsville (Texas), Calexico (California), Corpus Christi (Texas), Del Rio (Texas), Detroit, Douglas (Arizona), Eagle Pass (Texas), Fresno (California), Indianapolis (Indiana), Kansas City (Missouri), Las Vegas, McAllen (Texas), Midland (Texas), Omaha, Orlando, Oxnard (California), Philadelphia, Portland (Oregon), Presidio (Texas), Raleigh, Salt Lake City, San Bernardino, Santa Ana (California), Seattle, Tucson, Yuma (Arizona) |
none (special administrative region of China) |
Disputes - international | prolonged drought, population growth, and outmoded practices and infrastructure in the border region have strained water-sharing arrangements with the US; the US has stepped up efforts to stem nationals from Mexico, Central America, and other parts of the world from illegally crossing the border with Mexico | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $1.166 billion (1995) | - |
Economy - overview | Mexico has a free market economy that recently entered the trillion dollar class. It contains a mixture of modern and outmoded industry and agriculture, increasingly dominated by the private sector. Recent administrations have expanded competition in seaports, railroads, telecommunications, electricity generation, natural gas distribution, and airports. Per capita income is one-fourth that of the US; income distribution remains highly unequal. Trade with the US and Canada has tripled since the implementation of NAFTA in 1994. Mexico has 12 free trade agreements with over 40 countries including, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, the European Free Trade Area, and Japan, putting more than 90% of trade under free trade agreements. The government is cognizant of the need to upgrade infrastructure, modernize the tax system and labor laws, and provide incentives to invest in the energy sector, but progress is slow. | Hong Kong has a free market, entrepot economy, highly dependent on international trade. Natural resources are limited, and food and raw materials must be imported. Gross imports and exports (i.e., including reexports to and from third countries) each exceed GDP in dollar value. Even before Hong Kong reverted to Chinese administration on 1 July 1997, it had extensive trade and investment ties with China. Hong Kong has been further integrating its economy with China because China's growing openness to the world economy has made manufacturing in China much more cost effective. Hong Kong's reexport business to and from China is a major driver of growth. Per capita GDP is comparable to that of the four big economies of Western Europe. GDP growth averaged a strong 5% from 1989 to 2005, but Hong Kong suffered two recessions in the past eight years because of the Asian financial crisis in 1997-1998 and the global downturn in 2001-2002. Although the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003 also battered Hong Kong's economy, a solid rise in exports, a boom in tourism from the mainland because of China's easing of travel restrictions, and a return of consumer confidence resulted in the resumption of strong growth from late 2003 through 2005. |
Electricity - consumption | 189.7 billion kWh (2002) | 39.22 billion kWh (2004) |
Electricity - exports | 98.65 million kWh (2002) | 3.086 billion kWh (2004) |
Electricity - imports | 367.7 million kWh (2002) | 9.84 billion kWh (2004) |
Electricity - production | 203.6 billion kWh (2002) | 37.3 billion kWh (2004) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Laguna Salada -10 m
highest point: Volcan Pico de Orizaba 5,700 m |
lowest point: South China Sea 0 m
highest point: Tai Mo Shan 958 m |
Environment - current issues | scarcity of hazardous waste disposal facilities; rural to urban migration; natural fresh water resources scarce and polluted in north, inaccessible and poor quality in center and extreme southeast; raw sewage and industrial effluents polluting rivers in urban areas; deforestation; widespread erosion; desertification; deteriorating agricultural lands; serious air and water pollution in the national capital and urban centers along US-Mexico border; land subsidence in Valley of Mexico caused by groundwater depletion
note: the government considers the lack of clean water and deforestation national security issues |
air and water pollution from rapid urbanization |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
party to: Marine Dumping (associate member) |
Ethnic groups | mestizo (Amerindian-Spanish) 60%, Amerindian or predominantly Amerindian 30%, white 9%, other 1% | Chinese 95%, other 5% |
Exchange rates | Mexican pesos per US dollar - 11.286 (2004), 10.789 (2003), 9.656 (2002), 9.342 (2001), 9.456 (2000) | Hong Kong dollars per US dollar - 7.7773 (2005), 7.788 (2004), 7.7868 (2003), 7.7989 (2002), 7.7988 (2001) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Vicente FOX Quesada (since 1 December 2000); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Vicente FOX Quesada (since 1 December 2000); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president; note - appointment of attorney general requires consent of the Senate elections: president elected by popular vote for a six-year term; election last held 2 July 2000 (next to be held 2 July 2006) election results: Vicente FOX Quesada elected president; percent of vote - Vicente FOX Quesada (PAN) 42.52%, Francisco LABASTIDA Ochoa (PRI) 36.1%, Cuauhtemoc CARDENAS Solorzano (PRD) 16.64%, other 4.74% |
chief of state: President of China HU Jintao (since 15 March 2003)
head of government: Chief Executive Donald TSANG (since 24 June 2005) cabinet: Executive Council consists of 14 official members and 15 non-official members elections: previous chief executive TUNG Chee-hwa was elected to second five-year term in March 2002 by 800-member election committee dominated by pro-Beijing forces, resignation accepted 12 March 2005; Donald TSANG acted as chief executive between 12 March 2005 and 25 May 2005; Henry TANG acted as chief executive between 25 May 2005 and 24 June 2005; TSANG was elected on 16 June 2005 to fill final two years of TUNG's term (next election to be held in March 2007) |
Exports | 1.863 million bbl/day (2004) | NA bbl/day |
Exports - commodities | manufactured goods, oil and oil products, silver, fruits, vegetables, coffee, cotton | electrical machinery and appliances, textiles, apparel, footwear, watches and clocks, toys, plastics, precious stones, printed material |
Exports - partners | US 87.6%, Canada 1.8%, Spain 1.1% (2004) | China 45%, US 16.1%, Japan 5.3% (2005) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | 1 April - 31 March |
Flag description | three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and red; the coat of arms (an eagle perched on a cactus with a snake in its beak) is centered in the white band | red with a stylized, white, five-petal bauhinia flower in the center |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 4%
industry: 27.2% services: 68.9% (2004 est.) |
agriculture: 0.1%
industry: 9.2% services: 90.6% (2005 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $9,600 (2004 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | 4.1% (2004 est.) | 7.3% (2005 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 23 00 N, 102 00 W | 22 15 N, 114 10 E |
Geography - note | strategic location on southern border of US; corn (maize), one of the world's major grain crops, is thought to have originated in Mexico | more than 200 islands |
Heliports | 2 (2004 est.) | 3 (2006) |
Highways | total: 329,532 km
paved: 108,087 km (including 6,429 km of expressways) unpaved: 221,445 km (1999 est.) |
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Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 1.6%
highest 10%: 35.6% (2002) |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Illicit drugs | illicit cultivation of opium poppy (cultivation in 2001 - 4,400 hectares; potential heroin production - 7 metric tons) and of cannabis (in 2001 - 4,100 hectares); government eradication efforts have been key in keeping illicit crop levels low; major supplier of heroin and largest foreign supplier of marijuana and methamphetamine to the US market; continues as the primary transshipment country for US-bound cocaine from South America, accounting for about 70 percent of estimated annual cocaine movement to the US; major drug syndicates control majority of drug trafficking throughout the country; producer and distributor of ecstasy; significant money-laundering center | makes strenuous law enforcement efforts, but faces difficult challenges in controlling transit of heroin and methamphetamine to regional and world markets; modern banking system provides conduit for money laundering; rising indigenous use of synthetic drugs, especially among young people |
Imports | 205,000 bbl/day (2004) | NA bbl/day |
Imports - commodities | metalworking machines, steel mill products, agricultural machinery, electrical equipment, car parts for assembly, repair parts for motor vehicles, aircraft, and aircraft parts | raw materials and semi-manufactures, consumer goods, capital goods, foodstuffs, fuel (most is re-exported) |
Imports - partners | US 53.7%, China 7%, Japan 5.1% (2004) | China 45%, Japan 11%, Taiwan 7.2%, Singapore 5.8%, US 5.1%, South Korea 4.4% (2005) |
Independence | 16 September 1810 (from Spain) | none (special administrative region of China) |
Industrial production growth rate | 3.8% (2004 est.) | -0.6% (2005 est.) |
Industries | food and beverages, tobacco, chemicals, iron and steel, petroleum, mining, textiles, clothing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, tourism | textiles, clothing, tourism, banking, shipping, electronics, plastics, toys, watches, clocks |
Infant mortality rate | total: 20.91 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 22.85 deaths/1,000 live births female: 18.88 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
total: 2.95 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 3.13 deaths/1,000 live births female: 2.75 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 5.4% (2004 est.) | 0.9% (2005 est.) |
International organization participation | APEC, BCIE, BIS, CDB, CE (observer), EBRD, FAO, G-3, G-6, G-15, G-19, G-24, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, NAM (observer), NEA, OAS, OECD, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMOVIC, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO | APEC, AsDB, BIS, ICC, ICFTU, IHO, IMF, IMO (associate), IOC, ISO (correspondent), UPU, WCL, WCO, WMO, WToO (associate), WTO |
Irrigated land | 65,000 sq km (1998 est.) | 20 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court of Justice or Suprema Corte de Justicia Nacional (justices or ministros are appointed by the president with consent of the Senate) | Court of Final Appeal in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region |
Labor force | 34.73 million (2004 est.) | 3.61 million (October 2005) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 18%, industry 24%, services 58% (2003) | manufacturing 7.5%, construction 2.9%, wholesale and retail trade, restaurants, and hotels 43.9%, financing, insurance, and real estate 19.6%, transport and communications 7.1%, community and social services 18.8%
note: above data exclude public sector (2005 est.) |
Land boundaries | total: 4,353 km
border countries: Belize 250 km, Guatemala 962 km, US 3,141 km |
total: 30 km
regional border: China 30 km |
Land use | arable land: 12.99%
permanent crops: 1.31% other: 85.7% (2001) |
arable land: 5.05%
permanent crops: 1.01% other: 93.94% (2001) |
Languages | Spanish, various Mayan, Nahuatl, and other regional indigenous languages | Chinese (Cantonese), English; both are official |
Legal system | mixture of US constitutional theory and civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations | based on English common law |
Legislative branch | bicameral National Congress or Congreso de la Union consists of the Senate or Camara de Senadores (128 seats; 96 are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms, and 32 are allocated on the basis of each party's popular vote) and the Federal Chamber of Deputies or Camara Federal de Diputados (500 seats; 300 members are directly elected by popular vote to serve three-year terms; remaining 200 members are allocated on the basis of each party's popular vote, also for three-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 2 July 2000 for all of the seats (next to be held 2 July 2006); Chamber of Deputies - last held 6 July 2003 (next to be held 2 July 2006) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PRI 60, PAN 46, PRD 16, PVEM 5, unassigned 1; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PRI 222, PAN 151, PRD 95, PVEM 17, PT 6, CD 5, unassigned 4; note - special elections were held in December 2003; the PRI and the PRD each won one seat and were each assigned one additional proportional representation seat |
unicameral Legislative Council or LEGCO (60 seats; in 2004 30 seats indirectly elected by functional constituencies, 30 elected by popular vote; members serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 12 September 2004 (next to be held in September 2008) election results: percent of vote by party - pro-democracy group 62%; seats by party - (pro-Beijing 34) DAB 12, Liberal Party 10, independents 11, FTU 1; (pro-democracy 25) independents 11, Democratic Party 9, CTU 2, ADPL 1, Frontier Party 1, NWSC 1; non-voting LEGCO president 1 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 75.19 years
male: 72.42 years female: 78.1 years (2005 est.) |
total population: 81.59 years
male: 78.9 years female: 84.5 years (2006 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 92.2% male: 94% female: 90.5% (2003 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school
total population: 93.5% male: 96.9% female: 89.6% (2002) |
Location | Middle America, bordering the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, between Belize and the US and bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between Guatemala and the US | Eastern Asia, bordering the South China Sea and China |
Map references | North America | Southeast Asia |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin |
territorial sea: 3 nm |
Merchant marine | total: 57 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 649,389 GRT/942,766 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 2, cargo 6, chemical tanker 5, liquefied gas 5, passenger/cargo 9, petroleum tanker 26, roll on/roll off 4 foreign-owned: 4 (Denmark 1, Germany 1, UAE 1, United States 1) registered in other countries: 6 (2005) |
total: 924 ships (1000 GRT or over) 30,838,025 GRT/51,957,682 DWT
by type: barge carrier 2, bulk carrier 495, cargo 121, chemical tanker 44, container 133, liquefied gas 22, passenger 6, passenger/cargo 7, petroleum tanker 76, roll on/roll off 3, specialized tanker 7, vehicle carrier 8 foreign-owned: 562 (Australia 1, Belgium 3, Canada 28, China 274, Denmark 6, Germany 6, Greece 27, Indonesia 4, Japan 67, South Korea 6, Norway 26, Philippines 16, Portugal 1, Singapore 24, Syria 1, Taiwan 6, UAE 2, UK 43, US 21) registered in other countries: 417 (Bahamas 8, Belize 8, Bermuda 10, Cambodia 15, China 7, Cyprus 1, France 1, French Southern and Antarctic Lands 2, Greece 1, Honduras 2, India 1, Liberia 37, Malaysia 14, Malta 2, Marshall Islands 7, Norway 55, Panama 169, Philippines 3, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 6, Singapore 50, Taiwan 3, Tuvalu 8, unknown 7) (2006) |
Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of China |
Military branches | Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena): Army and Air Force (FAM)
Secretariat of the Navy (Semar): Naval Air and Marines (2004) |
no regular indigenous military forces; Hong Kong garrison of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) includes elements of the PLA Ground Forces, PLA Navy, and PLA Air Force; these forces are under the direct leadership of the Central Military Commission in Beijing and under administrative control of the adjacent Guangzhou Military Region |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $6.043 billion (2004) | Hong Kong garrison is funded by China; figures are NA |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 0.9% (2004) | NA |
National holiday | Independence Day, 16 September (1810) | 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 |
Nationality | noun: Mexican(s)
adjective: Mexican |
noun: Chinese/Hong Konger
adjective: Chinese/Hong Kong |
Natural hazards | tsunamis along the Pacific coast, volcanoes and destructive earthquakes in the center and south, and hurricanes on the Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean coasts | occasional typhoons |
Natural resources | petroleum, silver, copper, gold, lead, zinc, natural gas, timber | outstanding deepwater harbor, feldspar |
Net migration rate | -4.57 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 4.89 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Pipelines | crude oil 28,200 km; petroleum products 10,150 km; natural gas 13,254 km; petrochemical 1,400 km (2003) | - |
Political parties and leaders | Convergence for Democracy or CD [Dante DELGADO Ranauro]; Institutional Revolutionary Party or PRI [Roberto MADRAZO Pintado]; Mexican Green Ecological Party or PVEM [Jorge Emilio GONZALEZ Martinez]; National Action Party or PAN [Luis Felipe BRAVO Mena]; Party of the Democratic Revolution or PRD [Leonel GODOY]; Workers Party or PT [Alberto ANAYA Gutierrez] | Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood or ADPL [Frederick FUNG Kin-kee]; Citizens Party [Alex CHAN Kai-chung]; Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong or DAB [MA Lik]; Democratic Party [LEE Wing-tat]; Frontier Party [Emily LAU Wai-hing]; Liberal Party [James TIEN Pei-chun]
note: political blocs include: pro-democracy - ADPL, Democratic Party, Frontier Party; pro-Beijing - DAB, Liberal Party |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Confederation of Employers of the Mexican Republic or COPARMEX; Confederation of Industrial Chambers or CONCAMIN; Confederation of Mexican Workers or CTM; Confederation of National Chambers of Commerce or CONCANACO; Coordinator for Foreign Trade Business Organizations or COECE; Federation of Unions Providing Goods and Services or FESEBES; National Chamber of Transformation Industries or CANACINTRA; National Peasant Confederation or CNC; National Union of Workers or UNT; Regional Confederation of Mexican Workers or CROM; Revolutionary Confederation of Workers and Peasants or CROC; Roman Catholic Church | Article 45 Concern Group (pro-democracy); Chinese General Chamber of Commerce (pro-China); Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong; Confederation of Trade Unions or CTU (pro-democracy) [LAU Chin-shek, president; LEE Cheuk-yan, general secretary]; Federation of Hong Kong Industries; Federation of Trade Unions or FTU (pro-China) [CHENG Yiu-tong, executive councilor]; Hong Kong Alliance in Support of the Patriotic Democratic Movement in China [Szeto WAH, chairman]; Hong Kong and Kowloon Trade Union Council (pro-Taiwan); Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce; Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union [CHEUNG Man-kwong, president]; Neighborhood and Workers' Service Center or NWSC (pro-democracy); The Alliance [Bernard CHAN, exco member] |
Population | 106,202,903 (July 2005 est.) | 6,940,432 (July 2006 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 40% (2003 est.) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 1.17% (2005 est.) | 0.59% (2006 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Altamira, Manzanillo, Morro Redondo, Salina Cruz, Tampico, Topolobampo, Veracruz | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 850, FM 545, shortwave 15 (2003) | AM 5, FM 9, shortwave 0 (2004) |
Railways | total: 17,634 km
standard gauge: 17,634 km 1.435-m gauge (2004) |
- |
Religions | nominally Roman Catholic 89%, Protestant 6%, other 5% | eclectic mixture of local religions 90%, Christian 10% |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.83 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
at birth: 1.08 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.1 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.87 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2006 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal and compulsory (but not enforced) | direct election 18 years of age; universal for permanent residents living in the territory of Hong Kong for the past seven years; indirect election limited to about 200,000 members of functional constituencies and an 800-member election committee drawn from broad regional groupings, municipal organizations, and central government bodies |
Telephone system | general assessment: low telephone density with about 15.2 main lines per 100 persons; privatized in December 1990; the opening to competition in January 1997 improved prospects for development, but Telmex remains dominant
domestic: adequate telephone service for business and government, but the population is poorly served; mobile subscribers far outnumber fixed-line subscribers; domestic satellite system with 120 earth stations; extensive microwave radio relay network; considerable use of fiber-optic cable and coaxial cable international: country code - 52; satellite earth stations - 32 Intelsat, 2 Solidaridad (giving Mexico improved access to South America, Central America, and much of the US as well as enhancing domestic communications), numerous Inmarsat mobile earth stations; linked to Central American Microwave System of trunk connections; high capacity Columbus-2 fiber-optic submarine cable with access to the US, Virgin Islands, Canary Islands, Morocco, Spain, and Italy (1997) |
general assessment: modern facilities provide excellent domestic and international services
domestic: microwave radio relay links and extensive fiber-optic network international: country code - 852; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Pacific Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean); coaxial cable to Guangzhou, China; access to 5 international submarine cables providing connections to ASEAN member nations, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, Middle East, and Western Europe |
Telephones - main lines in use | 15,958,700 (2003) | 3,794,600 (2005) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 28.125 million (2003) | 8.693 million (2005) |
Television broadcast stations | 236 (plus repeaters) (1997) | 55 low power stations
note: two TV networks, each one broadcasting on two channels (2006) |
Terrain | high, rugged mountains; low coastal plains; high plateaus; desert | hilly to mountainous with steep slopes; lowlands in north |
Total fertility rate | 2.45 children born/woman (2005 est.) | 0.95 children born/woman (2006 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 3.2% plus underemployment of perhaps 25% (2004 est.) | 5.5% (2005 est.) |
Waterways | 2,900 km
note: navigable rivers and coastal canals (2004) |
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