,009; female 2,348,794)
65 years and over: 10% (male 299,503; female 365,095) (July 1997 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.59% (1997 est.)

Birth rate: 12.72 births/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Death rate: 5.79 deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Net migration rate: 18.94 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.08 male(s)/female
15-64 years : 0.99 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.82 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (1997 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 5.3 deaths/1,000 live births (1997 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 78.71 years
male: 75.98 years
female: 81.62 years (1997 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.33 children born/woman (1997 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Chinese
adjective: Chinese

Ethnic groups: Chinese 95%, other 5%

Religions: eclectic mixture of local religions 90%, Christian 10%

Languages: Chinese (Cantonese), English

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school
total population : 92.2%
male: 96%
female: 88.2% (1996 est.)

@Hong Kong:Government

Country name:
conventional long form : none
conventional short form: Hong Kong
abbreviation : HK

Data code: HK

Dependency status: dependent territory of the UK; note - scheduled to
revert to China on 1 July 1997

Government type: NA

National capital: Victoria

Administrative divisions: none (dependent territory of the UK)

Independence: none (dependent territory of the UK; the UK signed an
agreement with China on 19 December 1984 to return Hong Kong to China
on 1 July 1997; in the joint declaration, China promises to respect
Hong Kong's existing social and economic systems and lifestyle)

National holiday: Liberation Day, 29 August (1945)

Constitution: the Letters Patent together with the Royal Instructions
form the written constitution of Hong Kong; new Basic Law approved in
March 1990 in preparation for scheduled reversion to China on 1 July
1997

Legal system: based on English common law

Suffrage: 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 100,000 professionals of
electoral college and functional constituencies

Executive branch:
chief of state : Queen ELIZABETH II of the UK (since 6 February 1952)
head of government: Governor and President of the Executive Council
Christopher Fr