Driest
10% humidity (January 16, 1959)
Highest temperature
36.1°C (August 18 and 19, 1900)
Lowest temperature
0.0°C (January 16, 1893)
Highest wind speed
230 km/h (September 5, 1964)
June/July norms
mean temperature
average total rainfall
Transport
Roads
27.8°C
28.8°C
376 mm-323.6 mm
The 1 717 km of roads carry 466 068 licensed vehicles, or about 270 vehicles per kilometre.
Bridges
Longest: Tsing Ma suspension bridge (main span 1 377 metres) and the 463-metre cable-stayed Kap Shui Mun bridge. A 280-metre viaduct links the
two.
Tunnels
Eight tunnels, 900 metres to 4 km long, carrying 573 000 vehicles a day, fares from $3 to $30. Third cross-harbour tunnel, 2 km, to open during 1997, 180 000 vehicle capacity.
Railways
Mass Transit Railway-First stage opened in 1979; 43 km of track; 38 stations. 2.5 million passenger journeys daily.
Lantau-Central (34 km)-Airport Expressway and North Lantau Line under construction. Kowloon-Canton Railway-Opened in 1910:
34 km of track between Hung Hom and the border; 13 stations; 632 700 passenger journeys daily. Light Rail Transit-Opened in 1988: 32 km Tuen Mun-Yuen Long-Tin Shui Wai;
57 stops, 379 000 passengers daily.
Hong Kong Tram-Opened in 1904, 13 km double track along Hong Kong Island's north shore, plus three km single track around Happy Valley. Peak Tram-Opened in 1888: Hong Kong's oldest public transport. Funicular railway rising 373 metres from Garden Road, Central, to Victoria Gap;
397 metres above sea level, 11 000 passengers daily mostly tourists but four intermediate stops service
commuters.
Air movements
1996-158 797 flights; 23.4 million passengers; 1.56 million tonnes of freight
Shipping movements
1996-40 808 ocean vessel arrivals;
40 865 departures; total cargo 123.67 million tonnes
Container throughput
13.2 million TEUs.
Employment
(Total workforce: 3.16 million at October 96)
Major sectors
Wholesale, retail and import/export, trades. restaurants and hotels
Finance, insurance, real
estate and business
services
Community, social and personal services
Civil Service
Transport storage and
communications
Unemployment rate
Average wages
(Selected industries)
1.03 million
28% of workforce
386 940
12% of workforce
310 099
10% of workforce
183 110
5.8% of workforce
176 319
5.5% of workforce
2.9%
$9,772 per month
GDP per capita (Expenditure based) $1.195 billion
Flying time to:
Bangkok 2 hrs 20 mins Beijing 2 hrs 30 mins Bombay 5 hrs 40 mins Guangzhou 20 mins.
London 13 hrs
Manila 1 hr 30 mins
Moscow 9 hrs 30 mins
New Delhi 5 hrs
New York 17 hrs
Paris 12 hrs 45 mins
Rome 12 hrs 15 mins
San Francisco 14 hrs 30 mins
Shanghai 1 hr 45 mins
Seoul 2 hrs 45 mins Singapore 3 hrs 20 mins Sydney 9 hrs 30 mins Taipei Ihr
Tokyo 3 hrs 40 mins
Toronto 16 hrs 45 mins
Washington 17 hrs 30 mins