_#_Telecommunications: modern facilities provide excellent domestic and international services; 3,000,000 telephones; microwave transmission links and extensive optical fiber transmission network; stations—6 AM, 6 FM, 4 TV; 1 British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) relay station and 1 British Forces Broadcasting Service relay station; 2,500,000 radio receivers; 1,312,000 TV sets (1,224,000 color TV sets); satellite earth stations—1 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT and 2 Indian Ocean INTELSAT; coaxial cable to Guangzhou, China; links to 5 international submarine cables providing access to ASEAN member nations, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, Middle East, and Western Europe
_*Defense Forces
#_Branches: Headquarters of British Forces, Royal Navy, Royal
Air Force, Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force, Gurkha Brigade,
Royal Hong Kong Police Force
_#_Manpower availability: males 15-49, 1,718,112; 1,328,230 fit for military service; 45,437 reach military age (18) annually
_#_Defense expenditures: $300 million, 0.5% of GDP (1989 est.); this represents one-fourth of the total cost of defending itself, the remainder being paid by the UK
_#Note: defense is the responsibility of the UK % @Howland Island (territory of the US) *Geography #_Total area: 1.6 km2; land area: 1.6 km2
_#_Comparative area: about 2.7 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC
_#_Land boundaries: none
_#_Coastline: 6.4 km
_#_Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: 12 nm;