|
Russian Federation |
Hong Kong SAR (China) |
| Country name |
conventional long form: Russian Federation conventional short form: Russia local long form: Rossiyskaya Federatsiya local short form: Rossiya former: Russian Empire, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic etymology: Russian lands were generally referred to as Muscovy until PETER I officially declared the Russian Empire in 1721; the new name sought to invoke the patrimony of the medieval eastern European Rus state centered on Kyiv in present-day Ukraine; the Rus were a Varangian (eastern Viking) elite that imposed their rule and eventually their name on their Slavic subjects |
conventional long form: Hong Kong Special Administrative Region conventional short form: Hong Kong local long form: Heung Kong Takpit Hangching Ku (Eitel/Dyer-Ball); Xianggang Tebie Xingzhengqu (Hanyu Pinyin) local short form: Heung Kong (Eitel/Dyer-Ball); Xianggang (Hanyu Pinyin) abbreviation: HK etymology: probably an imprecise phonetic rendering of the Cantonese name meaning "fragrant harbor" |
| Government type |
semi-presidential federation |
presidential limited democracy; a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China |
| Capital |
name: Moscow geographic coordinates: 55 45 N, 37 36 E time difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) note: Russia has 11 time zones, the largest number of contiguous time zones of any country in the world; in 2014, two time zones were added and DST was dropped |
- |
| Administrative divisions |
46 provinces (oblasti, singular - oblast), 21 republics (respubliki, singular - respublika), 4 autonomous okrugs (avtonomnyye okrugi, singular - avtonomnyy okrug), 9 krays (kraya, singular - kray), 2 federal cities (goroda, singular - gorod), and 1 autonomous oblast (avtonomnaya oblast') oblasts: Amur (Blagoveshchensk), Arkhangel'sk, Astrakhan', Belgorod, Bryansk, Chelyabinsk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Kaliningrad, Kaluga, Kemerovo, Kirov, Kostroma, Kurgan, Kursk, Leningrad, Lipetsk, Magadan, Moscow, Murmansk, Nizhniy Novgorod, Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Orenburg, Orel, Penza, Pskov, Rostov, Ryazan', Sakhalin (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk), Samara, Saratov, Smolensk, Sverdlovsk (Yekaterinburg), Tambov, Tomsk, Tula, Tver', Tyumen', Ul'yanovsk, Vladimir, Volgograd, Vologda, Voronezh, Yaroslavl' republics: Adygeya (Maykop), Altay (Gorno-Altaysk), Bashkortostan (Ufa), Buryatiya (Ulan-Ude), Chechnya (Groznyy), Chuvashiya (Cheboksary), Dagestan (Makhachkala), Ingushetiya (Magas), Kabardino-Balkariya (Nal'chik), Kalmykiya (Elista), Karachayevo-Cherkesiya (Cherkessk), Kareliya (Petrozavodsk), Khakasiya (Abakan), Komi (Syktyvkar), Mariy-El (Yoshkar-Ola), Mordoviya (Saransk), North Ossetia (Vladikavkaz), Sakha [Yakutiya] (Yakutsk), Tatarstan (Kazan'), Tyva (Kyzyl), Udmurtiya (Izhevsk) autonomous okrugs: Chukotka (Anadyr'), Khanty-Mansi-Yugra (Khanty-Mansiysk), Nenets (Nar'yan-Mar), Yamalo-Nenets (Salekhard) krays: Altay (Barnaul), Kamchatka (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy), Khabarovsk, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Perm', Primorskiy [Maritime] (Vladivostok), Stavropol', Zabaykal'sk [Transbaikal] (Chita) federal cities: Moscow [Moskva], Saint Petersburg [Sankt-Peterburg] autonomous oblast: Yevreyskaya [Jewish] (Birobidzhan) note 1: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses) note 2: the United States does not recognize Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the municipality of Sevastopol, nor their redesignation as the Republic of Crimea and the Federal City of Sevastopol |
none (special administrative region of the People's Republic of China) |
| Independence |
24 August 1991 (from the Soviet Union); notable earlier dates: 1157 (Principality of Vladimir-Suzdal created); 16 January 1547 (Tsardom of Muscovy established); 22 October 1721 (Russian Empire proclaimed); 30 December 1922 (Soviet Union established) |
none (special administrative region of China) |
| National holiday |
Russia Day, 12 June (1990) |
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 |
| Constitution |
history: several previous (during Russian Empire and Soviet era); latest drafted 12 July 1993, adopted by referendum 12 December 1993, effective 25 December 1993 amendments: proposed by the president of the Russian Federation, by either house of the Federal Assembly, by the government of the Russian Federation, or by legislative (representative) bodies of the Federation's constituent entities; proposals to amend the government’s constitutional system, human and civil rights and freedoms, and procedures for amending or drafting a new constitution require formation of a Constitutional Assembly; passage of such amendments requires two-thirds majority vote of its total membership; passage in a referendum requires participation of an absolute majority of eligible voters and an absolute majority of valid votes; approval of proposed amendments to the government structure, authorities, and procedures requires approval by the legislative bodies of at least two-thirds of the Russian Federation's constituent entities; amended 2008, 2014 (2017) |
history: several previous (governance documents while under British authority); latest drafted April 1988 to February 1989, approved March 1990, effective 1 July 1997 (Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China serves as the constitution); note - since 1990, China's National People's Congress has interpreted specific articles of the Basic Law amendments: proposed by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), the People’s Republic of China State Council, and the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong; submittal of proposals to the NPC requires two-thirds majority vote by the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, approval by two-thirds of Hong Kong’s deputies to the NPC, and approval by the Hong Kong chief executive; final passage requires approval by the NPC |
| Legal system |
civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts |
mixed legal system of common law based on the English model and Chinese customary law (in matters of family and land tenure) |
| International law organization participation |
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt |
- |
| Citizenship |
citizenship by birth: no citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Russia dual citizenship recognized: yes residency requirement for naturalization: 3-5 years |
see China |
| Suffrage |
18 years of age; universal |
18 years of age in direct elections for half of the Legislative Council seats and all of the seats in 18 district councils; universal for permanent residents living in the territory of Hong Kong for the past 7 years; note - in indirect elections, suffrage is limited to about 220,000 members of functional constituencies for the other half of the legislature and a 1,200-member election committee for the chief executive drawn from broad sectoral groupings, central government bodies, municipal organizations, and elected Hong Kong officials |
| Executive branch |
chief of state: President Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN (since 7 May 2012) head of government: Premier Dmitriy Anatolyevich MEDVEDEV (since 8 May 2012); First Deputy Premier Igor Ivanovich SHUVALOV (since 12 May 2008); Deputy Premiers Arkadiy Vladimirovich DVORKOVICH (since 21 May 2012), Olga Yuryevna GOLODETS (since 21 May 2012), Aleksandr Gennadiyevich KHLOPONIN (since 19 January 2010), Dmitriy Nikolayevich KOZAK (since 14 October 2008), Vitaliy Leontyevich MUTKO (since 19 October 2016), Dmitriy Olegovich ROGOZIN (since 23 December 2011), Sergey Eduardovich PRIKHODKO (since 22 May 2013); Yuriy Petrovich TRUTNEV (since 31 August 2013) cabinet: the "Government" is composed of the premier, his deputies, and ministers, all appointed by the president; the premier is also confirmed by the Duma elections/appointments: president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 6-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 18 March 2018 (next to be held in March 2024); note - term length extended to 6 years from 4 years in late 2008, effective after the 2012 election; there is no vice president; premier appointed by the president with the approval of the Duma election results: Vladimir PUTIN reelected president; percent of vote - Vladimir PUTIN (independent) 77.5%, Pavel GRUDININ (CPRF) 11.9%, Vladimir ZHIRINOVSKIY (LDPR) 5.7%, other 5.8%; Dmitriy MEDVEDEV (United Russia) reapproved as premier by Duma on 8 May 2018; vote - 374 to 56 note: there is also a Presidential Administration that provides staff and policy support to the president, drafts presidential decrees, and coordinates policy among government agencies; a Security Council also reports directly to the president |
chief of state: President of China XI Jinping (since 14 March 2013) head of government: Chief Executive Carrie LAM (since 1 July 2017) cabinet: Executive Council or ExCo appointed by the chief executive elections/appointments: president indirectly elected by National People's Congress for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 5-17 March 2013 (next to be held in March 2018); chief executive indirectly elected by the Election Committee and appointed by the PRC Government for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 26 March 2017 (next to be held in 2022) election results: Carrie LAM elected chief executive; Election Committee vote - Carrie LAM 777, John TSANG 365, WOO Kwok-hing 21, invalid 23 note: the Legislative Council voted in June 2010 to expand the Election Committee to 1,200 members |
| Legislative branch |
description: bicameral Federal Assembly or Federalnoye Sobraniye consists of the Federation Council or Sovet Federatsii (170 seats; 2 members in each of the 83 federal administrative units (see note below) - oblasts, krays, republics, autonomous okrugs and oblasts, and the federal cities of Moscow and Saint Petersburg - appointed by the top executive and legislative officials; members serve 4-year terms) and the State Duma or Gosudarstvennaya Duma (450 seats; as of February 2014, the electoral system reverted to a mixed electoral system for the 2016 election, in which one-half of the members are directly elected by simple majority vote and one-half directly elected by proportional representation vote; members serve 5-year terms) elections: State Duma - last held on 18 September 2016 (next to be held in fall 2021) election results: State Duma - United Russia 54.2%, CPRF 13.3%, LDPR 13.1%, A Just Russia 6.2%, Rodina 1.5%, CP 0.2%; seats by party - United Russia 343, CPRF 42, LDPR 39, A Just Russia 23, Rodina 1, CP 1, independent 1 note: the State Duma now includes 3 representatives and the Federation Council 2 each from the Republic of Crimea and the Federal City of Sevastopol, two regions that Russia occupied and attempted to annex from Ukraine and that the US does not recognize as part of Russia |
description: unicameral Legislative Council or LegCo (70 seats; 35 members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by party-list proportional representation vote; 30 members indirectly elected by the approximately 220,000 members of various functional constituencies based on a variety of methods; five at large “super-seat” members directly elected by all of Hong Kong’s eligible voters who do not participate in a functional constituency; members serve 4-year terms) elections: last held on 4 September 2016; (next to be held in September 2020); note - by-election to be held on 11 March 2018 to fill 4 seats left vacant after 4 legislators were removed from office election results: percent of vote by block - pro-democracy 36.0%; pro-Beijing 40.2%, localist 19.0%, other 4.8%; seats by block/party - pro-Beijing 40 (DAB 12, BPA 7, FTU 5, Liberal Party 4, NPP 3, other 9); pro-democracy 23 (Democratic Party 7, Civic Party 6, PP-LSD 2, Professional Commons 2, Labor 1, NWSC 1, PTU 1, other democrats 3), localists 6 (ALLin HK 2, CP-PPI-HKRO 1, Demosisto 1, Democracy Groundwork 1, other localist 1), non-aligned independent 1; note - 2 localists were barred from taking office in November 2016 and 4 pro-democracy legislators were removed in July 2017 |
| Judicial branch |
highest court(s): Supreme Court of the Russian Federation (consists of 170 members organized into the Judicial Panel for Civil Affairs, the Judicial Panel for Criminal Affairs, and the Military Panel); Constitutional Court (consists of 19 members); note - in February 2014, Russia’s Superior Court of Arbitration was abolished and its former authorities transferred to the Supreme Court, which in addition to being the country’s highest judicial authority for appeals, civil, criminal, administrative, and military cases, and the disciplinary judicial board now has jurisdiction over economic disputes judge selection and term of office: all members of Russia's 3 highest courts nominated by the president and appointed by the Federation Council (the upper house of the legislature); members of all 3 courts appointed for life subordinate courts: Higher Arbitration Court; regional (kray) and provincial (oblast) courts; Moscow and St. Petersburg city courts; autonomous province and district courts; note - the 21 Russian Republics have court systems specified by their own constitutions |
highest court(s): Court of Final Appeal (consists of the chief justice, 3 permanent judges, and 20 non-permanent judges); note - a sitting bench consists of the chief justice and 3 permanent judges and 1 non-permanent judge judge selection and term of office: all judges appointed by the Hong Kong Chief Executive upon the recommendation of the Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission, an independent body consisting of the Secretary for Justice, other judges, and judicial and legal professionals; permanent judges appointed until normal retirement at age 65, but can be extended; non-permanent judges appointed for renewable 3-year terms without age limit subordinate courts: High Court (consists of the Court of Appeal and Court of First Instance); District Courts (includes Family and Land Courts); magistrates' courts; specialized tribunals |
| Political parties and leaders |
A Just Russia [Sergey MIRONOV] Civic Platform or CP [Rifat SHAYKHUTDINOV] Communist Party of the Russian Federation or CPRF [Gennadiy ZYUGANOV] Liberal Democratic Party of Russia or LDPR [Vladimir ZHIRINOVSKIY] Rodina [Aleksei ZHURAVLYOV] United Russia [Dmitriy MEDVEDEV] note: 72 political parties are registered with Russia's Ministry of Justice (as of August 2017), but only six parties maintain representation in Russia's national legislature, and two of these only have one deputy apiece |
parties: ALLinHK (alliance of 6 localist groups) Business and Professional Alliance or BPA [LO Wai-kwok] Civic Party [Alvin YEUNG] Civic Passion or CP [CHENG Chung-tai] (part of Civic Passion-Proletariat Political Institute-Hong Kong Resurgence Order alliance or CP-PPI-HKRO that dissolved after the 2016 election) Democracy Groundwork [LAU Siu-lai] Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong or DAB [Starry LEE Wai-king] Democratic Party [WU Chi-wai] Demosisto [Nathan LAW] Federation of Trade Unions or FTU [Stanley NG Chau-pei] Labor Party [Steven Kwok Wing-kin] League of Social Democrats or LSD [Avery NG Man-yuen] Liberal Party [Felix CHUNG Kwok-pan] Neighborhood and Workers Service Center or NWSC [LEUNG Yui-chung] New People's Party or NPP [Regina IP Lau Su-yee] People Power or PP [Raymond CHAN] Youngspiration [Sixtus "Baggio" LEUNG Chung-hang] others: Professional Commons (think tank) [Charles Peter MOK] Professional Teachers Union or PTU note: political blocks include: pro-democracy - Civic Party, Democratic Party, Labor Party, LSD, NWSC, PP, Professional Commons, PTU; pro-Beijing - DAB, FTU, Liberal Party, NPP, BPA; localist - ALLinHK, CP, Democracy Groundwork, Demosisto; there is no political party ordinance, so there are no registered political parties; politically active groups register as societies or companies |
| Political pressure groups and leaders |
Committees of Soldiers' Mothers Confederation of Labor of Russia or KTR Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia Golos Association in Defense of Voters' Rights Memorial Movement Against Illegal Migration Russkiye Solidarnost The World Russian People's Congress Union of Russian Writers other: business associations; environmental organizations; religious groups (especially those with Orthodox or Muslim affiliation); veterans groups |
Chinese General Chamber of Commerce (pro-China) Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong Civic Act-up (pro-democracy) Federation of Hong Kong Industries Hong Kong Alliance in Support of the Patriotic Democratic Movement in China [Albert HO] (pro-China) Hong Kong and Kowloon Trade Union Council or HKTUC (pro-democracy) Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce or HKGCC Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union or HKPTU [FUNG Wai-wah] |
| International organization participation |
APEC, Arctic Council, ARF, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIS, BRICS, BSEC, CBSS, CD, CE, CERN (observer), CICA, CIS, CSTO, EAEC, EAEU, EAPC, EAS, EBRD, FAO, FATF, G-20, GCTU, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINURSO, MONUSCO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OIC (observer), OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, PFP, SCO, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNISFA, UNMIL, UNMISS, UNOCI, UNSC (permanent), UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC |
ADB, APEC, BIS, FATF, ICC (national committees), IHO, IMF, IMO (associate), Interpol (subbureau), IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITUC (NGOs), UNWTO (associate), UPU, WCO, WMO, WTO |
| Diplomatic representation in the US |
chief of mission: Ambassador Anatoliy Ivanovich ANTONOV (since 8 September 2017) chancery: 2650 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 298-5700, 5701, 5704, 5708 FAX: [1] (202) 298-5735 consulate(s) general: Houston, New York, Seattle |
none (Special Administrative Region of China); Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) carries out normal liaison activities and communication with the US Government and other US entities commissioner: Clement C.M. LEUNG office: 1520 18th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036 telephone: [1] 202 331-8947 FAX: [1] 202 331-8958 HKETO offices: New York, San Francisco |
| Diplomatic representation from the US |
chief of mission: Ambassador Jon HUNTSMAN (since 3 October 2017) embassy: Bolshoy Deviatinskiy Pereulok No. 8, 121099 Moscow mailing address: PSC-77, APO AE 09721 telephone: [7] (495) 728-5000 FAX: [7] (495) 728-5090 consulate(s) general: Saint Petersburg, Vladivostok, Yekaterinburg |
chief of mission: Consul General Kurt W. TONG (since 27 August 2016); note - also accredited to Macau consulate(s) general: 26 Garden Road, Hong Kong mailing address: Unit 8000, Box 1, DPO AP 96521-0006 telephone: [852] 2523-9011 FAX: [852] 2845-1598 |
| Flag description |
three equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and red note: the colors may have been based on those of the Dutch flag; despite many popular interpretations, there is no official meaning assigned to the colors of the Russian flag; this flag inspired several other Slav countries to adopt horizontal tricolors of the same colors but in different arrangements, and so red, blue, and white became the Pan-Slav colors |
red with a stylized, white, five-petal Bauhinia flower in the center; each petal contains a small, red, five-pointed star in its middle; the red color is the same as that on the Chinese flag and represents the motherland; the fragrant Bauhinia - developed in Hong Kong the late 19th century - has come to symbolize the region; the five stars echo those on the flag of China |
| National symbol(s) |
bear, double-headed eagle; national colors: white, blue, red |
orchid tree flower; national colors: red, white |
| National anthem |
name: "Gimn Rossiyskoy Federatsii" (National Anthem of the Russian Federation) lyrics/music: Sergey Vladimirovich MIKHALKOV/Aleksandr Vasilyevich ALEKSANDROV note: in 2000, Russia adopted the tune of the anthem of the former Soviet Union (composed in 1939); the lyrics, also adopted in 2000, were written by the same person who authored the Soviet lyrics in 1943 |
note: as a Special Administrative Region of China, "Yiyongjun Jinxingqu" is the official anthem (see China) |
| Dependency status |
- |
special administrative region of the People's Republic of China |
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