British Hong Kong

Hong Kong 香港
1841–1941 1945–1997 1941–1945: Japanese occupation
Flag (1959–1997) Coat of arms (1959–1997)
Anthem: God Save the Queen (1841–1901; 1952–1997) God Save the King (1901–1941; 1945–1952)
Status	Crown colony (1843–1941; 1945–1981) British Dependent Territory (1981–1997)
Capital	Victoria (de facto)
Official languages	English Chinese (Cantonese)[note 1]
Religion	Christianity Folk Buddhism Taoism Hinduism Islam Judaism
Demonym(s)	Hongkonger[note 2]
Government	Constitutional monarchy
Monarch
• 1841–1901	Victoria
• 1901–1910	Edward VII
• 1910–1936	George V
• 1936	Edward VIII
• 1936–1941, 1945–1952	George VI
• 1952–1997	Elizabeth II
Governor
• 1843–1844	Sir Henry Pottinger (first)
• 1992–1997	Chris Patten (last)
Chief Secretary[note 3]
• 1843	George Malcolm (first)
• 1993–1997	Anson Chan (last)
Legislature	Legislative Council
Historical era	Victorian era to 20th century
• British occupation	26 January 1841
• Treaty of Nanking	29 August 1842
• Convention of Peking	18 October 1860
• Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory	9 June 1898
• Japanese occupation of Hong Kong	25 December 1941 – 30 August 1945
• Handover of Hong Kong	1 July 1997
Population
• 1996 estimate	6,217,556[1]
• Density	5,796/km2 (15,011.6/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	1996[2] estimate
• Total	$154 billion
• Per capita	$23,843
GDP (nominal)	1996[2] estimate
• Total	$160 billion
• Per capita	$24,698
Gini (1996)	51.8[3] high inequality
HDI (1995)	0.808[4] very high
Currency	Hong Kong dollar (from 1937) Trade dollar (1895–1937) Spanish dollar (until 1895) Chinese cash (until 1895)
ISO 3166 code	HK
Preceded by Succeeded by 1841: Xin'an County 1945: Japanese Hong Kong 1941: Japanese Hong Kong 1997: Hong Kong

Hong Kong was under British rule from 1841 to 1997, except for a brief period of Japanese occupation during World War II from 1941 to 1945. It was a crown colony of the United Kingdom from 1841 to 1981, and a dependent territory from 1981 to 1997. The colonial period began with the British occupation of Hong Kong Island under the Convention of Chuenpi in 1841 of the Victorian era, and ended with the handover of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China in July 1997.

In accordance with Art. III of the Treaty of Nanking of 1842, signed in the aftermath of the First Opium War, the island of Hong Kong was ceded in perpetuity to Great Britain. It was established as a Crown colony in 1843.^[5] In 1860, the British expanded the colony with the addition of the Kowloon Peninsula and was further extended in 1898 when the British obtained a 99-year lease of the New Territories. Although the Qing had to cede Hong Kong Island and Kowloon in perpetuity as per the treaty, the leased New Territories comprised 86.2% of the colony and more than half of the entire colony's population. With the lease nearing its end during the late 20th century, Britain did not see any viable way to administer the colony by dividing it, whilst the People's Republic of China would not consider extending the lease or allow continued British administration thereafter.

With the signing of the Sino-British Joint Declaration in 1984, which stated that the economic and social systems in Hong Kong would remain relatively unchanged for 50 years, the British government agreed to transfer the entire territory to China upon the expiration of the New Territories lease in 1997 – with Hong Kong becoming a special administrative region (SAR) until at least 2047.^[6][7]

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