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
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 2]
• 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
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 Hong Kong
Today part of	Hong Kong

Hong Kong was a British colony and later a British Dependent Territory from 1841 to 1997, apart from a period of Japanese occupation from 1941 to 1945 during the Pacific War. The colonial period began with the British occupation of Hong Kong Island in 1841, during the First Opium War between the British and the Qing dynasty. The Qing had wanted to enforce its prohibition of opium importation within the dynasty that was being exported mostly from British India and was causing widespread addiction among the populace.

The island was ceded to Britain by the Treaty of Nanking, ratified by the Daoguang Emperor in the aftermath of the war of 1842. It was established as a crown colony in 1843. In 1860, the British took the opportunity to expand the colony with the addition of the Kowloon Peninsula after the Second Opium War, while the Qing was embroiled in handling the Taiping Rebellion. With the Qing further weakened after the First Sino-Japanese War, Hong Kong's territory was further extended in 1898 when the British obtained a 99-year lease of the New Territories.

Although the Qing dynasty 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 (PRC) 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.^[5][6]

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