Colony of Hong Kong

Hong Kong
香港
Crown colony (1843–1941, 1945–1981) British Dependent Territory (1981–1997)
1842–1941 1945–1997
Flag (1959–1997) Coat of arms (1959–1997)
Motto "Dieu et mon droit" (French) "God and my right"
Anthem "God Save the Queen" (1842–1901, 1952–1997) "God Save the King" (1901–1952)
Location of Hong Kong (circled in red)
Capital		Victoria (de facto)
Languages		English, Chinese
Religion		Chinese folk religion Buddhism Christianity
Government		Crown colony (1843–1941, 1945–1981) British Dependent Territory (1981–1997)
Monarch
•	1842–1901	Victoria (first)
•	1952–1997	Elizabeth II (last)
Governor
•	1843–1844	Sir Henry Pottinger (first)
•	1992–1997	Chris Patten (last)
Chief Secretary1
•	1843	George Malcolm (first)
•	1993–1997	Anson Chan (last)
Legislature		Legislative Council
Historical era		European colonialism New Imperialism
•	Convention of Chuenpi	20 January 1841
•	Treaty of Nanking	29 August 1842
•	Convention of Peking	24 October 1860
•	Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory	9 June 1898
•	Battle of Hong Kong	8–25 December 1941
•	End of British Sovereignty	30 June 1997
Area
•	1848	80.4 km2 (31.0 sq mi)
•	1901	1,042 km2 (402 sq mi)
Population
•	1848 est.	24,000
Density		299/km2 (773/sq mi)
•	1901 est.	283,978
Density		273/km2 (706/sq mi)
•	1945 est.	750,000
Density		720/km2 (1,864/sq mi)
•	1995 est.	6,300,000
Density		6,046/km2 (15,659/sq mi)
Currency		Spanish dollar Chinese cash Trade dollar (1895–1935) Hong Kong dollar (from 1937)
Calling code		+852
Preceded by Succeeded by Bao'an County, Guangdong Japanese occupation of Hong Kong Japanese occupation of Hong Kong Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Today part of		Hong Kong
1 The title changed from "Colonial Secretary" to "Chief Secretary" in 1976.

British Hong Kong was the period during which Hong Kong was under British Crown rule, from 1842 to 1997 (excluding the Japanese occupation from 1941 to 1945). It was established as a Crown colony and later designated a British Dependent Territory in 1981. Hong Kong Island was ceded to the United Kingdom by the Qing dynasty of China after the First Opium War (1839–1842). The Kowloon Peninsula was added to the colony after the Second Opium War (1856–1860). Finally, in 1898, the New Territories were added under a 99-year lease. Although Hong Kong Island and Kowloon were ceded to Britain in perpetuity, the New Territories – which comprised over 90 per cent of Hong Kong's land – had such a vital role in the economy that the British government agreed to transfer sovereignty of the entirety of Hong Kong to China upon the expiration of the lease in 1997. The transfer has been considered by many as marking the end of the British Empire.

In 1836, the Manchu Qing government undertook a major policy review of the opium trade. Lin Zexu volunteered to take on the task of suppressing opium. In March 1839, he became Special Imperial Commissioner in Canton, where he ordered the foreign traders to surrender their opium stock. He confined the British to the Canton Factories and cut off their supplies. Chief Superintendent of Trade, Charles Elliot, complied with Lin's demands to secure a safe exit for the British, with the costs involved to be resolved between the two governments. When Elliot promised that the British government would pay for their opium stock, the merchants surrendered their 20,283 chests of opium, which were destroyed in public.