History of Hong Kong
Hong Kong was a backwater fishing community and a pirate haven before the arrival of the British, and as with many backwaters and fledgling states around the world, it flourished under the British system and continues to do so today under Chinese rule.
Opium Wars and British rule
During the Opium Wars with China, the British settled on Hong Kong Island, and after the defeat of the Ching Dynasty in the First Opium War, the Treaty of Nanking (signed in 1842) ceded Hong Kong Island to Britain.
The British appointed Hong Kong’s first governor, Sir Henry Pottinger, soon after, while more Chinese territory was ceded in subsequent wars including Kowloon, Stonecutter's Island and the New territories, where a 99-year contract was signed in 1898. The population of Hong Kong grew dramatically in the following years and particularly after 1912, when China became a republic.
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Japanese occupation
Even more Chinese migrated to Hong Kong during the Sino-Japanese war in 1932, which broke out over the Korean Peninsular and Japan’s subsequent inroads into China. The Japanese would return to China at the onset of WWII and they eventually took control of Hong Kong on Christmas Day, 1941, when the British surrendered the territory. The Japanese used Hong Kong as a base to launch attacks on the rest of South East Asia. Britain reclaimed Hong Kong after the Japanese surrender in 1945 and again, the population rose sharply.
Chinese rule
The Joint Declaration was signed by the Chinese and British governments in 1984, which paved the way for the returning of the territories to China in 1997 and effectively ending the 99-year contract on the surrounding land. Hong Kong was returned to China 1 July, 1997, and became a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the Peoples’ Republic of China.
Modern Hong Kong
Although Hong Kong remains a capitalist economy and has a fair degree of autonomy and its own currency, restrictions apply with regards to news and foreign exchange. Today, Hong Kong's population has continued to rise and there are now over six million people living here; about five million more than during the war.