Hong Kong has been inhabited at least since 3000 BC, when the first documented settlers arrived on the island, most likely from Vietnam. The area now known as Hong Kong became important to trade and military power during the middle of the first millennium for the Chinese, during the Tang and Song dynasties. After the Mongol invasion in the beginning of the 13^th century, Hong Kong’s prominence declined.

Hong Kong’s earliest recorded non-Asian visitor was the Portuguese mariner Jorge Álvares who arrived in 1513. Álvares began trading with the Chinese, and the Portuguese continued to make periodic trade stops at various locations along the coast.  Tea, silk, and other Asian luxury goods were introduced in Europe by the Portuguese, and by the mid-18th century these items were in high demand, particularly tea.  The island of Hong Kong was actually given that name incorrectly, Hong Kong was actually originally only the name of the village near where trading ships stopped.  The word means “fragrant harbor”.

The Opium Wars were fought between China and Britain (and France, in the second one) over the trade relations between the two countries. This dispute was centered around the opium trade.  The Chinese Emperor banned opium in China, but the British wanted to keep trade in the drug open, so two wars were fought in the mid-1800s.  Hong Kong Island was formally ceded to Great Britain by the Treaty of Nanking in 1842, after the first Opium War.

Hong Kong became a colony in 1843. The first urban settlement was named Victoria City, today often referred to as Hong Kong City.  In 1860, the KowloonPeninsula was ceded to the British  under the Convention of Peking after the Second Opium War. Various adjacent lands, known as the New Territories were then leased by Britain for 99 years, from 1 July 1898 to 30 June 1997.

During World War II, Hong Kong was occupied by the Japanese for nearly four years.  There was a significant resistance movement on Lantau Island, and the territory was returned with the Japanese surrender.

Towards the 1970s, Hong Kong began to move away from the textile industry and develop its financial and banking economy. Hong Kong grew rapidly and quickly became one of the wealthiest territories in the world.

In the 1980s the British government decided to negotiate the question of the sovereignty of Hong Kong. Although the British would have been legally required to transfer only the New Territories to the PRC in 1997, it was decided that to not return all territories would increase friction between the two countries.

The Sino-British Joint Declaration, was signed on December 19, 1984 and enacted on July 1, 1997.  In the Joint Declaration, the PRC promised that under the “One Country, Two Systems” policy, Hong Kong would be allowed to have a capitalist system for at least 50 years, or until 2047. Hong Kong would have a high degree of autonomy in all matters except diplomatic affairs and national defense.  Shortly after that handover, the housing and financial marketing in Hong Kongtook a hit, but have grown since as it has become clear with what autonomy Hong Kong operates.