Archaeological findings date the first human settlements in the area back more than 30,000 years. I was first incorporated into China during the Qin Dynasty and largely remained under Chinese rule until 1841, with a brief interruption at the end of the Qin Dynasty, when a Qin official established the kingdom Nam Yuet, which later fell to the Han Dynasty.
In January 1841, as a result of the defeat of the Qing Dynasty of China in the First Opium War, Hong Kong became a British colony. After the defeat of China in the Second Opium War, the Kowloon Peninsula was ceded to Britain in 1860. In 1898, the New Territories were leased to Britain for 99 years. Hong Kong fell into Japanese hands during the Second World War, but returned to British control after the end of the war.
In 1984, the Chinese and the British Governments signed the Joint Declaration on the Question of Hong Kong, giving Hong Kong back to China on 1 July 1997. Hong Kong became a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the Peoples Republic of China. Under the slogan "One Country, Two Systems", Hong Kong remains a capitalist economy without various restrictions that apply in mainland China such as news censorship and foreign exchange controls.
In many respects, little has changed since the handover to China in 1997. A Chief Executive, chosen by an elite electoral college, has replaced the Colonial Governor - Beijing's man has replaced London's man. What was once a British colony now looks like a Chinese colony.
