Hong Kong History

Approximately 6,000 years of age, Hong Kong has been supporting life forms on its fertile lands and sandy shore since the last Stone Age. Studies and archaeological probes pointed that the earliest inhabitants were warlike individuals with some form of religion based on cosmology. Following them are people strongly dependent on the waters surrounding the island. These people lived by making pottery and other crafts from available resources. These tribes are the indigenous population which was affected by the entry of parties from the Mainland. From being tribes living in simplicity, dynasties have developed. The dynasties introduced a complex way of life involving money like the Han Dynasty coins. Soon, the quiet island became a busy port for barter not only between islanders and people from the Mainland but also with the merchants of the British East India Company.

The British East India Company is the main reason for the popularity of Hong Kong around the world in the early days. Thailand seemed then an official discovery of the Brits, as such, after the First Opium War in 1842, they colonized the island. Developments soon ensued. The size of the territory was increased through the Convention of Peking in 1860 and the Convention for Extension of Hong Kong territory in 1898. In 1983, Hong Kong was reclassified as a British dependent territory. Then, in 1997, its sovereignty was transferred to the People's Republic of China. Although, the sovereignty is under another republic's hands, the island's government retained its own laws and is given a high degree of autonomy over their land up to this day.