The English-language name "Hong Kong" is an approximate phonetic rendering of the Cantonese or Hakka name,meaning "fragrant harbour" or "incense harbour".The original "fragrant harbour" was a small inlet between the island of Ap Lei Chau and the south side of Hong Kong Island, now known as Aberdeen Harbour in English, but still called "Heung Gong Tsai" (Little Hong Kong) in Cantonese.The fragrance came from incense grown to the north of Kowloon that was stored around Aberdeen Harbour for export, before the development of Victoria Harbour.The village of Heung Gong Tsuen on Ap Lei Chau is perhaps the earliest recorded use of the name.
Human settlement in the area now known as Hong Kong dates back to the late Paleolithic and early Neolithic era,but the name Hong Kong didn't appear on written record until the Treaty of Nanking of 1842.The area's earliest recorded European visitor was Jorge Álvares, a Portuguese mariner who arrived in 1513.In 1839 the refusal by Qing Dynasty authorities to import opium resulted in the First Opium War between China and Britain. Hong Kong Island became occupied by British forces in 1841, and was formally ceded to Britain under the Treaty of Nanking at the end of the war. The British established a Crown Colony with the founding of Victoria City the following year. In 1860, after China's defeat in the Second Opium War, Kowloon Peninsula south of Boundary Street and Stonecutter's Island were ceded to Britain under the Convention of Peking. In 1898 Britain obtained a 99-year lease of Lantau Island and the adjacent northern lands, which became known as the New Territories.
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