The handover of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the People's Republic of China occurred at midnight on 1 July 1997. This event ended 156 years of British rule, dating back to the cession of Hong Kong Island in 1841 during the First Opium War. Hong Kong was a colony within the British Empire from 1841, except during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong from 1941 to 1945.

Gallery