Hong Kong became a British colony in 1842. Victoria City or the City of Victoria was one of the first British urban settlements in Hong Kong. It was located in present-day Central area, and was named after Queen Victoria, the then Queen of the United Kingdom in 1843.

The City originally covered the present-day Central, Admirality and part of Sheung Wan on the Hong Kong Island. In 1857, the British government expanded the scope of Victoria City and divided it into four "wans". The four wans are Sai Wan (present-day Kennedy Town and Sai Ying Pun, Sheung Wan (present-day Sheung Wan), Choong Wan or Chung Wan (present-day Central) and Ha Wan (present-day Wanchai). The four wans (read: rings) are further divided into nine "yeuks" (read: districts).

In 1903, six boundary stones were established to mark the City's boundary. These boundary stones are still preserved today. The coverage of the then City included parts of Causeway Bay (north of Causeway Road) and Happy Valley (West of Wong Nei Chong Road on the east side of the Racecourse).

Victoria City is technically the capital of Hong Kong, however, the name is rarely used today.

See also

• History of Hong Kong
• List of buildings, sites and areas in Hong Kong
• Victoria, for a list of places and people called Victoria
• List of places named for Queen Victoria, for a list of places named after Queen Victoria

External links

• Boundary of the City of Victoria as defined in Hong Kong Laws (http://www.legislation.gov.hk/blis_ind.nsf/E1BF50C09A33D3DC482564840019D2F4/B433C7F894FA9F9E48256648002F6F13?OpenDocument), Cap 1 SCHED 1 of Hong Kong Law
• Article on history of Hong Kong (http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:kZhFEpYoYxIJ:cd.ed.gov.hk/pshe/tc/chihistory/downloads/CH_S1-3_Pkg5_07.doc+%22victoria+city%22++hong+kong+1857&hl=en) (in Chinese)
• Photos of the 1903 boundary stones (http://www.hk-place.com/db.php?post=d007004)
• A article on the "four wans and nine yeuks" in Chinese (http://www.cwfestival.org/images/pdf/history/032.pdf) (pdf format)
• Another article on "four wans and nine yeuks" (http://szlib.szptt.net.cn/hk97/j2a.htm) (in Simplified Chinese)

zh:維多利亞城 de:Victoria City