01 July - Handover of Hong Kong in 1997

The transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong,commonly known as the handover of Hong Kong (or simply the Handover, also the Return in mainland China), occurred at midnight at the start of 1 July 1997, when the United Kingdom ended administration for the colony of Hong Kong and returned control of the territory to China. Hong Kong became a special administrative region and continues to maintain governing and economic systems separate from those of mainland China.

This event ended 156 years of British colonial rule in Hong Kong. The territory was Britain's last substantial overseas possession. With a population of about 6.5 million in 1997, Hong Kong constituted 97% of the total population of all British Dependent Territories at the time. The retro cession is considered by some to definitively mark the end of the British Empire.