Victoria

Victoria City or the City of Victoria (Traditional Chinese: 維多利亞城, abbr. 維城, Simplified Chinese: 维多利亚城; Cantonese Jyutping: wai4 do1 lei6 aa3 sing4; Mandarin Pinyin: WéiduÅ?lìyà Chéng) was one of the first urban settlements in Hong Kong after it became a British colony in 1842. It was located in present-day Central area, and was named after Queen Victoria, the then Queen of the United Kingdom in 1843. The name Victoria is rarely used today except to refer to the peak and the harbour. It was informally referred to as the capital of Hong Kong during its time as a colony of the United Kingdom. Many Special Administrative Region government and administrative offices are still located there.

The City originally covered the present-day Central, Admirality and part of Sheung Wan on 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 (Literally translates to the English word "rings") are further divided into nine "yeuks" (similar meaning to "district" or "neighbourhood").

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).