The modern geopolitical entity of Sai Kung District was formed after
World War II. Settlements existed in the area prior to the signing of the
Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory, which ceded the area to the
colony of Hong Kong from the
Qing Empire in 1898. Those ceded areas are now collectively known as the
New Territories and
New Kowloon. According to Professor , unlike other villages of the New Territories, villages in
Sai Kung did not form any
yeuk (), a kind of inter-village alliances in the 19th century in the
Qing dynasty. Under the colonial rule, villages in Sai Kung were grouped under Tung Yeuk (also known as Tung Hoi Yeuk; ) in 1898. Soon after, the
district office of New Territories was established. The New Territories was divided into Northern and Southern District (both not the same as the modern day districts of HK) and New Kowloon in the 1920s. The Southern District was under further reform since 1957. After the end of World War II (the author did not state the exact year, however), the New Territories was divided into 8 sub-divisions, one of which was named after Sai Kung.
Tsuen Wan District Officer was established in 1959 By 1969, the New Territories Administration had 7 district offices, of which one was named after Sai Kung. Although Sai Kung locals, as well as other rural villages of the New Territories, already established their chambers and voting representatives to
Heung Yee Kuk, an advisory body to the colonial government, as early as the 1930s. In a larger scale of history, due to the signing of the
Sino-British Joint Declaration in 1984, which would hand over the whole colony to the People's Republic of China, the colonial government had made several political reforms on local politics. A water route from the northern Sai Kung Peninsula to
Tai Po existed at least since the Qing dynasty. For this historical and other reasons, the northern portion of the Sai Kung Peninsula belongs to the
Tai Po District, but not part of Sai Kung District. Sai Kung was a local industrial centre before the 1900s. For example, in
Sheung Yu (), villagers produced mortar and fertiliser from their own lime
kiln. Villages also scattered on the islands of
Port Shelter,
Rocky Harbour, on the
Sai Kung Peninsula, on the
Clear Water Bay Peninsula as well as other land areas of the District. A temple located on
High Island (known in Chinese as Leung Shuen Wan), dates back to 1741.
Sai Kung market town was expanded into the local town centre of the district after the 1950s. However, the District's population are now concentrated around the
Tseung Kwan O New Town, partially built on reclaimed land in
Junk Bay (or known as its Chinese name Tseung Kwan O) in the 1980s. ==Population and settlement==