When Britain handed Hong Kong back to China on July 1, 1997 after 155 years of occupation, a mighty empire came to an end. Now reduced to its island mainland and a few tiny overseas possessions, the British Empire once covered a third of the land area of the globe. One of the largest and and most profitable empires in world history had been built by a succession of Parliaments not only interested in establishing centers of trade and commerce, but of finding suitable areas for its overcrowded population to settle. The end of World War Two saw the island nation desperate to rid itself of its massive burden-that of maintaining an empire whose members were willing to fight for their independence.