Hong Kong Island (Chinese: 香港島; Cantonese Yale: Hēunggóng dóu) is an island in the southern part of Hong Kong. It has a population of 1,289,500 and its population density is 16,390/km², as of 2008. The island had a population of about 3,000 inhabitants scattered in a dozen fishing villages when it was occupied by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in the First Opium War (1839-1842).