The Kwantung Leased Territory (Chinese: 关东州, Guandongzhou, Japanese: 関東州; Kantoushu) was a territory in southern Manchuria that existed in the first half of the 20th century. Kwantung originally meant "east of Shanhaiguan", i.e. northeastern China.

After the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895), the Russian Empire leased the southern tip of the Liaodong Peninsula from the Qing Empire in 1895. The Russians built Port Arthur and Dalny which is modern Dalian.

Due to the Portsmouth Treaty (1905) resulting from the Russo-Japanese War, Japan replaced Russia, leasing the area as well as the regions adjacent to the South Manchurian Railway in 1905. Japan established the Kwantung governor-general to administer the newly leased territory and the Kwantung garrison, reorganized in 1919 under the name of the Kwantung Army, to defend it. A large amount of investment was concentrated in Dalian, the capital of the territory. One of the most famous Japanese corporations, the South Manchurian Railway, was headquartered in Dalian. Approximately 100,000 Japanese nationals lived in the city in 1930.

After the foundation of Manchuguo in 1932, Japan regarded that the sovereignty of the leased territory was transferred from China to Manchuguo. A new lease agreement was contracted between Japan and the puppet government of Manchuguo, and Japan retained the territory apart from the nominally independent Manchuguo until the defeat of the World War II in 1945.

See also

• Manchuria