Kowloon means nine dragons and represents the eight peaks (1.Castle Peak (583 m), 2.Tai Mo Shan (958 m), 3.Tate's Cairn (583 m), 4.Lion Rock (495 m), 5. Ma On Shan (702 m), 6. Kowloon Peak (602 m), 7. Sharp Peak (468 m), etc...) and the ninth being the Chinese emperor.

The part of Kowloon south of Boundary Street, together with Stonecutters Island, was ceded from Qing China to United Kingdom under the Convention of Peking of 1860. For many years the area remained largely undeveloped, used by the British mainly for tiger-hunting expeditions.

The part of Kowloon north of Boundary Street (New Kowloon) was leased from Qing China to Britain as part of the New Territories in 1898 for 99 years. Within New Kowloon is the Kowloon City, which refers to an area where the Kowloon Walled City used to be located. The Kowloon Walled City itself was demolished in 1993. (The same area was called 官富場 (Pinyin: Guanfuchang) during the Song Dynasty.)

In modern day conversations, however, New Kowloon is often not regarded as part of the New Territories, but as an integral part of the Kowloon urban area on both sides of Boundary Street. For rates tax purposes, New Kowloon is not considered part of Kowloon. Properties in New Kowloon are subjected to pay the land leases as those in the New Territories.

Large-scale development of Kowloon began in the early 20th century, with the construction of the Kowloon-Canton Railway, the Kowloon Wharf, and the Kai Tak Airport. Precisely because of the airport, building height restrictions had been in place for many years. Yet Kowloon still became extremely congested, especially after the Second World War, when slums for refugees from the newly established People's Republic of China gave way to public housing estates, mixed with private residential, commercial and industrial areas.

On July 1, 1997, both parts of Kowloon were transferred to the People's Republic of China along with the rest of Hong Kong.