Given its capacity to generate 2-D fine images of observation areas, very high resolution (VHR) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) has become increasingly popular in myriad fields, including remote sensing, geoscience, and surveillance. In this article, we present a comprehensive overview of VHR SAR systems and imaging to highlight the related research and promote further development. First, we provide a summary of VHR SAR applications and summarize the typical airborne and spaceborne systems. Subsequently, a detailed overview is provided to demonstrate the range VHR technologies by introducing dechirp processing, stepped frequency, and microwave photonic. In addition, VHR imaging methods on different platforms, i.e., ideal trajectory, airborne, and spaceborne, are reviewed. Finally, the challenges and prospects of VHR SAR are presented to inform future research directions. This work provides a valuable resource to improve the system design and signal processing of VHR SAR.