British Empire

The British Empire was, undoubtedly, the greatest empire the world had ever seen.

Britain was the topmost global power for more than a century.

In the 15th and 16th century English and Scottish people started establishing colonies overseas – one of the the main reasons were for trade and financial benefit. Starting with North America and the Caribbean the colonialization spread east to Africa and Asia.

Over the years the control of some countries within the Empire changed hands with their European neighbours including France and the Netherlands.

The years 1815 to 1914 are referred to as Britain’s imperial century, and at this time, the Empire included over 14 million square miles of territory and 450 million people.

Queen Victoria, one of the longest reigning British monarchs, was 63 years on her throne. This is the reason why from 1837 to 1901, the period is known as the Victorian Era.

At the time the Empire included more than a quarter of the world’s population and it was said that the sun never set on the British Empire, a phrase attributed to a Scottish writer, John Wilson.

With supremacy at sea, Britain took on the role of global policeman, sometimes called the Pax Britannica. As well as having formal control over its own colonies, with a dominant position in world trade Britain could effectively control the economies of many other countries.

The empire was vital for trade and during the reign of Queen Victoria, at the height of the British Empire, British ports were full with ships arriving from far and wide carrying the goods that were processed and sold making Britain a wealthy nation.

The Great Exhibition of 1851, the very first “World’s Fair”, was a celebration of the diversity and richness of the Empire.

The Decline of the Empire

The decline of the British Empire started in the early part of the twentieth century. There are many reasons behind it, but one of the primary reasons was that Britain had lost their military supremacy.

After debts built up from fighting in two World Wars Britain was no longer in a financial position to spread her army and navy all over the globe.

There are many other reasons that the Empire broke down and many people debate whether or not the legacy of the Empire was positive or negative.

Countries in the British Empire

Country	Pre-independence name	Year of independence or first stage
Afghanistan	Northern Persia	1919
Antigua and Barbuda	Antigua, Leeward Islands	1981
Australia		1901
The Bahamas		1973
Bahrain		1971
Barbados		1966
Belize	British Honduras	1981
Botswana	Bechuanaland	1966
Brunei		1984
Cameroon	took in Southern Cameroons	1961
Canada		1867
Cyprus		1960
Dominica	Dominica, Windward Islands	1978
Egypt		1922
Eswatini	Swaziland	1968
Fiji		1970
The Gambia	Gambia	1965
Ghana	Gold Coast, Togoland (Togoland got absorbed into the Gold Coast in 1957)	1957
Grenada	Grenada, Windward Islands	1974
Guyana	British Guiana	1966
India	Hindustan,BharatVarsha	1947
Iraq		1932
Israel	Mandatory Palestine	1948
Jamaica		1962
Jordan	Transjordan	1946
Kenya		1963
Kiribati	Gilbert and Ellice Islands	1979
Kuwait		1961
Lesotho	Basutoland	1966
Libya		1951
Malawi	Nyasaland	1964
Malaysia	Four parts: Malaya, North Borneo, Singapore and Sarawak	1957
Maldives		1965
Malta		1964
Mauritius		1968
Myanmar		1948
Nauru		1968
New Zealand		1931
Nigeria	took in Northern Cameroons	1960
Oman	Sultanate of Muscat and Oman	1951
Pakistan	British India	1947
Qatar	British Qatari Protectorate	1971
Saint Lucia	St Lucia, Windward Islands	1979
Saint Kitts and Nevis	St Kitts–Nevis and Anguilla, Leeward Islands	1983
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	St Vincent, Windward Islands	1979
Seychelles		1976
Sierra Leone		1961
Singapore		1959
Solomon Islands	British Solomon Islands	1978
South Africa		1934
Somaliland	British Somaliland Protectorate	1960
Sri Lanka	Ceylon	1948
Sudan		1956
Tanzania	took in Tanganyika	1961
Tonga		1970
Trinidad and Tobago		1962
Tuvalu	Gilbert and Ellice Islands	1978
Uganda		1962
United Arab Emirates	Trucial States	1971
United States	Thirteen American Colonies	1776
Vanuatu	New Hebrides	1980
Yemen	Protectorate of South Arabia Federation of South Arabia	1967
Zambia	Northern Rhodesia	1964
Zimbabwe	Southern Rhodesia	1980