British Empire
British Empire
The areas of the world that at one time were part of the
British Empire. Current British overseas territories are
underlined in red.
The British Empire comprised the domin-
ions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and
other territories ruled or administered by the
United Kingdom (UK), that had originated
with the overseas colonies and trading posts
established by England in the late 16th and
early 17th centuries. At its height it was the
largest empire in history and, for over a cen-
tury, was the foremost global power. By
1922, the British Empire held sway over a
population of about 458 million people, one-
quarter of the world’s population,[1] and
covered more than 13,000,000 square miles
(33,670,000 km²): approximately a quarter of
the Earth’s total land area.[2] As a result, its
political,
linguistic and cultural legacy is
widespread. At the peak of its power, it was
often said that "the sun never sets on the
British Empire" because its span across the
globe ensured that the sun was always shin-
ing on at
least one of
its numerous
territories.
During the Age of Discovery in the 15th
and 16th centuries, Spain and Portugal pion-
eered European exploration of the globe and
in the process established large overseas em-
pires. Envious of the great wealth these em-
pires bestowed, England, France and the
Netherlands began to establish colonies and
trade networks of their own in the Americas
and Asia. A series of wars in the 17th and
18th centuries with the Netherlands and
France left England (Britain, following the
1707 Act of Union with Scotland) the domin-
ant colonial power in North America and In-
dia. However, the loss of the Thirteen Colon-
ies in North America in 1783 after a war of
independence was a blow to Britain, de-
priving it of its most populous colonies. Des-
pite this setback, British attention soon
turned towards Africa, Asia and the Pacific.
Following the defeat of Napoleonic France in
1815, Britain enjoyed a century of effectively
unchallenged dominance, and expande