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British Empire: Quick Facts

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Facts

Also Known As British Empire and Commonwealth
Date 1601 - 1997

Photos and Videos

World map showing the British Empire at its greatest extent, with the United Kingdom highlighted in red and its global holdings in pink, including Canada, Australia, India, large parts of Africa, and numerous islands and territories across the Caribbean, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. Areas that left the empire before 1939 are shaded green, and territories added between 1901 and 1939 are shaded purple.
Maryland colony
Black and white print showing formerly enslaved people on a West Indian plantation celebrating their freedom as a man reads a proclamation.
James Wolfe
Illustration of Sepoy soldiers in uniform standing in formation with rifles during the Indian Mutiny of 1857-1858, with arched stone ruins in the background.
British Empire
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Lord Ismay, Lord Mountbatten, and Ali Jinnah seated at a conference table during the partition talks in New Delhi.
Red and white fireworks burst over Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong at night, with illuminated skyscrapers and city lights reflecting on the water.
Historical map of Myanmar (Burma) showing British territorial acquisitions during the Anglo-Burmese Wars. Areas are color-coded: orange for territory gained after the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824-26), pink for the Second Anglo-Burmese War (1852), and green for the Third Anglo-Burmese War (1885). Major regions, towns, and neighboring countries are labeled.
Historical map of India from 1797 to 1805 showing British territory in 1797, territorial acquisitions from 1797 to 1805, states under subsidiary alliances, Maratha lands in 1805, the Peshwa region, and areas ruled by princes who had accepted subsidiary alliances. The map uses different colors to distinguish these regions and displays major cities, rivers, and neighboring territories.
How did Britain become a global empire?
British Empire
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Related Topics and References

Topics
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Major Events

Portrait of Queen Victoria seated on a gold throne, wearing a jeweled crown, blue sash, and black and silver gown, with a desk and red drapery in the background.
British raj
Map showing the British and Axis military campaigns in North Africa during World War II, with labeled troop movements, key battles, and shifting front lines from Egypt across Libya to Tunisia along the Mediterranean coast. The map includes arrows and dates marking advances and retreats by both sides, and highlights major turning points and defensive lines.
North Africa campaigns
Rock art of a European ship
Colonization of Australia
The Surrender of Lord Cornwallis
American Revolution
South African War: Boer troops
New Imperialism
Painting of Edward Braddock and British troops in uniform advancing through dense forest, facing Native American and French fighters during the French and Indian War near Fort Duquesne.
French and Indian War
World War I soldiers walk through muddy, debris-strewn ruins with the damaged Cloth Hall of Ypres, Belgium, standing in the background under a cloudy sky.
Battle of Passchendaele
Pequot War
Pequot War
Uprising
Santhal Rebellion
Bacon's Rebellion
Baconā€™s Rebellion
Ruined palace and surrounding buildings with collapsed walls and debris after the Anglo-Zanzibar War in Stone Town, Zanzibar City; people stand among the rubble.
Anglo-Zanzibar War
King of the Zulu
Anglo-Zulu War
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Anglo-Burmese Wars
Siege of Khartoum
Siege of Khartoum
Navigation Acts: Dutch ships masquerading as Spanish vessels
Navigation Acts
Damage sustained during the Siege of Lucknow
Siege of Lucknow
First Anglo-Afghan War
Battle of Kandahar
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Dinshaway Incident
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Sugar Act
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Treaty of Paris

Related Places

British Antarctic Territory
British Antarctic Territory
territory, United Kingdom
Buganda
Buganda
East African kingdom
free trade zone electronics factory
Penang
island, Malaysia
Set of maps showing the South Atlantic islands of Ascension, Saint Helena, and Tristan da Cunha. Insets display each island's outline, main settlements such as Georgetown on Ascension, Jamestown on Saint Helena, and Edinburgh on Tristan da Cunha, along with notable features like Green Mountain and Mount Actaeon. A small locator map shows the islands' positions relative to the west coast of Africa.
Ascension
island, Atlantic Ocean
Australia
Australia
continent and country, Southern Hemisphere
Flag of The Bahamas
The Bahamas
islands, West Indies
Flag of Bangladesh featuring a green field with a large red circle.
Bangladesh
country, Asia
Barbados
Barbados
country, Caribbean Sea
Bermuda
Bermuda
islands, Atlantic Ocean
Bhutan
Bhutan
Flag of Botswana with a light blue field and, across the center, a horizontal black stripe bordered by thin white stripes.
Botswana
country, Africa
Historical map of eastern Africa around 1914, showing the region divided among British, German, French, and Italian colonial powers. Different territories are color-coded by colonial ruler, with key locations such as British East Africa (Kenya and Uganda), German East Africa (including present-day Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi), Italian Somaliland, and French Somaliland labeled. Major lakes, rivers, and cities are also marked.
British East Africa
historical states, United Kingdom
Map of Africa highlighting the countries that made up historical British West Africa-Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, and Nigeria-in orange, with the rest of the continent and surrounding regions shown in gray for context. A small inset map in the lower left shows the location within the African continent.
British West Africa
historical states, Africa
Brunei
Brunei
independent Islamic sultanate, Asia
Bundelkhand
Bundelkhand
historic region, India

Key People

William Pitt the Younger
William Pitt, the Younger
prime minister of United Kingdom
William Pitt, the Elder
William Pitt, the Elder
prime minister of United Kingdom
Robert Clive
Robert Clive
British colonial administrator
Warren Hastings, oil painting by Tilly Kettle; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.
Warren Hastings
British colonial administrator
Frederick Lugard
Frederick Lugard
British colonial administrator
Wilfrid Laurier
Wilfrid Laurier
prime minister of Canada
Title page of Richard Hakluyt's The Principall Navigations, Voiages and Discoveries of the English Nation
Richard Hakluyt
British geographer
Dalhousie, detail of an oil painting by Sir John Watson-Gordon, 1847; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.
James Andrew Broun Ramsay, marquess and 10th earl of Dalhousie
governor-general of India
Engraving by J. Pofselwhite of Walter Raleigh wearing an ornate, patterned doublet, ruffled collar, and feathered hat, with one hand on his hip.
Sir Walter Raleigh
English explorer
Frank Holl: Joseph Chamberlain
Joseph Chamberlain
British politician and social reformer
John Smith
John Smith
British explorer
Thomas Stamford Raffles
Sir Stamford Raffles
British colonial agent
Milner, detail of an oil painting by Hugh de Twenebrokes Glazebrook, 1901; in the National Portrait Gallery, London
Alfred Milner, Viscount Milner
British diplomat
Edward Gibbon Wakefield
Edward Gibbon Wakefield
British colonial administrator
Napier, Robert Napier, 1st Baron
Robert Napier, 1st Baron Napier
British field marshal
Garnet Joseph Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley
Garnet Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley
British field marshal
Sir Hercules Robinson
Sir Hercules Robinson
British colonial governor
Durham, detail of an oil painting by T. Phillips (1819 replica); in the National Portrait Gallery, London
John George Lambton, 1st earl of Durham
British statesman
George Goldie
Sir George Goldie
British colonial administrator
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Sir Eyre Coote
British soldier
Read More: Key People of the British Empire