Territorial evolution of the British Empire

The territorial evolution of the British Empire is considered to have begun with the foundation of the English colonial empire in the late 16th century. Since then, many territories around the world have been under the control of the United Kingdom or its predecessor states. When the Kingdom of Great Britain was formed in 1707 by the union of the Kingdom of Scotland with the Kingdom of England, the latter country's colonial possessions passed to the new state. Similarly, when Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland in 1801 to form the United Kingdom, control over its colonial possessions passed to the latter state. Collectively, these territories are referred to as the British Empire. Upon much of Ireland gaining independence in 1922 as the Irish Free State, the other territories of the Empire remained under the control of the United Kingdom.

From 1714 to 1837 the British throne was held by a series of kings who were also the rulers of the German state of Hanover. However, this was purely a personal union, with Hanover maintaining its political independence otherwise, and so it is not usually considered to have formed part of the British Empire.

The nature of the territories (and peoples) ruled as part of the British Empire varied enormously. In legal terms the territories included those formally under the sovereignty of the British monarch (who held the additional title of Emperor (or Empress) of India from 1876 to 1947); various "foreign" territories controlled as protectorates; territories transferred to British administration under the authority of the League of Nations or the United Nations; and miscellaneous other territories, such as the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, a condominium with Egypt. No uniform system of government was applied to any of these.

A number of countries (dominions) within the British Empire gained independence in stages during the earlier part of the 20th century. Much of the rest of the Empire was dismantled in the twenty years following the end of the Second World War, starting with the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947, and continued until the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997. There remain, however, 14 global territories which remain under the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the United Kingdom.

Many of the former territories of the British Empire are members of the Commonwealth of Nations. Fifteen of these (known, with the United Kingdom, as the 16 Commonwealth realms) retain the British monarch (currently Queen Elizabeth II) as Head of State. The British monarch is also Head of the Commonwealth, but this is a purely symbolic and personal title; members of the Commonwealth (including the Commonwealth realms) are fully sovereign states.

Governance[]

The British Empire refers to the possessions, dominions and dependencies under the control of the Crown. In addition to the areas formally under the sovereignty of the British monarch, various "foreign" territories were controlled as protectorates; territories transferred to British administration under the authority of the League of Nations or the United Nations; and miscellaneous other territories, such as the condominium of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. The natures of the administration of the Empire changed both by time and place, and there was no uniform system of government in the Empire.^[1][2]

Colonies[]

Colonies were territories that were intended to be places of permanent settlement, providing land for their settlers. The Crown claimed absolute sovereignty over them, although they were not formally part of the United Kingdom itself. Generally their law was the common law of England together with whatever British Acts of Parliament were also applied to them. Over time, a number of colonies were granted "responsible government", making them largely self-governing.

Crown Colony[]

A Crown colony: a type of colonial administration of the English and later the British Empire, whose legislature and administration were controlled by the Crown.^[3][4]

Crown colonies were ruled by a governor appointed by the monarch. By the middle of the 19th century, the sovereign appointed royal governors on the advice of the Secretary of State for the Colonies. This became the main method of creating and governing colonies.^[5] Most Crown colonies, especially the white settler colonies had a bicameral legislature, consisting of an upper house usually called the Legislative council, which members were appointed and served a similar purpose as the British House of Lords. There also existed lower houses which were usually named the Legislative Assembly or House of Assembly. The lower house was usually elected, but suffrage was restricted to free white men only, usually with property ownership restrictions. Since land ownership was widespread, most white men could vote.^[6] The governor also often had an Executive Council which had a similar function to the Cabinet in England but was not responsible to the colonial lower house. They held a consultative position, however, and did not serve in administrative offices as cabinet ministers do. Members of the Executive Council were not necessarily members of the lower house but were usually members of the upper house.^[7] Later as the white colonies gained more internal responsible government, the lower house began to supersede the (usually unelected) upper house as the colonial legislature, and the position of Premier emerged.^[8]

Charter colony[]

Charter colony is one of the three classes of colonial government established in the 17th-century English colonies in North America. In a charter colony, the King granted a charter to the colonial government establishing the rules under which the colony was to be governed and charter colonies elected their own governors based on rules spelled out in the charter or other colonial legislation.^[9]

Proprietary colony[]

A number of colonies in the 16th and 17th centuries were granted to a particular individual; these were known as proprietary colonies. Proprietary colonies in America were governed by a Lord Proprietor, who, holding authority by virtue of a royal charter, usually exercised that authority almost as an independent sovereign. Eventually these were converted to Crown colonies.^[10][11]

Chartered company[]

A chartered company is an association formed by investors or shareholders for the purpose of trade, exploration and colonisation. Chartered companies were usually formed, incorporated and legitimised under a royal charter. This document set out the terms under which the company could trade, defined its boundaries of influence, and described its rights and responsibilities. Groups of investors formed companies to underwrite and profit from the exploration of Africa, India, Asia, the Caribbean and North America, under the patronage of the state. Some companies like the East India Company (the most famous), the Hudson's Bay Company, and the Royal African Company ruled large colonial possessions (especially in India), but the Hudson's Bay Company took Canada, and the Royal African Company started to ship slaves from Africa to the West Indies.^[12][13]

Protectorates and protected states[]

A protectorate is a territory which is not formally annexed but in which, by treaty, grant or other lawful means, the Crown has power and jurisdiction. A protectorate differs from a "protected state". A protected state is a territory under a foreign ruler which enjoys British protection, over whose foreign affairs she exercises control, but in respect of whose internal affairs she does not exercise jurisdiction.^[2]

Dominions[]

Dominions were semi-independent polities that were nominally under the Crown, constituting the British Empire and British Commonwealth, beginning in the later part of the 19th century.^[14][15] The dominions had been previously Crown colonies, and some of the colonies had been united to form dominions such as Union of South Africa and Commonwealth of Australia. The Balfour Declaration of 1926 clarified the status of the dominions, recognizing them as "autonomous Communities within the British Empire, equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by a common allegiance to the Crown, and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations." The Statute of Westminster 1931 converted this status into legal reality, making them essentially independent members of what was then called the British Commonwealth. Initially, the Dominions conducted their own trade policy, some limited foreign relations and had autonomous armed forces, although the British government claimed and exercised the exclusive power to declare wars. However, after the passage of the Statute of Westminster the language of dependency on the Crown of the United Kingdom ceased, where the Crown itself was no longer referred to as the Crown of any place in particular but simply as "the Crown". Arthur Berriedale Keith, in Speeches and Documents on the British Dominions 1918–1931, stated that "the Dominions are sovereign international States in the sense that the King in respect of each of His Dominions (Newfoundland excepted) is such a State in the eyes of international law". After then, those countries that were previously referred to as "Dominions" became Commonwealth realms where the sovereign reigns no longer as the British monarch, but as monarch of each nation in its own right, and are considered equal to the United Kingdom and one another. ^[16]

Mandates[]

Mandates were forms of territory created after the end of the First World War. A number of German colonies and protectorates and Ottoman provinces were held as mandates by the United Kingdom (Tanganyika, British Cameroons, Togoland, Palestine and Mesopotamia); and its dominions of Australia (New Guinea, Nauru), New Zealand (Western Samoa), and South Africa (South West Africa). In theory these territories were governed on behalf of the League of Nations for the benefit of their inhabitants. Most converted to United Nations Trust Territories in 1946.^[17]

British Raj[]

The British Raj, also called the Indian Empire, was the imperial political structure in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947, comprising British India (a Crown colony: presidencies and provinces directly governed by the British Crown through the Viceroy and Governor-General of India) and Princely States, governed by Indian rulers, under the suzerainty of the British Crown exercised through the Viceroy and Governor-General of India.^[18]

Current territories[]

Within twenty years of the partition and independence in 1947 of British India (considered to be the most important colonial possession), most of the Empire's territories had achieved full independence. Today 14 former colonies (since 2002 known as British Overseas Territories) remain under British rule; the term "colonies" is no longer officially used to describe these.

Almost all of the British Overseas Territories are islands (or groups of islands) with a small population; some are in very remote areas of the world. Of the territories with a permanent population, all have at least some degree of internal self-government, with the United Kingdom retaining responsibility for defence and external relations.

The fourteen British Overseas Territories are:

•  Anguilla
•  Bermuda
•  British Antarctic Territory
•  British Indian Ocean Territory
•  British Virgin Islands
•  Cayman Islands
•  Falkland Islands
•  Gibraltar
•  Montserrat
•  Pitcairn Islands
•  Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
  •  Saint Helena
  •  Ascension Island
  •  Tristan da Cunha
•  South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
•  Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia
•  Turks and Caicos Islands

The three Crown dependencies are:

•  Guernsey
•  Isle of Man
•  Jersey

List[]

Legend[]

!±!	Crown dependency		Part of the United Kingdom
:±:	Commonwealth realm, with Queen Elizabeth II as head of state		Overseas territories
£IMP	Currency pegged to the GBP	CYP	Pound sterling derived currency
!T!	Common law legal system to various extent	[X]	Westminster style parliamentary system
abc	English as a dominant or an official language	/\\/	Left-hand traffic

Colour-coding[]

Colour	Description
	Present-day members of the Commonwealth
	Present-day British Overseas Territories
	Crown dependencies

Africa[]

Name of territory	Dates	Status	Comments
Ashanti	1901–1957	Colony	Became a part of the dominion of Ghana
Basutoland	1868	Protectorate	Wanted to join the Cape Colony, but was authorized to join the Colony of Natal instead. Eventually was placed under direct authority of the High Commissioner for South Africa.
	1871	Annexed to Cape Colony
	1884	Colony
	1965	Self-governing colony
	1966	Independent as Lesotho
Bechuanaland Protectorate	1884–1965	Protectorate	Resident Commissioner assigned 1884, but Protectorate status declared after treaties with several chiefs were signed in 1885
	1965–66	Self-governing protectorate
	1966	Independent as Botswana
Bight of Benin	1852–1861	Protectorate
	1861	United with Bight of Biafra
Bight of Biafra	1849–1861	Protectorate
	1861	United with Bight of Benin
Bights of Biafra and Benin	1861–1891	Protectorate
British Bechuanaland (see also under "Bechuanaland")	1885–1895	Crown colony
	1895	Incorporated into Cape Colony	Now a part of the Northern Cape and North West provinces of South Africa
British Cameroons	1916–1919	Occupation
	1919–1946	League of Nations mandated territory
	1946–1961	United Nations Trust Territory
	1961	Northern part merged into Nigeria, southern part into the Republic of Cameroon
British East Africa	1888–1895	Territory leased to the Imperial British East Africa Company (IBEAC) by the Sultan of Zanzibar
	1895–1920	Protectorate	Territory included former IBEAC territories and the strip of Sultan of Zanizbar's dominions on the coast of Kenya which fell within the British sphere of influence
	1920	Became the Colony and Protectorate of Kenya	Lands of Sultan of Zanzibar on coast administered with the Colony as one unit
British Somaliland	1884–1960	Protectorate
	1960	Independent as State of Somaliland	After 5 days merged with the Trust Territory of Somaliland as Somali Republic, in 1991 independent as Somaliland (unrecognised)
Cape Colony	1806–1910	Colony	Became a province of the Union of South Africa as the "Cape of Good Hope"
Egypt	1801–03	Occupation
	1882–1914	Occupation
	1914–1922	Protectorate
	1922	Independence
Bioko	1827–1855	Leased territory	Island leased from Spain so that Royal Navy could undertake anti-slavery operations on West Coast of Africa. Main settlement was Port Clarence now known as Malabo
Gambia Colony and Protectorate	1816–1965	Colony	Protectorate declared over hinterland of Gambia River in 1894
	1965	Independence
Gold Coast	1874–1957	Colony
	1957	Independent as Ghana	Also incorporated British Togoland by plebiscite
Kenya, Colony & Protectorate of	1920–1963	Colony	Previously part of British East Africa
	1963	Independence
Lagos Protectorate	1887–1906	Protectorate, governed from the Lagos Colony
	1906	Incorporated into the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria
Southern Nigeria Protectorate	1900–1906	Protectorate, created from Niger Coast Protectorate and territories of the Royal Niger Company
	1906	Incorporated the Lagos Colony to be the Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria
Libya, regions of Cyrenicia & Tripolitania only	1942–1946	British Military administration in Cyrenicia & Tripolitania
	1946–1951	Italian forces expelled, UN trusteeship of Cyrenicia & Tripolitania, administered by Britain	Fezzan region administered by France under trusteeship
	1951	Independent as the Kingdom of Libya
Natal	1843–1910	Colony
	1910	Became a province of the Union of South Africa	Now part of the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Niger Districts	1885–1899	Protectorate under the Royal Niger Company
	1900	Became part of Northern Nigeria
Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria	1914–1954		Created from the Colony & Protectorate of Southern Nigeria and the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria
	1954	Became the self-governing Federation of Nigeria
Federation of Nigeria	1954–1960	Autonomous federation	Formed from the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria
	1960	Independence
Northern Nigeria	1900–1914	Protectorate governed by the Colony of Southern Nigeria
	1914	Merged with Protectorate of Southern Nigeria to form the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria
Northern Territories of the Gold Coast	1901–1957	Protectorate	Annexed to form part of Her Majesty's dominions as part of the dominion of Ghana
Nyasaland known as the Nyasaland Districts until 1893, and then British Central Africa until 1907	1891–1964	Protectorate
	1964	Independent as Malawi
Orange River Colony	1900–1910	Colony
	1907	Granted responsible government
	1910	Became the Province of the Orange Free State in the Union of South Africa
Rhodesia			Now divided between Zambia and Zimbabwe
Matabeleland	1888–1894	Protectorate under British South Africa Company (BSAC)
	1894	United with Mashonaland as South Zambezia in 1894
Mashonaland	1889–1894	Protectorate under BSAC
	1894	United with Matabeleland as South Zambezia in 1894
South Zambezia	1894–95	Protectorate under BSAC
	1895	United with North Zambezia as Rhodesia
Rhodesia	1895–1901	Protectorate under BSAC
	1901	Mashonaland and Matabeleland united as Southern Rhodesia
Northern Rhodesia	1911–1924	Protectorate under BSAC	Amalgamation of Barotziland-North-Western Rhodesia and North-Eastern Rhodesia
	1924–1953	Protectorate
	1953–1963	Part of Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
	1964	Independent as Zambia
Southern Rhodesia	1901–1923	Protectorate under BSAC
	1923—1953	Self-governing colony
	1953–1963	Part of Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
	1964–65	Self-governing colony
Rhodesia	1965–1970	Unilateral declaration of independence, with Elizabeth II as head of state	Not internationally recognised
	1970–1979	Republic	Not internationally recognised
Zimbabwe-Rhodesia	1979	Interim state
	1979–80	Crown colony
	1980	Independent as Zimbabwe
Sierra Leone Colony and Protectorate	1787–1808	Freed slave colony organised by Sierra Leone Company
	1808–1821	Crown colony
	1821–1850	Part of British West African Settlements
	1850–1866	Crown colony
	1866–1888	Part of British West African Settlements
	1888–1895	Colony
	1896–1961	Colony and protectorate
	1961	Independence
South Africa, Union of	1910–1961	Dominion	Formed by the federation of the Cape, Natal, Orange River, and Transvaal colonies
	1961	Republic	Not a member of the Commonwealth between 1961 and 1994
Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian	1899–1952	Condominium with Egypt
	1952–1956	Self-rule
	1956	Independent as Republic of Sudan
Swaziland	1902–1967	Protectorate
	1967–68	Autonomous
	1968	Independence
Tangier	1661	Ceded to England by Portugal
	1684	Abandoned by England
Tangier International Zone	1924	Established as condominium between UK, France and Spain (later also Portugal, USA, Italy, Belgium, Sweden and the Netherlands)
	1940–1945	Spanish occupation
	1956	Zone dissolved, Tangier returned to Morocco
German East Africa	1916–1922	Occupation
Tanganyika Territory	1922–1946	League of Nations mandated territory
	1946–1961	United Nations Trust Territory under Britain
	1961	Independence	Merged with Zanzibar in 1964 to form Tanzania
Tati Concessions Land	1872–1893	Concession
	1893	Detached from Matabeleland
	1893–1911	Under protectorate of Bechuanaland
	1911	Annexed to Bechuanaland
British Togoland	1914-1916	Occupation	Western half of erstwhile German Togoland occupied by both British and French forces 1914-16
	1916-1922	Administered by British only
	1922-1946	League of Nations Mandate under Britain
	1946-1957	United Nations Trust Territory under Britain
	1957	Independence	Merged with Ghana upon independence after plebiscite
(French) Togoland	1914-16	occupation	Eastern half of erstwhile German Togoland occupied by both British and French forces, then after 1916 administered by France only. In 1922, became LoN Mandate, then UN Trust Territory in 1946, also under France. Now the Republic of Togo since independence in 1960.
Transvaal	1877–1884	Colony
	1884–1900	Independent as South African Republic
	1900–1906	Colony
	1906–1910	Self-governing colony
	1910	Part of Union of South Africa	Now divided between the provinces of Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West in South Africa
Uganda	1890–1893	Occupied by British East Africa Company
	1893–94	Provisional protectorate
	1894–1905	Protectorate
	1905–1962	Colony
	1962	Self-government
	1962	Independence
Walvis Bay	1795–1878	Occupation
	1878–1884	Protectorate
	1884	Part of Cape Colony	Now part of Namibia
Zanzibar	1890–1963	Protectorate
	1963	Independence	Merged with Tanganyika in 1964 to form Tanzania
Zululand	1887–1897	Crown colony
	1897	Incorporation into Colony of Natal	Now part of the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

North America[]

Name of territory	Dates	Status	Comments
Assiniboia	1812–1836	Colony
	1836	Reverted to control of the Hudson's Bay Company	Now part of the province of Manitoba, Canada
Avalon	1623–1637	Palatinate
	1637	Incorporated into Newfoundland
Bristol's Hope	1618–1631	Colony
	1631	Abandoned and later as Newfoundland
British Columbia	1858–1871	Colony
	1871	Incorporated into Canada
Canada, Dominion of	Dominion (1867–1931)	Formed by the federation of the provinces of the Province of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia	:±: [X] abc Queen Elizabeth II first monarch to be titled Queen of Canada (accession to the throne of Canada in 1952) 1982 – Constitution Act, 1982, updating Canada's relationship with the United Kingdom Several provinces and territories have joined since Confederation.
Canada, Lower	1791–1841	Province (colony)	Now the southern half of the province of Quebec, Canada
	1841	Merged with Upper Canada to form the Province of Canada	Re-established within the Dominion of Canada as the province of Quebec in 1867
Canada, Province of	1841–1867	Colony	Formed by the amalgamation of the provinces of Lower and Upper Canada
	1867	Joined the Dominion of Canada as the provinces of Ontario and Quebec	(Now the southern halves of Ontario and Quebec)
Upper Canada	1791–1841	Province (colony)	Ontario, Canada
	1841	Merged with Lower Canada to form the Province of Canada	Re-established within the Dominion of Canada as the province of Ontario in 1867
Cape Breton Island	1763	Incorporated into Nova Scotia	Previously under French sovereignty
	1784	Colony	Separated from Nova Scotia
	1820	Re-incorporated into Nova Scotia
Carolina	1663	Proprietary colony
	1729	Formally divided into Crown colonies of North & South Carolina
Carolina, North	1729	Crown colony
	1776	Signed unilateral Declaration of Independence as the state of North Carolina
	1783	Sovereignty formally relinquished by Great Britain
Carolina, South	1729	Crown colony
	1776	Declared independent as the state of South Carolina
	1783	Sovereignty formally relinquished by Great Britain
Connecticut	1636	Colony	Later incorporated the unchartered Saybrook Colony (1635–44) and New Haven Colony (1638–65)
	1776	Declared independent as the state of Connecticut
	1783	Sovereignty formally relinquished by Great Britain
Cuper's Cove	1610–1621	Colony
	1621	Abandoned and later as Newfoundland
East Florida	1763–1783	Colony
	1783	Returned to Spanish sovereignty	Now part of the state of Florida, United States
Georgia	1732	Proprietary colony
	1755	Crown colony
	1776	Signed unilateral Declaration of Independence as the state of Georgia
	1783	Sovereignty formally relinquished by Great Britain
Massachusetts Bay	1629	Colony
	1691	United with Plymouth Colony
New Brunswick	1784	Colony	Separated from Nova Scotia
	1867	Became a province of Canada
New Hampshire	1641	Became part of Massachusetts Bay Colony
	1679	Separate colony
	1686	Became a province of Dominion of New England
	1691	Separate colony
	1776	Signed unilateral Declaration of Independence as the state of New Hampshire
	1783	Sovereignty formally relinquished by Great Britain
New Jersey	1664–1673	Proprietary Colony	Formed from portions of New Netherland and New Sweden
	1673–1702	Divided into separate colonies of East and West Jersey
	1702	Royal colony	East & West Jersey re-unified
	1776	Signed unilateral Declaration of Independence as the state of New Jersey
	1783	Sovereignty formally relinquished by Great Britain
New York	1664–1685	Proprietary colony	Formed after conquest of New Netherland
	1685–1776	Royal Province
	1776	Signed unilateral Declaration of Independence as the state of New York
	1783	Sovereignty formally relinquished by Great Britain
Newfoundland	1497–1583	Claimed by England
	1583–1818	Colony
	1818–1907	Crown colony
	1907–1949	Dominion
	1934–1949	Commission of Government	Self-rule suspended, de jure Dominion by Royal prerogative
	1949	Became a province of Canada	Now known as Newfoundland and Labrador
North-Western Territory	1859–1870
	1870	Incorporated into the Northwest Territories of Canada	Now divided between the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan and territories of Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon
Nova Scotia	1621–1632	Scottish colony
	1654–1670	English occupation
	1713	Colony
	1848	Granted responsible government
	1867	Became a province of Canada
Prince Edward Island known as until 1769, and as St. John's Island until 1799	1744–1748	Occupation
	1758–1763	Occupation
	1763–1769	Part of Nova Scotia
	1769–1873	Colony
	1873	Became a province of Canada
Quebec	1763–1791	Province (colony)	Nominally included territory that is now part of the provinces of Ontario and Quebec in Canada, and (until 1783) the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin in the United States
	1791	Divided into the provinces of Lower Canada and Upper Canada
Renews	1610–1623	Colony	Abandoned and later became part of Newfoundland
Rupert's Land	1670–1870	possession of Hudson's Bay Company	Nominally included territory that is now part of the Canadian territories and provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Quebec, and (until 1818) parts of the US states of Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota
	1870	Incorporated into Canada
South Falkland	1623–1626	Colony	Abandoned and later became part of Newfoundland
Stikine Territory	1862–1863		Now divided between British Columbia and Yukon, Canada
Vancouver Island	1849–1866	Crown colony
	1866	Merged into the colony of British Columbia	Now part of the province of British Columbia, Canada
Virginia	1607	Proprietary colony
	1624	Crown colony
	1776	Declared independent as the state of Virginia
	1783	Sovereignty formally relinquished by Great Britain
West Florida	1763–1783	Colony
	1783	Southern part returned to Spanish sovereignty; sovereignty of northern part formally relinquished by Great Britain	Now part of the states of Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, United States

Central America and the Caribbean[]

–

Name of territory	Dates	Status	Comments
Anguilla	1650–1696	Colony under St. Christopher
	1696–1816	Part of colony of Leeward Islands
	1816–1832	Part of colony of St. Christopher, Nevis, Anguilla, and the British Virgin Islands
	1832–1871	Part of colony of Leeward Islands as colony of St. Christopher, Nevis, Anguilla, and the British Virgin Islands
	1871–1882	Part of the presidency of Saint Christopher (within the Leeward Islands)
	1882–1956	Part of the presidency of Saint Christopher and Nevis (within the Leeward Islands)
	1956–1967	Part of Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla
	1967–1969	Unilateral declaration of independence as Republic of Anguilla
	1969–1980	Part of Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla
	1980–1982	Self-governing colony
	1983–2002	Dependent territory
	2002–present	British Overseas Territory
Antigua (incl. Barbuda from 1860)	1632–1671	Colony
	1671–72	Part of colony of Leeward Islands
	1672–1816	Part of colony of Leeward Islands
	1816–1832	Part of colony of
	1832–33	Colony
	1833–1871	Part of colony of Leeward Islands
	1871–1956	Presidency within the Leeward Islands
	1956–1958	Colony
	1958–1962	Province of West Indies Federation
	1962–1967	Colony
	1967–1981	Associated state
	1981	Independent as Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua-Barbuda-Montserrat	1816–1832	Colony
	1832	Dissolved
Bahamas	1670–1684	Proprietary colony
	1684	Occupied by Spain
	1718–1964	Crown colony
	1964–1969	Self-government
	1969–1973	Commonwealth
	1973	Independence
Barbados	1624–1627	Claimed by England
	1627–1652	Proprietary colony
	1652–1663	Colony
	1663–1833	Crown colony
	1833–1885	Part of colony of Windward Islands
	1885–1958	Colony
	1958–1962	Province of West Indies Federation
	1962–1966	Colony
	1966	Independence
Barbuda	1628–1832	Colony
	1632–1671	Dependency of Antigua
	1671–1816	Part of colony of Leeward Islands
	1816–1832	Part of colony of
	1832–33	Colony
	1833–1860	Part of colony of Leeward Islands
	1860	Annexed to Antigua
	1976–1980	Autonomous
	1980	Unilateral declaration of independence[citation needed]	–
	1981	Independence as part of Antigua and Barbuda
Bay Islands[19]	1643–early 18th century	Sporadic, short-lived settlements
	1742–1748	Colony of Port Royal (Roatan). Spanish sovereignty recognized in 1748
	1749–1782	Illegal but well-established English settlements. Spanish occupation and expulsion of settlers in 1782
	1852–1860	Colony of the Bay Islands. Surrendered to Honduras in 1860
Belize – see under "British Honduras"
British Honduras	1665–1742	Settlement
	1742–1840	Settlement subordinated to Jamaica
	1840–1862	Colony subordinated to Jamaica
	1862–1884	Crown colony subordinated to Jamaica
	1884–1954	Crown colony
	1954–1964	Autonomy
	1964–1981	Self-governing colony
	1973	Renamed "Belize"
	1981	Independence
British Virgin Islands	1666–1672	Occupation
	1672–1713	Part of colony of Leeward Islands as part of Antigua
	1713–1816	Crown colony part of colony of Leeward Islands
	1816–1832	Part of colony of St. Christopher, Nevis, Anguilla, and the British Virgin Islands
	1832–1871	Part of colony of Leeward Islands as colony of St. Christopher, Nevis, Anguilla, and the British Virgin Islands
	1871–1956	Presidency within the Leeward Islands
	1956–1960	Part of territory of Leeward Islands
	1960–1967	Colony
	1967–1982	Self-governing colony
	1983–2002	Dependent territory
	2002–present	British Overseas Territory
Cayman Islands	1670–1958	Colony; administered from Jamaica
	1958–1962	Province of West Indies Federation
	1962–1982	Crown colony
	1983–2002	Dependent territory
	2002–present	British Overseas Territory
Dominica	1763–1778	Occupation
	1778	Ceded to France
	1784–1871	Colony
	1871–1939	Presidency within the Leeward Islands
	1940–1958	Colony within the Windward Islands
	1958–1962	Province of West Indies Federation
	1962–1967	Colony
	1967–1978	Associated state
	1978	Independence
Grenada	1762–63	Occupation
	1763–1779	Part of colony of South Caribbean Islands
	1779	Occupied by France
	1783–1802	Part of colony of South Caribbean Islands
	1802–1833	Colony
	1833–1958	Part of Windward Islands
	1958–1962	Province of West Indies Federation
	1962–1967	Colony
	1967–1974	Associated state
	1974	Independence
Jamaica	1655–1670	Occupation
	1670–1953	Colony
	1953–1958	Self-governing colony
	1958–1962	Province of West Indies Federation
	1962	Independence
Leeward Islands	1671–1816	Colony
	1833–1871	Colony
	1871–1956	Federal colony	Comprised the presidencies of Antigua (incl. Barbuda), Dominica (to 1939), Montserrat, Nevis, Saint Kitts (incl. Anguilla, and combined with Nevis in 1883), and the Virgin Islands
	1956–1960	Territory
	1960	Dissolved
Montserrat	1632–1667	Colony part of Antigua
	1667	Occupied by France
	1668–1782	Part of colony of Leeward Islands
	1784–1816	Part of colony of Leeward Islands
	1816–1832	Part of colony of Antigua-Barbuda-Montserrat
	1832–33	Colony part of Antigua
	1833–1871	Part of colony of Leeward Islands
	1871–1956	Presidency within the Leeward Islands
	1956–1958	Colony
	1958–1962	Province of West Indies Federation
	1962–1982	Colony
	1983–2002	Dependent territory
	2002–present	British Overseas Territory
Mosquito Coast	1668–1786	Protectorate
	1787–1861	Protectorate
	1861	Incorporated into Nicaragua and Honduras
Nevis	1628–1671	Colony subordinated to Barbados
	1671–1701	Part of colony of Leeward Islands
	1701–1704	Part of colony of Leeward Islands under Antigua
	1704–1816	Part of colony of Leeward Islands
	1816–1833	Part of colony of St. Christopher, Nevis, Anguilla, and the British Virgin Islands
	1833–1871	Part of Leeward Islands as colony of St. Christopher, Nevis, Anguilla, and the British Virgin Islands
	1871–1883	Presidency within the Leeward Islands
	1883	Amalgamated with Saint Kitts to form the presidency of Saint Christopher and Nevis (within the Leeward Islands)
Redonda	1860s–1967	British possession
	1967	Dependency of Antigua
St. Christopher (Saint Kitts)	1623–1666	Colony
	1666	Occupied by France
	1671–1701	Part of colony of Leeward Islands
	1701–1704	Part of colony of Leeward Islands under Antigua
	1704–1782	Part of colony of Leeward Islands
	1782	Occupied by France
	1783–1816	Part of colony of Leeward Islands
	1816–1833	Part of colony of St. Christopher, Nevis, Anguilla, and the British Virgin Islands
	1833–1871	Part of Leeward Islands as colony of St. Christopher, Nevis, Anguilla, and the British Virgin Islands
	1871–1882	Part of colony of Leeward Islands
	1882	Amalgamated with Nevis to form the presidency of Saint Christopher-Nevis (within the Leeward Islands)
St. Christopher and Nevis	1882–1958	Presidency within the Leeward Islands
	1958–1962	Part of province of Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla of West Indies Federation
	1962–1967	Part of colony of Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla
	1967–1980	Part of associated state of Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla
	1980–1983	Associated state
	1983	Independence	:±:
St. John	1801–02	Occupation
	1807–1815	Occupation	Now part of the United States Virgin Islands
St. Lucia	1605–1640	Settlement
	1640	Abandoned
	1664–1667	Occupation
	1762–63	Occupation
	1781–1783	Occupation
	1794–95	Occupation
	1796–1802	Occupation
	1803–1838	Colony
	1838–1958	Crown colony part of colony of Windward Islands
	1958–1962	Province of West Indies Federation
	1962–1967	Crown colony
	1967–1979	Associated state
	1979	Independence
Saint Martin	1690–1699	Occupation
	1801–02	Occupation
St. Thomas	1801–02	Occupation
	1807–1815	Occupation	Now part of the United States Virgin Islands
St. Vincent and the Grenadines	1627–1636	Claimed
	1672	Claimed
	1762–63	Occupation
	1763–1776	Colony
	1776–1779	Crown colony
	1779	Occupied by France
	1783–1833	Crown colony
	1833–1958	Part of colony of Windward Islands
	1958–1962	Province of West Indies Federation
	1962–1969	Colony
	1969–1979	Associated state
	1979	Independence
	1763–1802	Colony
	1802	Dissolved	Included the present-day countries of Dominica, Grenada, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and the island of Tobago
Tobago	1762–1764	Part of colony of Windward Islands
	1764–1781	Colony
	1781	Colony of France
	1793–1802	Occupation
	1802	Colony of France
	1803–1833	Crown colony
	1833–1888	Part of colony of Windward Islands
	1889	Amalgamated with Trinidad
Tortuga	1631–1635	Colony
	1635	French possession	Now part of Haiti
Trinidad	1802–1888	Colony
	1889	Amalgamated with Tobago as "Trinidad and Tobago"
Trinidad and Tobago	1889–1958	Colony
	1958–1962	Province of West Indies Federation
	1962	Independence
Turks and Caicos Islands	1799–1848	Colony part of Bahamas
	1848–1874	Colony
	1874–1959	Colony part of Jamaica
	1959–1962	Province of West Indies Federation
	1962–1982	Colony
	1983–2002	Dependent territory
	2002–present	British Overseas Territory
Virgin Islands – see under "British Virgin Islands"
West Indies Federation	1958–1962	Federation of colonies
	1962	Dissolution	Included the present-day countries of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados; Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago, and the British Overseas Territories of Anguilla, Cayman Islands, Montserrat, and Turks and Caicos Islands
Windward Islands	1833–1956	Colony
	1956–1960	Territory
	1960	Dissolution	Included the present-day countries of Barbados (to 1885), Grenada, Dominica (from 1940), St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and (until 1889) the island of Tobago

South America[]

Name of territory	Dates	Status	Comments
Berbice	1781–82	Subordinated to Barbados
	1782	Occupied by France
	1796–1802	Occupied
	1802	Restored to the Netherlands
	1803–1814	Occupied
	1814–1831	Colony
	1831	United with Demerara-Essequibo to form British Guiana	Now part of Guyana
British Guiana	1831–1961	Colony	Formed by the merger of the colonies of Berbice and Demerara-Essequibo
	1961–1966	Self-rule
	1966	Independent as Guyana
Demerara	1781–82	Subordinated to Barbados
	1782	French occupation
	1796–1802	Occupied
	1802	Restored to Netherlands
	1803–1814	Occupied
	1814	Merged with Essequibo to form Demerara-Essequibo
Demerara-Essequibo	1814–1831	Colony	Formed by the merger of the separate colonies of Demerara and Essequibo
	1831	United with Berbice to form British Guiana
Essequibo	1781–82	Subordinated to Barbados
	1782	French occupation
	1796–1802	Occupied
	1802	Restored to the Netherlands
	1803–1814	Occupied
	1814	Merged with Demerara to form Demerara-Essequibo
Oyapoc	1620	Settlement	Now in Guyana
Pomeroon	1666–67	Occupied
	1689	Occupation
	1689	Incorporated into Essequibo	Now in Guyana
Willoughby	1652–1688	Settlement
	1688	Dutch occupation	Now Paramaribo, in Suriname

Asia[]

Name of territory	Dates	Status	Comments
Aden	1839	Colony subordinate to Bombay Presidency British India
	1932	Separate province of British India
	1937	Separate Crown colony
	1963	Part of Federation of South Arabia
Afghanistan
	1879	Protected state[20]
	1919	Independence
Assam	1874–1905	Province of British India
	1905–1912	Incorporated into the new province of Eastern Bengal and Assam
	1912–1947	Province of British India	Now a state of the Republic of India
Bahrain	1880	Protectorate
	1961–1971	Autonomous
	1971	Independence	Invited to join the Trucial States, but declined
Baluchistan	1877–1896	Province
	1896–1947	Province of British India
	1947	Part of Pakistan	Now part of Balochistan and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, in Pakistan
Bantam	1603–1609	Station
	1609–1617	Factory
	1617–1621	Presidency
	1621	Expelled by the Dutch
	1630–1634	Subordinated to Surat
	1634–1652	Presidency
	1652–1682	Subordinated to Surat
	1682	Expelled by the Dutch	Now in Indonesia
Bencoolen ("Fort York", later "Fort Marlborough")	1685–1760	Coastal settlements of southwestern Sumatra, subordinated to Madras
	1760–1785	Presidency
	1785–1825	Subordinated to Bengal Presidency
	1825	Part of Dutch East Indies	Now Bengkulu, in Indonesia
Bengal ("Fort William")	1634–1658	Factories
	1658–1681	Subordinated to Madras
	1681–82	Agency
	1682–1694	Presidency of Coromandel and Bengal Settlements
	1694–1698	Subordinated to Madras
	1698–1700	Presidency of Coromandel and Bengal Settlements
	1700–1774	Presidency
	1774–1905	Presidency of British India
	1905–1912	Partitioned between [West] Bengal and Eastern Bengal and Assam
	1912–1937	Presidency of British India
	1937–1947	Province of British India
	1947	Divided between India (West Bengal) and Pakistan (East Bengal)	Now Bangladesh, and part of West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, and Jharkhand, in India
Brunei	1888	Protectorate
	1967	Protected state
	1984	Independence
Burma (now called Myanmar)	1824–1852	Arakan, Tenasserim
	1852–1886	Lower Burma
	1885–1886	Upper Burma
	1886	Lower and Upper Burma United as province of British India
	1937	Separate Crown Colony
	1948	Independence	Name changed to Myanmar after a military junta in 1989.
Eastern Bengal and Assam	1905–1912	Province of British India	Established upon the partition of Bengal (1905)
	1912	Partition reversed	Split between the re-established province of Assam and the re-constituted presidency of Bengal
Ceylon	1795	Ceded by the Dutch and subordinated to the Madras presidency of British India
	1798	Separate Crown colony
	1948	Independence	Now the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Dansborg	1801–02	Occupied
	1808–1815	Occupied
	1845	purchased and incorporated into British India	Now in Tamil Nadu state, India
Frederiksnagore	1801–02	Occupied
	1808–1815	Occupied
	1845	Purchased and incorporated into British India	Now in West Bengal state, India
Hong Kong	1841	Hong Kong Island occupied
	1843–1982	Crown colony
	1860	Kowloon and Stonecutters Island ceded by China
	1898	New Territories leased from China for 99 years
	1942–1945	Occupied by Japan
	1945–1946	Military administration
	1983–1997	Dependent territory
	1997	Handover to China as a special administrative region
Kuwait	1899	Protectorate
	1961	Independence
Indian Empire (British Raj)	1613	Company rule in India
	1858	Crown rule over the Indian Princely states, the Presidencies and provinces of British India
	1947	Independent as India & Pakistan after partition
Mandatory Iraq	1920–1932	League of Nations mandate never passed, replaced by Anglo-Iraqi treaty with the Kingdom of Iraq
Java and the Spice Islands	1811–1816	Territory of the East India Company	restored to the Netherlands
Malaya	1824	Transferred following Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824
	1824–1867	Territory of British East India Company
	1867–1946	Straits Settlements, Crown colony
	1895–1946	Federated Malay States, protectorate
	1885–1946	Johor, protectorate (part of Unfederated Malay States)
	1909–1946	Kedah, protectorate (part of Unfederated Malay States)
	1909–1946	Kelantan, protectorate (part of Unfederated Malay States)
	1909–1946	Perlis, protectorate (part of Unfederated Malay States)
	1909–1946	Terengganu, protectorate (part of Unfederated Malay States)
	1942–1945	Japanese occupation
	1945–1946	Military Administration
	1946–1948	Malayan Union
	1948–1957	Federation of Malaya
	1957–1963	Independent state
	1963	Annex North Borneo and Sarawak forming the renamed federation of Malaysia
North Borneo	1882–1946	Protectorate
	1945–1946	Military administration	Labuan to British N. Borneo on 15 July 1946
	1946–1963	Crown colony	Labuan to British N. Borneo on 15 July 1946
	1963	Self-government
	1963	Annexed by Malaya into Malaysia
Palestine	1920	Mandate
	1948	British sovereignty relinquished; proposed partition between a Jewish and an Arab state never fully materialized; the Jewish state - Israel - was established immediately after British withdrawal, with the short-lived All-Palestine government following six months later
	1949	Two sections of the former Palestine Mandate outside Israel - the West Bank and the Gaza Strip - were occupied by Egypt and Jordan respectively following the collapse of the All-Palestine government
	1956	Gaza Strip briefly falls under Israeli occupation during the Suez Crisis
	1967	West Bank and Gaza Strip fall under Israeli occpuation as a consequence of the Six-day War
	1993	A Palestinian National Authority is declared in the West Bank and Gaza Strip; most matters regarding the day-to-day governance of these territories fell under its jurisdiction, in anticipation of a future Palestinian state
	2005	Israel formally withdraws from the Gaza Strip, placing it under full PNA control; despite this, Gazan waters are still under Israeli military control
Pulo Condore Island (Côn Đảo)	1702	Possession of British East India Company
	1705	Abandoned	Now Côn Đảo, in Vietnam
Sarawak	1888–1946	Protected States
	1945–1946	Military administration
	1946–1963	Crown colony
	1963	Self-government
	1963	Annexed by Malaya into Malaysia
Straits Settlements	1826–1858	Possession under British East India Company	Now divided between Malacca and Penang, in Malaysia, and Singapore
	1858–1867	Subordinated to British India
	1867–1946	Crown colony
	1942–1945	Occupied by Japan
	1946	Dissolved
Qatar	1916–1971	Protectorate
	1971	Independence	Invited to join the Trucial States, but declined
Surat	1612–1658	Factory
	1658–1668	Presidency
	1668–1685	Possession under British East India Company
	1685–1703	Subordinated to Bombay
	1703	Incorporated into Bombay	Now in India
Singapore	1824	Purchased
	1824	Part of Straits Settlements (as residency of the Presidency of Bengal)
	1867–1946	Part of Straits Settlements (crown colony)
	1946–1955	Crown colony
	1955–1959	self-governing colony
	1959–1963	State of Singapore
	1963–1965	Part of Malaysia
	1965	Independence
Transjordan	1920	Part of Palestine Mandate	Now known as Jordan
	1923	Formally separated from Palestine
	1928	Emirate independent, except military and finance control
	1946	Formal independence
Trucial States	1892	Protectorate
	1971	Formation of Federation of Arab Emirates	Now part of the United Arab Emirates
Weihaiwei	1898–1930	Leased from China
	1930	Returned to the Republic of China	Now part of the People's Republic of China
West Bengal ("Bengal")	1905–1912	Province of British India	Established by the partition of Bengal. Abolished with the reversal of the partition and the creation of the new province of Bihar and Orissa.

Europe[]

Name of territory	Dates	Status	Comments
Akrotiri and Dhekelia	1960–present	Sovereign Base Areas
Alderney	1198–1204	Lordship
	1204	Fiefdom
	1205	Fiefdom
	1206–1279	Fiefdom
	1279	Briefly occupied by France
	1279–1660	Part of bailiwick of Guernsey
	1660–1825	Seigneurie
	1825	Subordinated to Guernsey
	1940–1945	Occupied by Germany
	1945	Restored to Britain
Cyprus	1878	Administration while nominally remaining part of the Ottoman Empire
	1914	Annexation
	1925	Crown colony
	1960	Independence	Two sovereign base areas remain under British sovereignty; see under "Akrotiri and Dhekelia"
Dunkirk	1658–1662	Town and surrounding hinterland
	1662	Incorporated into France
England	927	Kingdom formed
	1282	Conquest of principality of Gwynedd (last remaining independent Welsh principality)
	1536	Annexation of Principality of Wales and Marcher Lordships into England
	1603	Personal union with Scotland
	1649	Republic as the Commonwealth of England. Scotland and Ireland united with England
	1660	End of Republic. Scotland independent again but in personal union with England
	1707	Political union with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain	Treaty of Union 1706 and Acts of Union 1707
Gibraltar	1704	Captured by Britain
	1713	Colony	Ceded by Spain Treaty of Utrecht 1713
	1983	Dependent territory
	2002–present	British Overseas Territory	Sovereignty claimed by Spain
Great Britain, Kingdom of	1707	Formed by union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland
	1801	Union of Great Britain with Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Guernsey (incl. islands of Brecqhou, Herm, Jethou, Lihou, and Sark)	1198–1204	Lordship
	1204–1205	Fiefdom
	1206–1279	Fiefdom
	1279–1940	Bailiwick
	1940–1945	Occupied by Germany
	1945–present	Bailiwick
Heligoland	1807–1814	Occupied
	1814–1890	Colony
	1890	Incorporated into Germany
	1945–1952	Occupied
Ionian Islands	1809–1815	Occupied
	1815–1864	United States of Ionian Islands, under British protection
	1864	Incorporated into Greece
Ireland	1172	Lordship	Papal Bull Laudabiliter 1155
	1541	Kingdom subordinated to the English (later British) Crown
	1801	Merged with Great Britain to form the United Kingdom	Act of Union 1800
Irish Free State	1922	Independence from the United Kingdom	Anglo-Irish Treaty 1921
	1949	Declared a Republic
Isle of Man	1266–1290	Fiefdom under Scotland
	1313–1317	Fiefdom under Scotland
	1328–1333	Fiefdom under Scotland
	1333–1504	Fiefdom
	1504–1594	Lordship
	1594–1610	Direct Crown rule
	1610–1649	Lordship
	1649–1660	Commonwealth and protectorate
	1660–1765	Lordship
	1765–1827	Possession
	1827–present	Crown dependency
Jersey	1204	Fiefdom subordinated to Guernsey
	1204–1205	Fiefdom subordinated to Guernsey
	1206–1279	Fiefdom subordinated to Guernsey
	1279–1380	Bailiwick subordinated to Guernsey
	1382–1461	Bailiwick subordinated to Guernsey
	1468–1487	Bailiwick subordinated to Guernsey
	1487–1940	Bailiwick
	1940–1945	Occupied by Germany
	1945–present	Bailiwick
Malta	1800–1813	Protectorate
	1813–1921	Crown colony
	1921–1933	Self-governing colony
	1933–1947	Crown colony
	1947–1958	Self-governing colony
	1958–1961	Crown colony
	1961–1964	Self-governing colony
	1964	Independence
Menorca	1708–1713	Occupied
	1713	Ceded to Britain
	1714–1756	Colony
	1756	Occupied by France
	1798–1802	Colony
	1802	Restored to Spain
Rockall	1955	Annexed as the latest territorial addition to the United Kingdom.
	1972	Made part of Scotland under Island of Rockall Act 1972.
Sicily	1806–1815
	1816	creation of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
Scotland	1603	Personal union with England
	1649	United with England and Ireland as the Commonwealth of England.
	1660	Independent again but in personal union with England
	1707	Political union with England to form the Kingdom of Great Britain	Treaty of Union 1706 and Acts of Union 1707
United Kingdom	1801	Formed by the union of the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland
	1922	Secession of the Irish Free State
	1927	Formal name changed from "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland" to "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland"
Wales (Cymru)	1282	Occupied
	1535	Annexed into England by Act of English Parliament
	1999	Devolved National Assembly established (renamed to Senedd (Parliament) in 2020)

Antarctic Region[]

(Territories south of 60° S)

Name of territory	Dates	Status	Comments
British Antarctic Territory	1962–1982	Colony
	1983–2002	Dependent territory
	2002–present	British Overseas Territory
Enderby Land	1930–1933	Claimed
	1933	Transferred to Australia	Now part of the Australian Antarctic Territory
Graham Land	1832	Annexed
	1908–1962	Dependency of Falkland Islands
	1962–present	Part of the British Antarctic Territory
South Orkney	1821–1908	Claimed
	1908–1962	Dependency of the Falkland Islands
	1962–present	Part of the British Antarctic Territory
South Shetland	1819–1908	Claimed
	1908–1962	Dependency of the Falkland Islands
	1962–present	Part of the British Antarctic Territory
Victoria Land	1841–1933	Claimed
	1933	Transferred to Australia	Now part of the Australian Antarctic Territory

Atlantic[]

(Islands in the Atlantic Ocean)

Name of territory	Dates	Status	Comments
Ascension Island	1815–1922	Possession
	1922–2009	Dependency of St Helena
	2009–present	Part of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
Bermuda	1612–1684	Colony
	1684–1968	Crown colony
	1968–1982	Self-governing colony
	1983–2002	Dependent territory
	2002–present	British Overseas Territory
Falkland Islands	1766	West Falkland settled
	1774	Settlement withdrawn
	1774–1833	Claimed
	1833	Settlement re-established
	1841–1892	Crown colony
	1892–1908	Colony
	1908–1962	Colony
	1962	The Falkland Islands Dependencies of South Shetland, South Orkney, and Graham Land are established as the separate colony of British Antarctic Territory
	1962–1982	Colony
	1983–2002	Dependent territory
	2002–present	British Overseas Territory
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha (formerly known as "St. Helena and its Dependencies")	1588–1673	St Helena claimed
	1673–1815	Possession of the East India Company
	1815–1821	Crown colony
	1821–1834	Possession of British East India Company
	1834–1982	Crown colony
	1983–2002	Dependent territory
	2002–present	British Overseas Territory
South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands	1775–1908	Claimed
	1908–1985	Dependency of the Falkland Islands
	1985–2002	Dependent territory
	2002–present	British Overseas Territory
Tristan da Cunha	(1816–1938)	Dependency of the Cape Colony
	1938–2009	Dependency of St. Helena
	2009–present	Part of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha

Indian Ocean[]

(Islands in the Indian Ocean)

Name of territory	Dates	Status	Comments
Andaman and Nicobar Islands	1789	British take possession of the Andaman Islands
	1848	British take possession of the Nicobar Islands
	1942–1945	Japanese occupation
	1947	Became part of India upon its independence	Now a union territory of India
Ashmore Island	1878	Annexed
	1931	Transferred to Australia	Now administered as part of the Ashmore and Cartier Islands
Cartier Island	1909–1931	Annexed
	1931	Transferred to Australia	Now administered as part of the Ashmore and Cartier Islands
British Indian Ocean Territory	1810–1814	Occupied
	1814	Ceded to the United Kingdom by the Treaty of Paris
	1814–1903	Part of the colony of Seychelles
	1903–1965	Part of colony of Mauritius
	1965–1982	Colony
	1976	The Aldabra Group, the Des Roches islands, and the Farquhar Group/Des Roches are restored to the Seychelles
	1983–2002	Dependent territory
	2002–present	British Overseas Territory
Christmas Island	1888	Annexed
	1889–90	Leased
	1900–1942	Dependency of the colony of Straits Settlement
	1942–1945	Japanese occupation
	1945–46	Military administration
	1946–1958	Dependency of the colony of Singapore
	1958	Crown colony
	1958	Transferred to Australia
Cocos Islands	1825; 1826–1831	Settlement
	1831–1857	Fiefdom
	1857–1878	Crown colony
	1878–1886	Part of Ceylon
	1886–1942	Part of the colony of the Straits Settlements
	1942–1946	Part of Ceylon
	1946–1955	Dependency of the Colony of Singapore
	1955	transferred to Australia	Now the Australian territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Heard Island and McDonald Islands	1833–1947	Claimed
	1947	Transferred to Australia	Now the Australian territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands
Maldives	1796–1953	Protectorate
	1953–54	Republic
	1954–1965	Protectorate	See also the United Suvadive Republic (1959–1963)
	1965	Independence
Mauritius	1809	Occupation of Rodrigues
	1810–1968	Colony
	1814	Formal cession by the Treaty of Paris
	1965	The Chagos Archipelago is transferred to the British Indian Ocean Territory
	1968	Independence
Seychelles	1794–1810	Occupied
	1810–1814	Colony subordinated to Mauritius
	1814	Formal cession by the Treaty of Paris
	1814–1903	Colony
	1903–1970	Crown colony
	1970–1975	Self-governing colony
	1975–76	Self-rule
	1976	Independence

Australasia and the Pacific[]

Name of territory	Dates	Status	Comments
Australia	1901–1942	Dominion
	1942	Adopted the Statute of Westminster into domestic law
Baker Island	1886–1934	Claimed	Now a territory of the United States
Bonin Islands	1827–1876	Claimed
	1876	Annexed by Japan
British New Guinea	1884–1886	Protectorate
	1886–1906	Colony
	1906	Transferred to Australia	Now part of Papua New Guinea
Cook Islands	1888–1891	Protectorate
	1891–1900	Federation
	1900	Annexed by New Zealand
Coral Sea Islands	1879–1969	Part of Queensland, Australia
	1969	Became an Australian external territory
Fiji	1874–1877	Colony
	1877–1952	Colony administered as part of the British Western Pacific Territories
	1952–1970	Colony
	1970	Independence
Friendly Islands (Tonga)	1889–1900	Tripartite protectorate
	1900–1952	Protectorate administered as part of the British Western Pacific Territories
	1952–1970	Protectorate
	1970	Independence
Gilbert and Ellice Islands	1892–1916	Protectorate
	1916–1975	Crown colony administered as part of the British Western Pacific Territories until 1971
	1975	The Gilbert and Ellice Islands are split into the two separate colonies of the Gilbert Islands and Tuvalu (formally in 1976)
Gilbert Islands	1975–76	Crown colony (with the same Governor of the Tuvalu colony)
	1976–1979	Colony
	1979	Independent as "Kiribati"
Howland Island	1886–1935	Claimed	Now a territory of the United States
Jarvis Island	1889–1935	Annexed	Now a territory of the United States
Lord Howe Island	1788–1834	Claimed
	1834–1855	Settlement	Now part of New South Wales
Macquarie Island	1810–1890	Part of the colony of New South Wales
	1890–present	Part of Tasmania
Nauru	1914–1920	Administered as part of the British Western Pacific Territories
	1920–21	League of Nations mandate administered as part of the British Western Pacific Territories
	1921–1942	League of Nations mandate
	1942–1945	Japanese occupation
	1945–1947	League of Nations mandate
	1947–1968	United Nations Trust Territory
	1968	Independence
New Hebrides	1824–1878	Protectorate
	1878–1887	Neutral territory
	1887–1906	Joint naval commission
	1906–1976	Condominium with France, administered as part of the British Western Pacific Territories
	1976–1980	Condominium
	1980	Independent as "Vanuatu"
New South Wales	1788–1900	Colony
	1901–present	State of Australia
New Zealand	1769–1788	Claimed
	1788–1835	Part of New South Wales
	1835	Declared independence
	1835–1840	Protectorate
	1840–41	Part of New South Wales
	1841–1907	Colony
	1907–1947	Dominion of New Zealand
	1947	Adopted the Statute of Westminster into domestic law
Niue	1889–1900	Tripartite protectorate
	1900–01	Protectorate administered as part of the British Western Pacific Territories
	1901	Annexed to New Zealand (as part of the Cook Islands)
Norfolk Island	1788–1844	Part of New South Wales
	1844–1856	Part of Van Diemen's Land (later Tasmania)
	1856–1897	Subordinated to New South Wales
	1897	Dependency of New South Wales
Palmyra Atoll	1889	Annexed
	1898	Annexed by the United States
Pitcairn Islands	1838–1887	Protectorate
	1887–1898	Colony
	1898–1970	Colony administered as part of the British Western Pacific Territories
	1970–1982	Colony
	1983–2002	Dependent territory
	2002–present	British Overseas Territory
Queensland	1824–1859	Part of the colony of New South Wales
	1859–1900	Colony
	1901–present	State of Australia
Samoan Islands	1889–1900	Tripartite protectorate
Sandwich Islands	1794 – 10 February 1843	Protectorate
	10 February 1843 – 31 July 1843	Ceded to Britain
Solomon Islands	1889–1893	Tripartite protectorate
	1893–1942	Protectorate administered as part of the British Western Pacific Territories
	1942–1943	Japanese occupation
	1943–1971	Protectorate administered as part of the British Western Pacific Territories
	1971–1973	protectorate
	1973–1976	Autonomy
	1975	Renamed from "British Solomon Islands" to "Solomon Islands"
	1976–1978	Self-government
	1978	Independence
South Australia	1788–1836	Part of the colony of New South Wales
	1836–1900	Province (colony)
	1901–present	State of Australia
Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land)	1803–1825	Part of New South Wales
	1825–1900	Colony
	1856	Renamed as "Tasmania"
	1901–present	State of Australia
Tokelau (Union Islands)	1889–1898	Protectorate
	1898–1916	Protectorate administered as part of the British Western Pacific Territories
	1916–1949	Part of colony of Gilbert and Ellice Islands	Transferred to New Zealand
	1949	Transferred to New Zealand
Torres Strait Islands	1879–present	Part of Queensland
Tuvalu	1975–76	Colony administered with the same Governor of Gilbert Islands colony
	1976–1978	Colony
	1978	Independence
Victoria	1839–1851	Part of colony of New South Wales
	1851–1900	Colony
	1901–present	State of Australia
Western Australia	1791–1829	King George Sound settled
	1829–1832	Swan River Colony
	1832–1900	Colony
	1901–present	State of Australia

Treaties and Acts of Parliament, etc.[]

This is a listing of the more important treaties, Acts of Parliament, and other legal instruments and events affecting the nature and territorial extent of the British Empire.

This list is incomplete; you can help by . (August 2008)

Effective date	Name of treaty, etc.	Territorial effect
1536/1543	Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542	Wales annexed to the Kingdom of England
1707	Acts of Union 1707	Scotland and England unite as the Kingdom of Great Britain
1713	Treaty of Utrecht	Spain cedes Gibraltar to Britain. France cedes Newfoundland, Hudson Bay and Acadie to Britain.
1763	Treaty of Paris	France cedes all its territories in America to Britain except Saint Pierre and Miquelon Islands.
1776	Declaration of Independence of the United States	The Thirteen Colonies (New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia) assert independence
1783	Second Treaty of Paris	Great Britain formally recognises the independence of the United States. End of the American Revolution.
1788		New South Wales is established by settlement as a penal colony
1791	Constitution Act	The Province of Quebec is divided in two sections Upper Canada (now Ontario) and Lower Canada (now Quebec).
1801	Act of Union 1800	Ireland unites with Great Britain to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
1814	Third Treaty of Paris	France cedes the Seychelles to Britain and Malta officially becomes a colony
1840	Treaty of Waitangi	New Zealand becomes a British colony
1867	British North America Act 1867 (known in Canada as the Constitution Act, 1867)	The Province of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia federate as Canada
1870		Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory are annexed to Canada
1871		British Columbia becomes a province of Canada
1876	Proclamation under the Royal Titles Act 1876	Queen Victoria adopts the title "Empress of India"
1899		Joint British-Egyptian condominium established over Sudan
1901	Proclamation under the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act (1900)	The Commonwealth of Australia is formed by the federation of the colonies of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, and Tasmania
1910	Proclamation under the South Africa Act 1909	Union of South Africa formed by the federation of the colonies of the Cape of Good Hope, Natal, Transvaal, and the Orange River Colony
1914	Cyprus (Annexation) Order in Council 1914	Cyprus formally annexed
1920	Kenya (Annexation) Order in Council 1920	Most of the East Africa Protectorate is annexed as the Colony of Kenya
1922	Anglo-Irish Treaty	The Irish Free State is separated from the United Kingdom
	Unilateral Declaration of Egyptian Independence	Egypt becomes independent
1931	Statute of Westminster	Canada, the Irish Free State, and the Union of South Africa obtain effective sovereignty
1934		Financial difficulties result in Newfoundland losing its status as a dominion
1942		Australia adopts the Statute of Westminster, backdated to 1939
1947		New Zealand adopts the Statute of Westminster
	Indian Independence Act 1947	British India is partitioned into the independent dominions of India and Pakistan
1948		King George VI relinquishes the title "Emperor of India"
1949		Newfoundland becomes a province of Canada
1960	Nigeria Independence Act 1960	The Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria becomes independent
1962	Jamaica Independence Act 1962	Jamaica becomes independent
1983		The status of "colony" is renamed "dependent territory"
1997	Sino-British Joint Declaration (1984) and the Hong Kong Act 1985	Hong Kong is transferred to the People's Republic of China
2002		The status of "British Dependent Territory" is renamed "British Overseas Territory"

See also[]

• Colonialism
• Decolonisation
• Impact of Western European colonialism and colonisation
• Imperialism
• List of British Empire-related topics
• List of countries that gained independence from the United Kingdom
• Scottish colonization of the Americas

References[]

External links[]

• UK Overseas Territories
• World Statesmen