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British Empire

Explorer · ages 7 and underAdapted from Wikipedia
A map of the British Empire in 1921, when it covered more of the world than any other empire in history.

What Was the British Empire?

The British Empire was a group of lands ruled or looked after by the United Kingdom. It included dominions, colonies, protectorates, and other lands. It began with overseas possessions set up by England long ago.

Growing Bigger

Around the 1800s and early 1900s, the British Empire was the largest empire in history. For about a hundred years, it was the leading global power. It was so big that people said it was "the empire on which the sun never sets," because the sun was always shining on at least one of its lands.

Many lands in the empire were in the Caribbean and the Indian subcontinent. Some of these lands were very far from Britain, but they were still part of the empire. The British Parliament made the laws for all of these lands.

Lasting Influence

The British Empire left many things behind. People in many places still speak English, which is an important linguistic part of its history. Its cultural influence can also still be seen in many countries today.

The Empire Today

Over time, most of the empire's lands became independent. India became its own country in 1947. In 1997, Hong Kong was handed back to China. Many people see this as the end of the empire.

Some lands still belong to Britain today. There are fourteen overseas territories. Many former lands joined the Commonwealth of Nations, which is a group of friendly, independent countries. Fifteen of these countries share the same king, King Charles III.

Quiz time!

3 questions about British Empire

Question 1 of 3

What did people say the British Empire was?

Pictures

An old etching of Fort St. George in Madras, the city now called Chennai, shown as it looked in 1754.
A satirical cartoon from 1892 showing Cecil Rhodes as a giant striding across Africa, with a telegraph line and railway from Cape Town to Cairo. It was drawn to comment on British ambitions in Africa.
A painting from around 1670 showing how tobacco was grown in colonial Virginia.
An 18th-century painting showing Robert Clive meeting Mir Jafar after the Battle of Plassey in 1757, an important event in the history of British rule in India.
An official portrait of Captain James Cook, the famous British explorer who sailed across the Pacific Ocean in the 1700s.
A historical map of India in 1857, taken from the Imperial Gazetteer of India atlas published in 1908.
A 1915 British First World War recruitment poster, designed by Arthur Wardle, urging men across the British Empire to join the army.
King George V with his Prime Ministers at the 1926 Imperial Conference in London. The conference produced the Balfour Declaration, which established that the dominions of the British Empire were equal in status to the United Kingdom.
The Matthew, a replica of John Cabot's ship, moored at its home berth in Bristol harbour, next to the SS Great Britain.
An 1876 cartoon from the magazine Punch shows Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli presenting Queen Victoria with a new crown to become Empress of India, captioned "New crowns for old ones!"
The fourteen British Overseas Territories

Keep exploring

London
Constitutional monarchy
United Kingdom
Protectorate
Caribbean
Indian subcontinent

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on British Empire, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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