Territorial evolution of the British Empire

Governance

The British Empire refers to the colonial possessions and territories under the control of the Crown. Although the Crown claimed absolute sovereignty over them, they were never formally part of the United Kingdom. In addition to the areas formally under the sovereignty of the British monarch, 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 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.

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, was a type of colonial administration of the English and later the British Empire, which were directly controlled by the Crown.

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. Most crown colonies, especially the white settler colonies had a bicameral legislature, consisting of an upper house usually called 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 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. 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. 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.

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.

Proprietary colony

A number of colonies in the 16th and 17th centuries were granted to a particular individual; these are 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.

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 such as the East India Company ruled large colonial possessions (especially in India).

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 ruler which enjoys Her Britannic Majesty's protection, over whose foreign affairs she exercises control, but in respect of whose internal affairs she does not exercise jurisdiction.

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. 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. Dominion status was formally defined in the Balfour Declaration of 1926, which recognised these countries as "autonomous Communities within the British Empire", thus acknowledging them as political equals of the United Kingdom; 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 UK and one another.

Mandates

Mandates were forms of territory created after the end of the First World War. A number of German colonies and protectorates were held as mandates by the United Kingdom, and its dominions of Australia, New Zealand, and the Union of South Africa. In theory these territories were governed on behalf of the League of Nations for the benefit of their inhabitants. Most became converted to United Nations Trust Territories in 1946.

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.

Remaining 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 only 14 former colonies (since 2002 known as "British Overseas Territories") remain under British rule; the term "colonies" is no longer 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:

Central America and the Caribbean

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Antarctic Region

(territories south of 60° S)

Atlantic

(islands in the Atlantic Ocean)

Indian Ocean

(islands in the Indian Ocean)

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.