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From the 16th to the 20th centuries, the British Empire stretched from a total area at its peak in 1920 to over 35,500,000 km 2 (13,700,000 sq mi), the largest empire in the world. [1] In terms of population, on the eve of World War II, Britain and her colonial possessions totaled 500 million inhabitants.
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. . It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, and colonisation attempts by Scotland during the 17th century.
Empire size in this list is defined as the dry land area it controlled at the time, which may differ considerably from the area it claimed. For example: in the year 1800, European powers collectively claimed approximately 20% of the Earth's land surface that they did not effectively control. [ 8 ]
The United States of America was formed after thirteen British colonies in North America declared independence from the British Empire on July 4, 1776. In the Lee Resolution , passed by the Second Continental Congress two days prior, the colonies resolved that they were free and independent states.
By 1913, the British Empire held sway over 412 million people, 23% of the world population at the time. [1] ... The largest ethnic grouping in the empire was Indians ...
British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland, then further south at Roanoke and Jamestown, Virginia, and more substantially with the founding of the Thirteen Colonies along the Atlantic coast of North America.
The following table gives gross domestic product (GDP) estimates of the British Empire and its territories in 1870 and 1913, as a percentage of the world economy and the empire's economy, along with comparisons to the United States and Russian Empire. The British imperial territory with the largest economy in 1870 was British India (including ...
The Kingdom of England was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from the late 9th century, when it was unified from various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, which would later become the United Kingdom.