British Empire, a worldwide system of dependencies—colonies, protectorates, and other territories—that over a span of some three centuries was brought under the sovereignty of the crown of Great Britain and the administration of the British government. The policy of granting or recognizing significant degrees of self-government by dependencies, which was favoured by …

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 …

The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiwick of Guernsey, the Bailiwick of Jersey and the Isle of Man) and the British Overseas Territories.The current monarch is Queen …

The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia), and later with East Asia.The company seized control of large parts of the Indian subcontinent, colonised parts of Southeast Asia and Hong Kong, and kept …

A map shows the British Empire at its greatest extent. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. The term British Commonwealth of Nations is applied to largely self-governing dependencies that acknowledge an increasingly symbolic British authority. (The Commonwealth will ultimately evolve into a free, voluntary association of sovereign states that ...

Since 1909, the Daughters of the British Empire (DBE) is a nonprofit, philanthropic, American society of women with British and Commonwealth of Nations heritage sharing culture, friendship, and charity while supporting our senior living facilities, scholarship, and local charities.

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The objects in Room 70 illustrate the rise of Rome from a small town to an imperial capital that controlled the Mediterranean basin and north-western Europe and the Near East, extending from Scotland to Syria. The gallery covers a period of about 1,000 years from Rome's legendary foundation in 753 ...

The British Museum was founded in 1753: its history and collection are shaped by empire and the colonial exploitation of people and resources. This trail highlights objects that were predominantly acquired during the age of empire and shows the different, complex and sometimes controversial journeys of objects that would become part of the ...

The British Empire and Colonialism historic theme starts with 16th century exploration. Use the timeline to chart the course of British expansion, entwined with the history of overseas trade routes. Use the map to discover the extent of British imperial growth.