The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps.Statue of John Cabot in Newfoundland, England's first overseas colony .Defeat of the Spanish Armada, by Philippe-Jacques de Loutherbourg, painted 1796.Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown (John Trumbull, 1797). The loss of the American colonies marked the end of the "first British Empire".
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Commonwealth/ British Colonial

The British Empire was the most extensive empire in world history and for a substantial time was not only a major power but also the foremost power in the world. more...

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It was a product of the European age of discovery, which began with the global maritime explorations of the Iberian states in the late 15th century, that inaugurated the era of the European global empires.

By 1913, the British Empire held sway over a population of about 458 million people, approximately one-quarter of the world's population. It covered about 36.6 million km² (14.2 million square miles), about a quarter of Earth's total land area. Though it has now mostly evolved into the Commonwealth of Nations, British influence remains strong throughout the world: in economic practice, legal and governmental systems, society, sports (such as cricket and football), and the English language itself, to name just a few.

Because of its size at the peak of its power, it was often said that "the sun never sets on the British Empire" because the empire's span across the globe ensured that the sun was always shining on at least one of its numerous colonies.

English Empire

Growth of the overseas empire

The overseas British Empire (in the sense of British oceanic exploration and settlement outside of Europe and the British Isles) was rooted in the pioneering maritime policies of the English King Henry VII, who reigned from 1485 to 1509. Building on commercial links in the wool trade promoted during the reign of his predecessor, King Richard III, Henry established the modern English merchant marine system, which greatly expanded English shipbuilding and seafaring. The merchant marine also supplied the basis for the mercantile institutions that would play such a crucial role in English and, after the union with Scotland in 1707, British imperial ventures, including the Massachusetts Bay Company and the British East India Company. Henry's financial reforms made the English Exchequer solvent, which helped to underwrite the development of the Merchant Marine. Henry also ordered construction of the first English dry dock, at Portsmouth, and made improvements to England's small navy. Additionally, Henry sponsored the voyages of the Italian mariner John Cabot in 1496 and 1497 that established England's first overseas colony - a fishing settlement - in Newfoundland, which Cabot claimed on behalf of Henry.

The foundations of sea power, having been laid during Henry VII's reign, were gradually expanded to protect English trade and open up new routes. King Henry VIII founded the modern English navy through plans for new docks, and the construction of the network of beacons and lighthouses that greatly facilitated coastal navigation for English and foreign merchant sailors. Henry thus established the munitions-based Royal Navy that was able to hold off the Spanish Armada in 1588, and his innovations provided the seed for the Imperial navy of later days.

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179# Sudan Air Mail 2½ piastres on 5 piastres - unused £1.45 140# Sudan Air Mail 3 piastres on 4½ piastres - unused £1.45
Victorian,Penny Red Overprinted Cyprus £4.99 Namibia Lunar Year sheet ref:b3862 £2.95
Namibia Lunar Year m/s ref:b3860 £1.95 Victoria 1868 3d grey blue used £7.00
Tristan da cunha 1971 set Mnh £4.90 Trinidad Gvith mint S wedding set,Upu etc £12.00
Tobago 1883 2 1/2d on 6d fine used £9.00 Tasmania 1864 1 dull vermilion used £6.00
Tasmania 1860 6d dull slate used £8.00 Tasmania 1857 4d pale blue used £6.00
Tanganyika Gvth collection to 5/- mint and fine used £12.00 Sudan early collection mounted mint and fine used £6.00
S Rhodesia 1931 fine used to 2 shillings £7.00 Rhodesia early selection used £12.00
Rhodesia 1910 1d bright carmine Double head mint £6.00 Orange Free State mint and fine used cat £60 £6.00
New South wales 1860 6d mauve fine used £6.00 Montserrat 1880 4d blue fine used £8.00
Gold Coast Victory sets both perfs mint £6.00 Nz Best of 1996 m/s (3) ref:b4489 £15.95
Early Commonwealth selection Qv-Gvth £6.00 Commonwealth Mnh collection values to 5/- £6.00
Commonwealth Mnh collection £6.00 Commonwealth early mint selection all pre Qe2 £7.00
British honduras 1874 6d £6.00 Australia Swan 1861 1d perf 14 used £7.00
Antigua 1882 2 1/2d red brown fine used £7.50 Ascension 1971 Space Sg 135/48 (16) Used See Pic Etc £6.99
Bahamas Selection From Sg 137-148 See Pic & Detail Used £7.99 Ascension 1975 Wideawake Sg 187/90 & Ms Um See Pic Etc £3.99
Sri Lanka 2003 Waterfalls set ref:n17306 £1.65 New Zealand 2000 Millenium sht ref:n15175 £4.95
Papua New Guinea 1953 4 postal covers £5.36 Hong Kong Circa 1910 Colour Postcard £9.99
India-1964 67Th Anniv. Of Birth Of Bose - 2V Mint Nh £1.07 India -1946 Kg Vi Victory 4V Mint Nh £1.60
India -1953 Cent. Of Indian Telegraphs 2V Mnh £4.28
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See also...
Aden, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Anguilla, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Antigua & Barbuda, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Ascension Island, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Australia, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Bahamas, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Bahrain, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Barbados, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Basutoland/ Lesotho, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Bechuanaland/ Botswana, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Bermuda, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
British Antarctic Territory, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
British Guiana/ Guyana, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
British Honduras/ Belize, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
British Indian Ocean Territory, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
British Levant, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
British Virgin Islands, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Brunei, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Burma, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Canada, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Cayman Islands, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Ceylon, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Collections/ Mixture, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Cook Is/ Aitutaki/ Penrhyn, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Cyprus, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Dominica, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Falkland Is & Dependencies, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Fiji, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Gambia, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Gibraltar, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Gilbert & Ellice Is/ Kiribati, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Gold Coast/ Ghana, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Grenada, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Heligoland, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Hong Kong, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
India, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Jamaica, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Kenya/ Uganda/ Tanganyika, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Kuwait, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Leeward Islands, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Malaya/ Malaysia/ S. Setts., Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Maldive Is., Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Malta, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Mauritius, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Montserrat, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Morocco Agencies, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Nauru, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
New Hebrides/ Vanuatu, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
New Zealand, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Nigeria, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Niue, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Norfolk Island, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
North Borneo, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Northern Rhodesia/ Zambia, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Nyasaland/ BCA/ Malawi, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Omnibus Issues, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Other Commonwealth Stamps, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Pakistan/ Bahawalpur, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Palestine, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Papua New Guinea, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Pitcairn Island, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Rhodesia/ Zimbabwe, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Samoa, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Sarawak, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Seychelles, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Sierra Leone, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Singapore, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Solomon Islands, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Somaliland Protectorate, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
South Africa, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
South West Africa/ Namibia, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
St Helena, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
St Kitts & Nevis, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
St Lucia, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
St Vincent/ Grenadines, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Sudan, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Swaziland, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Tonga, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Trinidad & Tobago, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Tristan da Cunha, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Turks & Caicos Is, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Tuvalu, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
Zanzibar, Commonwealth/ British Colonial
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