Biggest British Empire Countries

Name the modern-day countries with the most territory that was part of the British Empire.

Based mostly on this map

Not including territory held for less than 10 years

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Last updated: July 11, 2024

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First submitted	March 6, 2017
Times taken	99,381
Average score	75.0%
Rating	4.73

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%	km²	Country
100	10,000,000	Canada
100	7,700,000	Australia
100	3,200,000	India
25	2,400,000	United States
100	1,900,000	Sudan
100	1,200,000	South Africa
100	1,000,000	Egypt
100	950,000	Tanzania
100	920,000	Nigeria
100	890,000	Pakistan
100	750,000	Zambia
100	680,000	Myanmar

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44 Comments

Level 74

Mar 6, 2017

Only a quarter of the USA was part of the British Empire? I thought it was more. I know some was under French control and a fair bit was still owned/controlled by native Americans, but that 25% figure surprised me.

+10

Level 63

Mar 7, 2017

If I'm not mistaken the 25% refer to the area in km² today. So it may seem like a small number.

+31

Level 71

Mar 7, 2017

well, Alaska was russian controlled, Florida and a very big part of the south west were spanish/mexican, france had Louisiana which was far more then just the state of Louisiana. basically england only controlled new england, most of the eastcoast, the south minus louisiana and florida and the big lakes

+12

Level 70

Mar 7, 2017

Britain not just England

+23

Level 92

Nov 28, 2019

If you think Wales and Scotland were calling the shots against England pre-1781, that's funny.

Level 74

Sep 1, 2024

If you think Wales and Scotland were separate countries, independent of Great Britain, that's even funnier, particularly in Jetpunkland.

Level 68

Apr 22, 2026

If someone referred to the US as "Washington," surely you wouldn't say, "Don't forget about Alabama!"

+13

Level 64

Jun 24, 2020

English possessions in what is today the USA were very small. Nowhere near the 25% the British Empire eventually controlled. I'm not sure about Wales but Scotland's contribution to the empire was enormous. To downplay other nations involvement is disingenuous. Not only does it reek of English superiority, but it also absolves Scotland of responsibilities committed by the Empire.

Level 62

Jul 19, 2024

25% seems about right...After the 7 years war they also gain territories all the way to up to Illinois and louisiana

Level 77

Dec 6, 2022

Florida was part of the British Empire for twenty years from the end of the 7 years war to the Peace of Paris.

Level 68

Dec 6, 2022

@Malbaby UK not just Britain

+10

Level 59

Dec 7, 2022

Nope - the UK as a name only dates from 1801. It was Great Britain from the Acts of Union in 1707.

+10

Level 18

Jun 23, 2020

I'm surprised it was anywhere near as high as 25% of the modern day country. Would have guessed it was closer to around 15%. It was the 13 colonies after all, which is a quarter the number of states that currently exist. Factor in how all those east cost states are much smaller than west and central ones and I'm still surprised the British territories took up as much as 25%.

Level 78

Dec 6, 2022

I think the US won some land from Britain outside the 13 colonies after it gained independence, roughly stretching from the Great Lakes to (almost) the Gulf of Mexico.

Level 76

Mar 6, 2017

Amazing how the UK itself is way smaller than all of these countries.

Level 93

Jun 18, 2017

Yes, the UK itself was my first guess. Didn't realize the British Empire controlled such large portions of so many other countries. For those wondering, the UK is 242,500 sq km.

Level 77

Sep 9, 2017

That's why Thomas Paine wrote "Common Sense" in the first place

+10

Level 59

Dec 8, 2022

Because the UK is 242,500 km2? How odd. I always thought it was because of his longstanding political views.

Level 68

Mar 7, 2017

I guess Pink Floyd was wrong.

Level 70

Jun 16, 2017

Good quiz, master.

Level 36

Jun 17, 2017

I never knew Britain once ruled the whole of the Canadian territory? I thought parts were once part of the French empire, for example Quebec, hence why French is an official language there

+13

Level 39

Jun 19, 2017

French people were the original settlers to Canada, the British came after and conquered it from the French. The highest concentration of french people at the time of British colonization were in Quebec and Acadia (what's now New Brunswick and parts of Nova Scotia). Quebec fiercely defended their French culture and resisted assimilation for many years and when Canada became an independent country, French was given official status to accommodate the Quebeckers

I'm skipping quite a few steps in there but that's the gist of what happened. Source: Canadian with French heritage.

Level 83

Jul 11, 2024

Mostly true. French didn’t become officially recognized in Canada until 1969, though.

Level 78

Jun 23, 2020

Well, the British claimed sovereignty over the whole area, but had transferred a huge portion (Rupertsland) to the Hudson Bay Company in 1670, without ever having "ruled" any of it. The company held it until it was sold to the government of Canada in 1869. So, it's fuzzy, like so much else about sovereignty.

Level 55

Jun 23, 2020

In theory, you could even argue that most of Arctic Canada were only claimed but never controlled by anyone before Canada's independence.

Level 43

Sep 29, 2017

The one with India is incorrect. Parts of India like Goa were part of Portugal, while Pondicherry French, Sikkim was an independent Buddhist Kingdom like Bhutan.

+12

Level 15

Aug 16, 2019

I believe (I may be mistaken) that Sikkim was eventually under British rule, and my guess about the other European colonies is that they are very small, so that the percentage is closer to 100%

Level 59

Jun 25, 2020

I wouldn't say that. The parts of Pondicherry, Chandannagar, Goa et cetera are really very small... So yeah maybe UK didn't controlled 100% of India but it had nearly 99% of it

Level 79

Jun 23, 2020

Can we check the numbers on Libya after ww2 which was french and British controlled?

Level 57

Jun 23, 2020

What's most upsetting as a Brit is that if we hadn't treated the inhabitants of those countries so appallingly we might still have the majority of those countries.There's a lesson for all empire builders right there (*cough* Russia, *cough* China)

+11

Level 59

Dec 7, 2022

Also as a Brit, why would you want another country?

Level 23

Jun 23, 2020

How the heck did I forget USA??

Level 44

Jul 3, 2020

excellent quiz.

Level 60

Dec 6, 2022

3 secs left and I got all of them

Level 64

Dec 8, 2022

I forgot the US...

Level 58

Aug 14, 2023

Great Quiz! If this had just been a regular ranking of modern countries by size, I wouldn’t have noticed :)

+17

Level 87

Jul 11, 2024

Why did the quiz get reset? Did a former British colony get bigger?

Level 90

Jul 11, 2024

Came here for this.

Level 81

Jul 11, 2024

Sudan shrank, but that was 2011. Lol, I'm also curious

Level 71

Jul 16, 2024

This is what I thought - we are not at it again are we?!

Level 67

Jul 11, 2024

Shouldn't India technically not be 100%, since small portions like Goa and Puducherry were Portuguese or French? Actually, come to think of it that might still round up to 100%...

Level 55

Jun 4, 2025

Managed to type Egypt with less than a second remaining.

Level 53

Apr 22, 2026

How ironic that the UK itself doesn’t make it on the list.

Level 47

Apr 23, 2026

Shouldn't Bangladesh be on here? It was definitely part of the Indian British Empire and if you include Pakistan you should definitely include it too.