The British Empire comprised the territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. At its height, it was the largest empire in history. By 1922 the British Empire held sway over about one-fifth of the world's population and covered almost a quarter of the Earth's total land area. As a result, its political, linguistic and cultural legacy is widespread.
During the Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal and Spain pioneered European exploration of the globe, and in the process established large overseas empires. Envious of the great wealth these empires bestowed, England began to establish trade networks of its own and soon became the dominant colonial power. Despite the loss of the Thirteen Colonies in North America in 1783, having defeated Napoleon in France in 1815, Britain enjoyed a century of almost unchallenged dominance, and expanded its imperial holdings across the globe.
But by the end of the 19th century the growth of Germany and the United States eroded Britain's economic lead. Subsequent tensions between Britain and Germany were major causes of the First World War, and although the empire achieved its largest territorial extent immediately after the war, it was no longer a peerless industrial or military power.
After the end of the Second World War, as part of a larger decolonisation movement by European powers, most of the territories of the British Empire were granted independence: India, Britain's most valuable and populous possession, was given independence two years after the end of the Second World War, the process ending with the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997.
