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BRITISH EMPIRE

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Originally appearing in Volume V04, Page 608 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BRITISH See also:EMPIRE , the name now loosely given to the whole aggregate of territory, the inhabitants of which, under various forms of See also:government, ultimately look to the British See also:crown as the supreme See also:head. The See also:term " empire " is in this connexion obviously used rather for convenience than in any sense See also:equivalent to that of the older or despotic empires of See also:history. The See also:land See also:surface of the See also:earth is estimated to extend over about 52,500,000 sq. m. Of this See also:area the British empire occupies Extent nearly one-See also:quarter, extending over an area of about 12,000,000 sq. m. By far the greater portion lies within the temperate zones, and is suitable for See also:white See also:settlement. The notable exceptions are the See also:southern See also:half of See also:India and See also:Burma; See also:East, See also:West and Central See also:Africa; the West See also:Indian colonies; the See also:northern portion of See also:Australia; New See also:Guinea, British See also:Borneo and that portion of See also:North See also:America which extends into See also:Arctic regions. The area of the territory of the empire is divided almost equally between the southern and the northern hemispheres, the See also:great divisions of See also:Australasia and See also:South Africa covering between them in the southern hemisphere 5,308,506 sq. m., while the See also:United See also:Kingdom, See also:Canada and India, including the native states, See also:cover between them in the northern hemisphere 5,271,375 sq. in. The See also:alternation of the seasons is thus co.nplete, one-half of the empire enjoying summer, while one-half is in See also:winter. The See also:division of territory between the eastern and western hemispheres is less equal, Canada occupying alone in the western hemisphere 3,653,946 sq. m., while Australasia, South Africa, India and the United Kingdom occupy together in the eastern hemisphere 6,925,975 sq. m. As a See also:matter of fact, however, the eastern portions of Australasia border so nearly upon the western hemisphere that the See also:distribution of See also:day and See also:night throughout the empire is, like the alternations of the seasons, almost See also:complete, one-half enjoying daylight, while the other half is in darkness. These alternations of See also:time and of seasons, combined with the variety of soils and climates, are calculated to have an increasingly important effect upon the material and See also:industrial, as well as upon the social and See also:political developments of the empire. This will become evident in considering the industrial productions of the different divisions, and the See also:harvest seasons which permit the summer produce of one portion of the empire to See also:supply the winter requirements of its other markets, and conversely.

The empire contains or is bounded by some of the highest mountains, the greatest lakes, and the most important riversof the See also:

world. Its climates may be said to include all the known climates of the world; its soils are no less various. In the prairies of central Canada it possesses some of the most valuable See also:wheat-producing land; in the grass lands of the interior of Australia the best pasture See also:country; and in the uplands of South Africa the most valuable See also:gold- and See also:diamond-bearing beds which exist. The United Kingdom at See also:present produces more See also:coal than any other single country except the United States. The effect of See also:climate throughout the empire in modifying the type of the Anglo-Saxon See also:race has as yet received only partial See also:attention, and conclusions regarding it are of a somewhat empiric nature. The See also:general tendency in Canada is held to be towards somewhat smaller See also:size, and a See also:hardy active See also:habit; in Australia to a tall, slight, See also:pale development locally known as " cornstalkers," characterized by considerable See also:nervous and intellectual activity. In New See also:Zealand the type preserves almost exactly the characteristics of the British Isles. The South See also:African, both Dutch and British, is readily recognized by an apparently See also:sun-dried, lank and hard habit of See also:body. In the tropical possessions of the empire, where white settlement does not take See also:place to any considerable extent, the individual alone is affected. The type undergoes no modification. It is to be observed in reference to this interesting aspect of imperial development, that the multiplication and cheapening of channels of communication and means of travel throughout the empire will tend to modify the future accentuation of race difference, while the variety of elements in the vast area occupied should have an important, though as yet not scientifically traced, effect upon the British imperial type. The white See also:population of the empire 1 reached in 19o1 a See also:total of over 53,000,000, or something over one-eighth of its entire population, which, including native races, is estimated Popv/a- at about 400,000,000.

The white population includes tlon. some See also:

French, Dutch and See also:Spanish peoples, but is mainly of Anglo-Saxon race. It is distributed roughly as follows: United Kingdom and See also:home dependencies . • 41,608,791 Australasia . 4,662,000 British North America 5,500,000 Africa (Dutch and British) 1,000,000 i India 169,677 West Indies and Bermuda 1oo,000 53,040,468 The native population of the empire includes types of the See also:principal See also:black, yellow and See also:brown races, classing with these the high-type races of the East, which may almost be called white. The native population of India, mainly high type, brown, was returned at the See also:census of 1901 as 294,191,379. The population of India is divided into 118 See also:groups on the basis of See also:language. These may, however, be collected into the following principal groups: (A) Malayo-Polynesian. (B) Indo-See also:Chinese: i. Mon-Khmer. ii. Tibeto-Burman. iii.

Siamese-Chinese. (C) Dravido-Muedd: i. Muedd (Kolarian). ii. See also:

Dravidian. (D) Indo-See also:European. Indo-See also:Aryan sub-See also:family. (E) Semitic. (F) Hamitic. (G) Unclassed, e.g. Gipsy. Eastern Colonies See also:Ceylon, high type, brown and mixed - .

3,568,824 Straits Settlements, brown, mixed and Chinese 570,000 Hong-See also:

Kong, Chinese and brown. 306,130 North Borneo, mixed brown and See also:Sarawak 700,000 5,144,954 ' The census returns for 1901 from the various parts of the empire were condensed for the first time in 1906 into a See also:blue-See also:book under the See also:title of Census of the British Empire, See also:Report with See also:Summary. 2 The white population of British South Africa according to the census of 1904 was 1,132,226. Of the various races which inhabit these Eastern dependencies the most important are the 2,000,000 Sinhalese and the 954,000 Tamil that make up the greater See also:part of the population of Ceylon. The See also:rest is made up of See also:Arabs, See also:Malays, Chinese (in the Straits Settlements and Hong-Kong), See also:Dyaks, Eurasians and others. West Indies. The West Indies, including the See also:continental colonies of British See also:Guiana and See also:Honduras, and seventeen islands or groups of islands, have a total coloured population of about 1,912,655. The colonies of this See also:group which have the largest coloured populations are: Jamaica—Chiefly black, some brown and yellow 790,000 See also:Trinidad and Tobago—Black and brown . 250,000 British Guiana—Black and brown . . 286,000 1,326,000 The populations of the West Indies are very various, being made up largely of imported African negroes. In See also:Jamaica these contribute four-fifths of the population. There are also in the islands a considerable number of imported East Indian coolies and some Chinese.

The aboriginal races include See also:

American See also:Indians of the mainland and Caribs. With these there has been intermixture of Spanish and Portuguese See also:blood, and many mixed types have appeared. The total European population of this group of colonies amounts to upwards of 8o,000, to which 15,000 on See also:account of Bermuda may be added. Africa. South Chiefly black, estimated : • 5,211,329 Central . 2,000,000 The aboriginal races of South Africa were the See also:Bushmen and See also:Hottentots. Both these races are rapidly diminishing in See also:numbers, and in British South Africa it is expected that they will in the course of the twentieth See also:century become See also:extinct. Besides these See also:primitive races there are the dark-skinned negroids of See also:Bantu stock, commonly known in their tribal groups as See also:Kaffirs, Zulu, See also:Bechuana and Damara, which are again subdivided into many lesser groups. The Bantu compose the greater part of the native population. There are also in South Africa Malays and Indians and others, who during the last two See also:hundred years have been introduced from See also:Java, Ceylon, See also:Madagascar, See also:Mozambique and British India, and by intermarriage with each other and with the natives have produced a hybrid population generally classed together under the heading of the Mixed Races. These are of all See also:colours, varying from yellow to dark brown. The tribes of Central Africa are as yet less known.

Many of them exhibit racial characteristics allied to those of the tribes of South Africa, but with in some cases an admixture of Arab blood. East Africa. Protectorate—Black and brown : Natives 4,000,000 estimated 25,000 Asiatics Zanzibar—Black and brown 200,000 See also:

Uganda . • 3,200,000 Total . . 7,425,000 West Africa. Estimated. See also:Nigeria (including See also:Lagos)—Black and brown 15,000,000 Gold See also:Coast and hinterland—Chiefly black . 2,700,000 Sierra Leone „ 1,000,000 See also:Gambia 163,000 18,863,000 From east to west across Africa the aboriginal nations are mostly of the black See also:negroid type, their varieties being only imperfectly known. The tendency of some of the See also:lower negroid types has been to See also:drift towards the west coast, where they still practise cannibalistic and fetish See also:rites. On the east coast are found much higher types approaching to the See also:Christian races of See also:Abyssinia, and from east to west there has been a wide admixture of Arab blood producing a See also:light-brown type. In Uganda and Nigeria a large proportion of the population is Arab and relatively light-skinned. Australasia.

200,000 Australia—Black, very See also:

low type . . Chinese and half castes; yellow 50,000 New Zealand—Maoris, brown, Chinese and half 53,000 castes . . Fiji—Polynesian, black and brown . 121,000 Papua—Polynesian, black and brown . 400,000 824,000 The native races of Australia and the Polynesian groups of islands are divided into two See also:main types known as the dark and light Polynesian. The dark type, which is black, is of a very low See also:order, and in some of the islands still retains its cannibal habits. The aboriginal tribes of Australia are of a low-class black race, but generally peaceful and inoffensive in their habits. The white Polynesian races are of a very See also:superior type, and exhibit, as in the Maoris of New Zealand, characteristics of a high order. The natives of Papua (New Guinea) are in a very low See also:state of See also:civilization. The estimate given of their numbers is approximate, as no census has been taken. Canada. Indians—Brown .

. 100,000 The only coloured native races of Canada are the Red Indians, many in tribal variety, but few in number. Summary. Native Populations: India . . 294,191,379 Ceylon and Eastern Colonies 5,144,954 West Indies . 1,912,655 South Africa 5,211,329 British Central Africa 2,000,000 East Africa . 7,425,000 West Africa 18,863,000 Australasia and Islands 824,000 Canada . See also:

I00,000 335,672,317 White populations . 53,040,468 Total . 388,712,785 This is without taking into account the population of the lesser crown colonies or allowing for the increase likely to be shown by later censuses. Throughout the empire, and notably in the United Kingdom, there is among the white races a considerable sprinkling of Jewish blood. The latest calculation of the entire population of the world, including a liberal estimate of 65o,000,000 for peoples not brought under any census, gives a total of something over 1,500,000,000. The population of the empire may therefore be calculated as amounting to something more than one-See also:fourth of the population of the world.

It is a matter of first importance in the See also:

geographical distribution of the empire that the five principal divisions, the United Kingdom, South Africa, India, Australia and Canada Divisions. are separated from each other by the three great oceans of the world. The distance as usually calculated in nautical See also:miles: from an See also:English See also:port to the Cape of See also:Good See also:Hope is 5840 m.; from the Cape of Good Hope to Bombay is 461o; from Bombay to See also:Melbourne is 5630; from Melbourne to See also:Auckland is 1~83o; from Auckland to See also:Vancouver is 6210; from See also:Halifax to See also:Liverpool is 2744. From a British port See also:direct to Bombay by way of the Mediterranean it is 6272; from a British port by the same route to See also:Sydney 11,548 M. These great distances have necessitated the acquisition of intermediate ports suitable for coaling stations on the See also:trade routes, and have determined the position of many of the lesser crown colonies which are held simply for military and commercial purposes. Such are the See also:Bermudas, See also:Gibraltar, See also:Malta, See also:Aden, Ceylon, the Straits Settlements, See also:Labuan, Hong-Kong, which complete the See also:chain of connexion on ,the eastern route, and such on other routes are the lesser West African stations, See also:Ascension'; St. See also:Helena, the See also:Mauritius and See also:Seychelles, the Falklands, See also:Tristan da Cunha, and the groups of the western Pacific. Other annexations of the British empire have been rocky islets of the northern Pacific required for the purpose of See also:telegraph stations in connexion with an all-British See also:cable. For purposes of political See also:administration the empire falls into the three sections of the United Kingdom of Great See also:Britain and See also:Ireland, with the dependencies of the Channel Islands and the Isle of See also:Man; the Indian empire, consisting of British India and the feudatory native states; and the colonial empire, comprising all other colonies and dependencies. In the See also:modern sense of See also:extension beyond the limits of the United Kingdom the growth of the empire is of comparatively O t6. See also:recent date. The Channel Islands became British as a part of the See also:Norman See also:inheritance of See also:William the Conqueror. The Isle of Man, which was for a See also:short time held in See also:conquest by See also:Edward I. and restored, was 'sold by its titular See also:sovereign to See also:Sir William See also:Scrope, See also:earl of See also:Wiltshire, in 1393, and by his subsequent See also:attainder for high See also:treason and the See also:confiscation of his estates, became a See also:fief of the English crown. It was granted by See also:Henry IV. in I'4o6 to Sir See also:John See also:Stanley, k.

C., ancestor of the earls of See also:

Derby, by whom it was held till 1736, when it passed to See also:James See also:Murray, 2nd See also:duke' of See also:Atholl, as See also:heir-general of the loth earl. It was inherited by his daughter See also:Charlotte, wife of the 3rd duke of Atholl, who sold, it to the crown for £70,000 and an See also:annuity of £2000. With these exceptions and the nominal See also:possession taken of See also:Newfoundland by Sir See also:Humphrey See also:Gilbert in 1583, all the territorial acquisitions of the empire have been made in the 17th and subsequent centuries. The following is a See also:list of the British colonies and dependencies (other than those belonging to the Indian empire) together with a summary statement of the date and method of their acquisition. Arranged in See also:chronological order they give some. See also:idea of the See also:rate of growth of the empire. The See also:dates are not, however, in all cases those in which British See also:sovereignty was established. They indicate in some instances only the first definite step, such as the See also:building of a fort, the opening of a trading station, or other See also:act, which led later to the See also:incorporation in the empire of the country indicated. In the See also:case of Australian states or See also:Canadian provinces originally part of other states or provinces the date is that, approximately, of the first settlement of British in the See also:district named; e.g. there were British colonists in See also:Saskatchewan in the last half of the 18th century, but the See also:province was not constituted until 1905. See also:Save where otherwise stated, British authority has been continuous from the first date mentioned in the table. Reference should be made to the articles on the various colonies. Name. Date.

Method of Acquisition. Newfoundland . 1583 Possession taken by Sir H. Gilbert for the crown. 17th Century. See also:

Barbados . . 1605–1625 Settlement. Bermudas . 1609 Gambia c. 1618 A second time in 1816. St See also:Christopher 1623 Did not become wholly British until 1713. Novia See also:Scotia 1628' Ceded to See also:France 1632; recovered 1.713.

End of Article: BRITISH EMPIRE

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