British Empire

British Empire

The full reach of the British Empire's territorial possessions is depicted here.

1. (historical) The United Kingdom and its dependencies. It became the Commonwealth of Nations following the independence of most of its dependencies.

   The British Empire was the largest empire in history at its climax, during the late 1800s/early 1900s.

The British Empire was a term used to simply describe the Kingdom of Great Britain, its successor state the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and its successor state, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and its colonies, dependencies, and dominions. It was not a term that was used legally.