The Vast Reach of the British Empire

The British Empire was once the largest empire in human history, so massive that

people said the sun never set on it—because it literally didn’t. At its peak around

1919, the empire controlled almost a quarter of the entire world’s land,

stretching across Africa, Asia, the Americas, the Middle East,

and the Pacific. It ruled over more than 400 million people, about one out of

every four humans alive at the time. From Canada to India, Australia to huge parts of Africa,

and countless islands in between, the British Empire’s reach shaped global politics,

economics, and culture in ways that are still felt today. It wasn’t just big—it