The British Empire: How One Island Ruled 24% of the World

How big was the British Empire? At its 1920 peak it ruled 24% of the world's land and, by 1913, 412 million people: the largest empire in history. How did one small island build it, from pirates and the East India Company to the British Raj, and how did Britain lose almost all of it by 1997? Told on animated maps. Chapters: 0:00 Intro: one island, a quarter of the world 0:21 A small island on the edge of the map 0:58 Companies, colonies and sugar 1:42 The company that conquered India 2:32 Losing America, winning the world 3:06 The sun never sets 3:58 The peak: 1920 4:22 Two world wars break it 5:09 The great unravelling: 1947–1968 5:53 1997, and what's left 6:21 Outro 📚 Read more (affiliate links): • The Anarchy — William Dalrymple (how the East India Company took India): https://www.amazon.in/dp/1526656523?t... • An Era of Darkness — Shashi Tharoor (British rule in India): https://www.amazon.in/dp/938306465X?t... • Empireland — Sathnam Sanghera (how empire shaped Britain): https://www.amazon.in/dp/0241445310?t... • Oxford Student Atlas for India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/9354979661?t... As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Sources: • Peak size: 412 million people in 1913 (23% of the world); 35.5 million km² in 1920 (24% of land) — Wikipedia, 'British Empire' (Maddison data) • East India Company charter 31 Dec 1600; Battle of Plassey 1757; Crown rule of India 1858 — Britannica • Slave trade abolished 1807; Slavery Abolition Act 1833 — UK Parliament • First Opium War and Hong Kong 1842; Suez Canal 1869; Suez Crisis 1956 — Britannica • Jallianwala Bagh 1919: 379 dead officially, over 1,000 by Indian estimates — Britannica • Bengal famine 1943: about 2.1 million deaths (scholarly consensus) — Wikipedia, 'Bengal famine of 1943' • Partition 1947: ~15 million displaced, 200,000 to 2 million killed — Britannica • Ghana 1957; 'Wind of Change' speech 1960; Hong Kong handover 1 July 1997 • 14 British Overseas Territories; 56 Commonwealth members (2026) — UK Parliament, Commonwealth Secretariat Maps: borders from historical-basemaps (A. Ourednik, GPL-3.0) and Natural Earth (public domain). Borders approximate; snapshot years may differ slightly from the events narrated. AI voice; maps and stickmen rendered from data, real people shown only as generic labelled figures. 💬 Was the British Empire more good or more harm? Tell me in the comments! #britishempire #history #maps