The British Empire, once the largest on earth, was the world’s first modern superpower. At its height in the early 1900s, it governed nearly one-quarter of the world’s population—about 500 million people—stretching across every inhabited continent.
Hours of research by our editors, distilled into minutes of clarity.
This three-minute 1440 explainer traces the rise of the British Empire, which at its height ruled nearly one in four people—about 500 million—and spanned so many regions that admirers called it “the empire on which the sun never sets.”
See how Britain grew from a small kingdom into a global empire ruling nearly a third of the world, then unraveled through war, nationalist movements, and declining power—leaving just 14 overseas territories as remnants of its once-vast domain.
This video explains how former British colonies—now independent states—evolved into the modern Commonwealth, a loose association representing nearly one-third of the world’s population. It traces the shift from imperial rule to a cooperative forum with no legal obligations to Britain or its monarch.
Between 1765 and 1938, Britain drained an estimated $45T in today’s dollars from India through taxes, resource extraction, and coerced trade—wealth that helped Britain’s economic rise while contributing to widespread poverty in the colony.
This popular history podcast hosts a discussion about the legacy of the British Empire with guest Sathnam Sanghera, a journalist and author of the books Empireland and Empireworld. The conversation contemplates the impact and lasting legacy of the Empire.
This analysis argues that while the British Empire inflicted exploitation and long-term harm, it also exported institutions—like standardized property rights and land surveying—that boosted economic development in some colonies.
Researchers uncovered an early-1900s children’s toy that romanticized the British Empire: a rotating world map showing where the sun shone on Britain’s far-flung territories. The interactive device also served as an advertisement for the Children’s Encyclopedia.
The East India Company began as a private merchant venture and grew into Britain’s dominant power in India—amassing wealth, fielding armies, and governing tens of millions until the Crown took direct control in 1858.
This interactive timeline uses archival maps, illustrations, and documents to trace early American history—from the failed 1590 Roanoke colony and Indigenous accounts of a devastating smallpox epidemic to the political tensions that culminated in the Revolutionary War.
This tool visualizes the East India Company’s trade from 1760–1834, letting you track shipments of tea, textiles, metals, and more. Users can sort by commodity, origin, destination, and date to see London’s vast imperial supply network that shaped the Empire.
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