British Colonial Empire

The British Empire, also known as the British Colonial Empire, comprised the overseas possessions and trading posts established by England and later the United Kingdom. Founded in 1583 CE, it began with colonisation attempts by Scotland and England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height in the 19th and early 20th centuries, it was the largest empire in history, covering 24 percent of the Earth's total land area by 1920 and holding sway over 412 million people by 1913. The empire dissolved in 1997 CE, leaving a widespread constitutional, legal, linguistic, and cultural legacy.