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Former Colonies of the British Empire

From the dates they left the British Empire, name the countries once part of it.
This quiz lists only colonies which have officially gained independence from the U.K.
Not included are colonies which were made part of Britain and never left
Also not included are colonies which did not become countries upon leaving Britain, such as Hong Kong and Palestine.
Quiz by Maladroit
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Last updated: March 28, 2020
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First submittedMarch 23, 2017
Times taken4,251
Average score71.2%
Rating3.92
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Dates
Country
1783
United States of America
1867
Canada
1901
Australia
1907
New Zealand
1910
South Africa
1919
Afghanistan
1922
Egypt
1932
Iraq
1946
Jordan
1947
Pakistan
1947
India
1948
Myanmar
1948
Ceylon
1948
Israel
1956
Sudan
1957
Ghana
1957
Malaysia
1960
Cyprus
1960
Nigeria
1961
Sierra-Leone
1961
Kuwait
1961
Tanzania
1962
Uganda
1962
Jamaica
1962
Trinidad and Tobago
1963
Kenya
1964
Malawi
1964
Malta
1964
Zambia
1965
The Gambia
1965
Maldives
1966
Guyana
1966
Botswana
1966
Lesotho
1966
Barbados
1967
Yemen
1968
Nauru
1968
Mauritius
1968
Eswatini
1970
Tonga
1970
Fiji
1971
Qatar
1971
Bahrain
1971
United Arab Emirates
1973
The Bahamas
1974
Grenada
1976
Seychelles
1978
Tuvalu
1978
Solomon Islands
1978
Dominica
1979
Saint Lucia
1979
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
1979
Kiribati
1980
Zimbabwe
1980
Vanuatu
1981
Belize
1982
Antigua and Barbuda
1983
Saint Kitts and Nevis
1984
Brunei
skukka
+2
Level 59
Mar 23, 2017
Could you accept Bahamas and Gambia without 'the'?
bezz
+3
Level 69
May 3, 2017
Surprised that Ireland is not on the list, were they not a colony of the UK that became independent in 1921?
Maladroit
+1
Level 51
May 3, 2017
Ireland as a whole has never been a British colony. It has been invaded numerous times, dating back to an 1171 occupation, but during the time of the British empire it went from a kingdom (similar to modern Commonwealth countries, it was under the reigning monarch but not the country itself) to Northern Ireland, while the remainder of Ireland expanded to fill much of the island.
Nyackjohn
+8
Level 78
Nov 14, 2021
Very incorrect. Ireland did not gain independence from the British Crown until 1922 following the Anglo-Irish War - when 26 of the 32 counties - those in the East, South, West and Northwest became the Dominion of the "Irish Free State" leaving the other 6 counties of the Northeast to become the modern state of "Northern Ireland" and one of the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom.

The Irish Free State finally broke from all British control in 1949 when it became the fully independent republic we know of today, "The Republic of Ireland".

The author of this quiz is not relating the facts as they happened in their bizarre answer to 'bezz' on May 3, 2017. No, Ireland did not "expand" in the way you described. That answer is an insult to Ireland and to known history. I am surprised no one called "foul" on that in 4 years. I don't know what led you to these conclusions. If you need a brief history refresher:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_rule_in_Ireland

Spiderweb
+1
Level 73
Nov 14, 2021
I do second that some Irish will likely be quite offended by leaving them out of this quiz. As they are still proving in Derry county for one. (Read IRA).

And whilst the semantics do sound right, they are very much not. The counties that make up the current Republic of Ireland where very much under direct control of the Westminster government.

The fact that in 1870, 1873, 1882, 1886, 1893, 1912, 1916 (quite famous actually something with easter and 'rebellion' on netflix). There was a home-rule movement strongly suggests this fact. Moreover the party with still the Republican thought is called Sinn Fein which translates into 'we for ourselves' from Gaelic (Irish) again implying that self governance was not a thing for quite some time.

The famous potato famine too was caused by conscious choice from London not intervene in the dubbed 'economic downturn' because of liberalism.

Technically they were never administered as a colony but then again neither were Israel, Egypt.

Spiderweb
+2
Level 73
Nov 14, 2021
I could go on naming reasons why your choice is incorrect.

I DO applaud the effort and the idea of creating this quiz

And I Do get the confusion since it was never a 'true' colony but if one of the high school students I teach would miss Ireland as an area formerly governed by the British empire is would very much cost them points. Or in your case a nomination.

Kcirej
+2
Level 33
Aug 8, 2017
You forgot Singapore,Bangladesh
Maladroit
+2
Level 51
Aug 8, 2017
The situation of Bangladesh is complicated, to say the least. It was never officially a colony but did gain independence from the U.K. I will add Singapore, however.
VoltCrasher
+1
Level 32
May 6, 2020
Bangladesh may not have been a direct colony, but it was still a territory within the British Raj until it's dissolution in 1947. So shouldn't it still count?
typhoons
+1
Level 54
Nov 25, 2021
british raj was divided into two states, india and pakistan, the latter of which bangladesh was part of. bangladesh is obviously now not part of pakistan which is why it is excluded
Maladroit
+1
Level 51
Aug 8, 2017
Upon further investigation, Singapore went from a colony of Britain to being occupied by Japan to a semi-country state post-WWII to a merger with Malaysia and only then did it become a fully fledged country.
kalbahamut
+3
Level 82
Nov 14, 2021
Singapore declared independence from Malaysia didn't it? And Bangladesh declared independence from Pakistan.
WillemLAif
+1
Level 76
Jan 29, 2018
Apparently partial conquests do not apply(?)
Maladroit
+1
Level 51
Jan 30, 2018
Yes. Edge cases are usually not included (for example, Bangladesh - see above). Hence France does not appear, among others.
jennyfleur
+1
Level 64
Jan 18, 2019
Did you leave out Hong Kong and Palestine because the British handed them over to other countries rather than granting them independence outright? If so, perhaps an additional explanatory note is in order, which would cover the Singapore case as well. Former colonies relinquished by Britian, which did not immediately become independent, sovereign nations are also excluded. Or something like that...
Maladroit
+3
Level 51
Mar 13, 2019
I'll add a note about this -- the quiz is just countries, not possessions which changed hands like Hong Kong or land claims like Palestine. (Although Palestine may have *some* claim to countryhood nowadays, though not much, it certainly didn't when it was released from British rule. It was then, officially speaking, part of the land area that was then declared Israel.)
BrazenMosaur
+1
Level 73
Jan 12, 2020
Can you please accept Eswatini instead of Swaziland as every other quiz on Jetpunk does it?
Maladroit
+1
Level 51
Jan 14, 2020
Sure!
VoltCrasher
+1
Level 32
May 6, 2020
British Cameroons? British Somaliland? Papua new guinea? Northern/Southern Cameroons were both separate colonies, British Somaliland was an official protectorate, and New Guinea was controlled by Australia. And the kingdom of Hanover was an English puppet until german unification in the late 1800s, but that wasn't significantly influential.
JackintheBox
+1
Level 79
Aug 6, 2020
I think you should rephrase your second caveat that says 'colonies which were made part of Britain and never left', which I assume you mean the current British Overseas Territories. They were actually never a part of the United Kingdom and are not considered as such; they are dependent territories of the UK while not being a part of it.
Geopro
+1
Level 60
Apr 2, 2021
Great quiz! Only missed Ceylon and Kuwait.
sanlucas2
+1
Level 56
Aug 16, 2021
very good quiz! Nominated
kalbahamut
+4
Level 82
Nov 14, 2021
Is this only present-day sovereign states? What about Newfoundland?
Zettron
+1
Level 40
Dec 8, 2023
What about Oman?
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