The only coloured native races of Canada are the Red Indians, many in
tribal variety, but few in number.
_Summary_.
Native Populations:
India 294,191,379
Ceylon and Eastern Colonies 5,144,954
West Indies 1,912,655
South Africa 5,211,329
British Central Africa 2,000,000
East Africa 7,425,000
West Africa 18,863,000
Australasia and Islands 824,000
Canada 100,000
-----------
335,672,317
White populations 53,040,468
Total 388,712,785
This is without taking into account the population of the lesser crown
colonies or allowing for the increase likely to be shown by later censuses.
Throughout the empire, and notably in the United Kingdom, there is among
the white races a considerable sprinkling of Jewish blood.
The latest calculation of the entire population of the world, including a
liberal estimate of 650,000,000 for peoples not brought under any census,
gives a total of something over 1,500,000,000. The population of the empire
may therefore be calculated as amounting to something more than one-fourth
of the population of the world.
It is a matter of first importance in the geographical distribution of the
empire that the five principal divisions, the United [Sidenote: Divisions.]
Kingdom, South Africa, India, Australia and Canada are separated from each
other by the three great oceans of the world. The distance as usually
calculated in nautical miles: from an English port to the Cape of Good Hope
is 5840 m.; from the Cape of Good Hope to Bombay is 4610; from Bombay to
Melbourne is 5630; from Melbourne to Auckland is 1830; from Auckland to
Vancouver is 6210; from Halifax to Liverpool is 2744. From a British port
direct to Bombay by way of the Mediterranean it is 6272; from a British
port by the same route to Sydney 11,548 m. These great distances have
necessitated the acquisition of intermediate ports suitable for coaling
stations on the trade routes, and have determined the position of many of
the lesser crown colonies which are held simply for military and commercial
purposes. Such are the Bermudas, Gibraltar, Malta, Aden, Ceylon, the
Straits Settlements, Labuan, Hong-Kong, which complete the [v.04 p.0608]
chain of connexion on the eastern route, and such on other routes are the
lesser West African stations, Ascension, St. Helena, the Mauritius and
Seychelles, the Falklands, Tristan da Cunha, and the groups of the western
Pacific. Other annexations of the British empire have been rocky islets of
the northern Pacific required for the purpose of telegraph stations in
connexion with an all-British cable.
For purposes of political administration the empire falls into the three
sections of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, with the
dependencies of the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man; the Indian empire,
consisting of British India and the feudatory native states; and the
colonial empire, comprising all other colonies and dependencies.
In the modern sense of extension beyond the limits of the United Kingdom
the growth of the empire is of comparatively [Sidenote: Growth.] recent
date. The Channel Islands became British as a part of the Norman
inheritance of William the Conqueror. The Isle of Man, which was for a
short time held in conquest by Edward I. and restored, was sold by its
titular sovereign to Sir William Scrope, earl of Wiltshire, in 1393, and by
his subsequent attainder for high treason and the confiscation of his
estates, became a fief of the English crown. It was granted by Henry IV. in
1406 to Sir John Stanley, K.C., ancestor of the earls of Derby, by whom it
was held till 1736, when it passed to James Murray, 2nd duke of Atholl, as
heir-general of the 10th earl. It was inherited by his daughter Charlotte,
wife of the 3rd duke of Atholl, who sold it to the crown for £70,000 and an
annuity of £2000. With these exceptions and the nominal possession taken of
Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey Gilbert in 1583, all the territorial
acquisitions of the empire have been made in the 17th and subsequent
centuries.
The following is a list of the British colonies and dependencies (other
than those belonging to the Indian empire) together with a summary
statement of the date and method of their acquisition. Arranged in
chronological order they give some idea of the rate of growth of the
empire. The dates are not, however, in all cases those in which British
sovereignty was established. They indicate in some instances only the first
definite step, such as the building of a fort, the opening of a trading
station, or other act, which led later to the incorporation in the empire
of the country indicated. In the case of Australian states or Canadian
provinces originally part of other states or provinces the date is that,
approximately, of the first settlement of British in the district named;
_e.g._ there were British colonists in Saskatchewan in the last half of the
18th century, but the province was not constituted until 1905. Save where
otherwise stated, British authority has been continuous from the first date
mentioned in the table. Reference should be made to the articles on the
various colonies.
Name. Date. Method of Acquisition.
Newfoundland 1583 Possession taken by Sir H. Gilbert
for the crown.
_17th Century._
Barbados 1605-1625 Settlement.
Bermudas 1609 "
Gambia c. 1618 " A second time in 1816.
St Christopher 1623 " Did not become wholly
British until 1713.
Novia Scotia 1628 " Ceded to France 1632;
recovered 1713.
Nevis 1628 "
Montserrat 1632 "
Antigua 1632 "
Honduras 1638 "
St Lucia 1638 " Finally passed to Great
Britain in 1803.
Gold Coast c. 1650 Settlement. Danish forts bought
1850, Dutch forts 1871. Northern
Territories added 1897.
St Helena 1651 Settled by East India Co.
Government vested in British
crown 1833.
Jamaica 1655 Conquest.
Bahamas 1666 Settlement.
Virgin Islands 1666-1672 Settlement and conquest.
N.W. Territories of Canada 1669 Settlement under royal charter of
Hudson's Bay Co. Purchased from
imp. gov. 1869, and transferred
to Canada 1870.
Turks and Caicos Is. 1678 Settlement.
_18th Century._
Gibraltar 1704 Capitulation.
New Brunswick 1713 Cession.
Prince Edward Is. 1758 Conquest.
Ontario 1759-1790 With New Brunswick and Nova
Quebec 1759-1790 Scotia constituted Dominion of
Canada 1867. Prince Edward Is.
enters the confederation 1873.
In 1880 all British possessions
(other than Newfoundland) in
North America annexed to the
Dominion.
Dominica 1761 Conquest.
St Vincent 1762 Capitulation.
Grenada 1762 "
Tobago 1763 Cession. Afterwards in French
possession. Reconquered 1803.
Falkland Is. 1765 Settlement. Reoccupied 1832.
Saskatchewan 1766 Settlement. Separation from N.W.
Territories of Canada 1905.
Pitcairn I. 1780 Settlement.
Straits Settlements 1786 to 1824 Settlement and cession. Vested
(1858) in crown by E.I. Co.
Transferred from Indian to
colonial possessions 1867.
Malacca in British occupation
1795-1818.
Sierra Leone 1787 Settlement.
Alberta c. 1788 Separated from N. W. Territories
of Canada 1905.
New South Wales 1788 Settlement.
Ceylon 1795 Capitulation.
Trinidad 1797 "
Malta 1800 "
_19th Century._
British Guiana 1803 Capitulation.
Tasmania 1803 Settlement.
Cape of Good Hope 1806 Capitulation. Present limits not
attained until 1895. First
British occupation 1795-1803.
Seychelles 1806 Capitulation.
Mauritius 1810 "
Manitoba 1811 Settlement by Red River or Selkirk
colony. Created province of
Canada 1870.
Ascension and Tristan da Cunha 1815 Military occupation.
B. Columbia and Vancouver Island 1821 Settlement under Hudson's Bay Co.
Entered Canadian confederation
1871.
Natal 1824 Settlement. Natal Boers submit
1843.
Queensland 1824 Separated from New South Wales
1859.
West Australia 1826 Settlement.
Victoria 1834 Separated from New South Wales
1851.
South Australia 1836 Settlement.
New Zealand 1840 Settlement and treaty.
Hong-Kong 1841 Treaties. Kowloon on the mainland
added in 1860; additional area
leased 1898.
Labuan 1846 Cession. Incorporated in Straits
Settlements 1906.
Lagos 1861 Cession. South Nigeria amalgamated
with Lagos, under style of
Colony and Protectorate of
Southern Nigeria 1906.
Basutoland 1868 Annexation.
Fiji 1874 Cession.
[v.04 p.0609]
W. Pacific Islands, including 1877 High commission created by order
including Union, Ellice, in council, giving jurisdiction
Gilbert, Southern Solomon, over islands not included in
and other groups other colonial governments, nor
within jurisdiction of other
civilized powers. Protectorates
over all these islands by 1900.
Federated Malay States 1874-1895 Treaty.
Cyprus 1878 Occupied by treaty.
North Borneo 1881 Treaty and settlement under royal
charter. Protectorate assumed
1888.
Papua 1884 Protectorate declared.
Nigeria 1884-1886 Treaty, conquest and settlement
under royal charter. Chartered
Co.'s territory transferred to
crown, and whole divided into
North and South Nigeria 1900.
Somaliland 1884-1886 Occupation and cession.
Protectorate declared 1887.
Bechuanaland 1885-1891 Protectorate declared. Southern
portion annexed to Cape Colony
1895.
Zululand 1887 Annexation. Incorporated in Natal
1897.
Sarawak 1888 Protectorate declared.
Brunei 1888 " "
British East Africa 1888 Treaty, conquest and settlement
under royal charter. Transferred
to crown 1895.
Rhodesia 1888-1893 Treaty, conquest and settlement
under royal charter.
Zanzibar 1890 Protectorate declared.
Uganda 1890-1896 Treaty and protectorate.
Nyasaland 1891 Protectorate declared.
Ashanti 1896 Military occupation.
Wei-hai-wei 1898 Lease from China.
Pacific Islands--
Christmas, Fanning, 1898 Annexed for purposes of projected
Penrhyn, Suvarov Pacific cable.
Choiseul and Isabel Is. 1899 Cession.
(Solomon Group)
Tonga and Niué 1900 Protectorate declared.
Orange Free State 1900 Annexation. Formerly British
1848-1854.
Transvaal and Swaziland 1900 Annexation. Formerly British
1877-1881.
_20th Century._
Kelantan, Trengganu, &c. 1909 Cession from Siam.
In the Pacific are also Bird Island, Bramble Cay, Cato Island, Cook
Islands, Danger Islands, Ducie Island, Dudosa, Howland Island, Jarvis
Island, Kermadec Islands, Macquarie Island, Manihiki Islands, Nassau
Island, Palmerston Island, Palmyra Island, Phoenix Group, Purdy Group,
Raine Island, Rakaanga Island, Rotumah Island, Surprise Island, Washington
or New York Island, Willis Group and Wreck Reef.
In the Indian Ocean there are, besides the colonies already mentioned,
Rodriguez, the Chagos Islands, St Brandon Islands, Amirante Islands,
Aldabra, Kuria Muria Islands, Maldive Islands and some other small groups.
In certain dependencies the sovereignty of Great Britain is not absolute.
The island of Cyprus is nominally still part of the Turkish empire, but in
1878 was handed over to Great Britain for occupation and administration;
Great Britain now making to the Porte on account of the island an annual
payment of £5000. The administration is in the hands of an official styled
high commissioner, who is invested with the powers usually conferred on a
colonial governor. In Zanzibar and other regions of equatorial Africa the
native rulers retain considerable powers; in the Far East certain areas are
held on lease from China.
Egypt, without forming part of the British empire, came under the military
occupation of Great Britain in 1882. "By right of conquest" Great Britain
subsequently claimed a share in the administration of the former Sudan
provinces of Egypt, and an agreement of the 19th of January 1899
established the joint sovereignty of Great Britain and Egypt over what is
now known as the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan.
The Indian section of the empire was acquired during the 17th-19th
centuries under a royal charter granted to the East India Company by Queen
Elizabeth in 1600. It was transferred to the imperial government in 1858,
and Queen Victoria was proclaimed empress under the Royal Titles Act in
1877. The following list gives the dates and method of acquisition of the
centres of the main divisions of the Indian empire. They have, in most
instances, grown by general process of extension to their present
dimensions.
Name. Date. Method of Acquisition.
Madras 1639 By treaty and subsequent conquest.
to Fort St George, the foundation
1748 of Madras was the first territorial
possession of the E.I. Co. in India.
It was acquired by treaty with its
Indian ruler. Madras was raised into
a presidency in 1683; ceded to France
1746; recovered 1748.
Bombay 1608 Treaty and cession. Trade first
to established 1608. Ceded to British
1685 crown by Portugal 1661. Transferred
to E.I. Co. 1668. Presidency removed
from Surat 1687.
Bengal 1633 Treaty and subsequent conquests. First
to trade settlement established by
1765 treaty at Pipli in Orissa 1633.
Erected into presidency by separation
from Madras 1681. Virtual sovereignty
announced by E.I. Co., as result of
conquests of Clive, 1765.
United Provinces 1764 By conquests and treaty through
of Agra and Oudh to successive stages, of which the
1856 principal dates were 1801-3-14-15.
In 1832 the nominal sovereignty of
Delhi, till then retained by the
Great Mogul, was resigned into the
hands of the E.I. Co. Oudh, of which
the conquest may be said to have
begun with the battle of Baxar in
1764, was finally annexed in 1856.
Central Provinces 1802-1817 By conquest and treaty.
Eastern Bengal 1825-1826 Conquest and cession. The Bengal
and Assam portion of the province by
separation from Bengal in 1905.
Burma 1824-1852 Conquest and cession.
Punjab 1849 Conquest and annexation. Made into
distinct province 1859.
N.-W. Frontier 1901 Subdivision.
Province
Ajmere and Merwara 1818 By conquest and cession.
Coorg 1834 Conquest and annexation.
British Baluchistan 1854-1876 Conquest and treaty.
Andaman Islands 1858 Annexation.
The following is a list of some of the principal Indian states which are
more or less under the control of the British government:--