Do the British still have any of thier empire left today?

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I was just wondering if they still "owned" any territory not in the British Isles. They still own the Falkland Islands right? I know they owned Hong Kong untill a few years ago when they had to give it back to China. What else do they own?

We never learned this stuff in school and I really would like to know. Hell, we didn't even learn about US territories in school. I know the USA ownes Guam, and Midway and maybe a few other leftovers from WWII. We also own Puerto Rico, which will hopefully be our 51 state sometime soon. Thats about as much as I know.

 

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Commonwealth

Well, it's been a while since university, but I used to know this. I do know that after WWII, Britain didn't want to continue with the empire image, but liked the economics of it all. They developed the Commonwealth, which was an economic linkage to olde Britain, but political independence. Some countries joined, some left, but I am not sure if anyone stayed as a territory of the UK. I've also heard it joked that the only reason Australia is still in the Commonwealth is so that they can beat the UK up in the Commonwealth games.

Not 100% sure of all that, but pretty sure.

 

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Tad more complex than that. In a way much of the British isles is the remnant of the British empire - from Northern Ireland (fairly clear), Scotland (hmm maybe), to Wales (ok...) Many other areas which are not really British at all remain part of the British territory such as Gibralter, the Falklands, St Helena and Ascension island. Many states remain essentially British dependencies for instance the Cayman Islands, St Kitts and Nevis etc. Many others continue to be nominal dominions - the Queen is still head of state of god knows how many countries from Canada to Australia etc - although that relationship is of decreasing importance. Still the Lords (and I seem to recall the privy council in some capacity) remains the final court of appeal for them. And then many states remain under effective British military protection such as Belize, Oman. Others receive informal protection via semi "private contractors," such as Brunei. Ie the commonwealth is the least of it. Bottom line, we're not as bad as the French (who seem to drop paratroops into French Africa very time someone starts to act independent) but there remains a large network of informal influence. Its not an empire but then again empire is done differently now a days. Just ask the Americans!

 

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Gibraltar...

 

[Rex Francorum]

Canada

 

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The French still have a rest of their colonies (called territories d'outre-mer DOM ) in the carribean and god knows where else

 

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Spain has two cities and five "sovereignity places" in Morocco

 

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Originally posted by qwertyuiop1
Its not an empire but then again empire is done differently now a days. Just ask the Americans!

You wise (wo?)man, you! Why outright control their governments when you can simply buy everything that matters, sell it back to the people at a premium, and control the government via corporations?

 

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Originally posted by qwertyuiop1
Tad more complex than that. In a way much of the British isles is the remnant of the British empire - from Northern Ireland (fairly clear), Scotland (hmm maybe), to Wales (ok...)

That would make it the English Empire, mmm?

 

[Drakken]

Originally posted by qwertyuiop1
Many others continue to be nominal dominions - the Queen is still head of state of god knows how many countries from Canada to Australia etc - although that relationship is of decreasing importance. Still the Lords (and I seem to recall the privy council in some capacity) remains the final court of appeal for them.

The Lord's Privy Council in London is not the most Supreme court of appeal in Canada since the 40s. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court in Canada, and the 7 judges are nominated by the Prime Minister. And of course, the Supreme Court has no accounts to give to anyone.

Drakken

 

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Gorion!

Hey, Gorion, what do you care about a little thing like Gibraltar for anyway? At least Spain got Minorca and Havana back from the Brits, and beat off their attacks in South America. If you really want a naval fortress in the British Isles as compensation, why not form an Armada?!?

 

[Rex Francorum]

Originally posted by Drakken


The Lord's Privy Council in London is not the most Supreme court of appeal in Canada since the 40s. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court in Canada, and the 7 judges are nominated by the Prime Minister. And of course, the Supreme Court has no accounts to give to anyone.

Drakken

Paradoxalement, les premiers ministres du Québec (notamment Taschereau) voulait garder les appels au Conseil privé au lieu de se référer, en dernier lieu, à la Cour suprême

Paradoxically, prime ministers of Québec (especially Louis-Alexandre Taschereau) wanted to keep Privy Council as highest judiciary court...over Supreme Court of Canada (re )

 

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The change from the BNA act appeal process came with the repatriation of the CDN constituion in the 80's, Quebec like it or not (they didn't sign) are still subject to it.

 

[Drakken]

Originally posted by Azoic
The change from the BNA act appeal process came with the repatriation of the CDN constituion in the 80's, Quebec like it or not (they didn't sign) are still subject to it.

This is undeniable. The fact that you don't sign a Constitution doesn't mean that you are not subject to it, especially is ratified legally by the necessary majority.

But there are an other text who are modifying, at least indirectly, the Canadian Constitution. The Westminster Act 1931, which grants independance to all Dominions of the Commonwealth.

Drakken

 

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Does spain still own anything overseas?

What about portugaul? The Azores, Zanzibar, etc?

 

[Agelastus]

Zanzibar? After being part of the British empire from the late Nineteenth century, the former Sultanate became part of the Republic of Tanzania upon independence.

To the best of my knowledge, other than the Mid-Atlantic area islands, Portugal's let everything else go.

 

[Agelastus]

On the subject of the British Empire, we retain about a hundred square miles of territory on Cyprus (two Airbases.) These two bases are sovereign, rather than leased, territory, much like the American base at Guantanamo Bay on Cuba.

 

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From the Foreign Office:

Commonwealth Members
Antigua & Barbuda
Australia
Bahamas
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belize
Botswana
Brunei Darussalam
Cameroon
Canada
Cyprus
Dominica
Fiji Islands
The Gambia
Ghana
Grenada
Guyana
India
Jamaica
Kenya
Kiribati
Lesotho
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Malta
Mauritius Mozambique
Namibia
Nauru
New Zealand
Nigeria
Pakistan
Papua New Guinea
St Kitts & Nevis
St Lucia
St Vincent & the Grenadines
Samoa
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Solomon Islands
South Africa
Sri Lanka
Swaziland
Tanzania
Tonga
Trinidad & Tobago
Tuvalu
Uganda
United Kingdom
Vanuatu
Zambia
Zimbabwe

___________

On the subject of Gibraltar, I, as an American, believe it to be sovereign territory of the United Kingdom. They took it in a war via peace treaty, it is theirs, not to mention that the populace overwhelmingly (90%+) voted to remain part of Britain

As to Puerto Rico becoming the 51st state, that is a shitty idea. Independence of Puerto Rico is what is best for the United States, the real ones. We spend way too much money on that island, get only a fraction back, and they won't even let our military use a piss ass little island to train on. They don't deserve the PRIVELEGE of being in the United States, nor do those bastards deserve the PRIVELEGE of being American citizens. And I don't give a damn about who I offend with those statements.

 

[Sir James]

Many Commonwealth countries retain the House of Lords as the ultimate court of appeal. Botswana is one, which, like many African and Caribbean countries, retains the death penalty. If invoked there is an automatic appeal to the highest court applicable, ie the British House of Lords, who are thus regularly considering (and generally approving) capital punishment cases, despite it being a complete no-no in the UK.

 

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There's the island of Rockall between Britain and the USA in the middle of the Atlantic. It's on the map but there's no information about it.