A list of former

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

colonies, dependencies and dates when they severed legal ties with Britain:

Gains in sovereignty

Rockall Rockall () is an uninhabitable granite islet situated in the North Atlantic Ocean. The United Kingdom claims that Rockall lies within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and is part of its territory, but this claim is not recognised by Ireland. ...

(1955) – annexed to

the Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

on 18 September.

Losses in sovereignty or other jurisdiction

*The

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of Kingdom of Great Britain, British Colony, colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Fo ...

declared independence from Great Britain on 4 July 1776. * (1922) – see

Unilateral Declaration of Egyptian Independence The Unilateral Declaration of Egyptian Independence on 28 February 1922 was the formal legal instrument by which the United Kingdom recognised Egypt as an independent sovereign state. The status of Egypt had become highly convoluted ever since i ...

. *, , the , , , and (1926) – Dominions at the time of the

Balfour Declaration of 1926 The Balfour Declaration of 1926, issued by the 1926 Imperial Conference of British Empire leaders in London, was named after Arthur Balfour, who was Lord President of the Council. It declared the United Kingdom and the Dominions to be: The ...

. *

Weihai Weihai (), formerly called Weihaiwei (), is a prefecture-level city and major seaport in easternmost Shandong province. It borders Yantai to the west and the Yellow Sea to the east, and is the closest Chinese city to South Korea. Weihai's popula ...

(1930) – fully restored to

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

sovereignty on 1 October. *, , the , , , and (1931) – Recognized Dominions as "autonomous communities within the British Empire" as per the Statute of Westminster.https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1931/4/pdfs/ukpga_19310004_en.pdf The Statue also affirmed the British Parliament wouldn't legislate for the Dominions unless explicitly requested. * (1947) – partitioned on 15 August into the independent dominions of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. * and (1948) – independence to Burma as a republic granted on 4 January; to Ceylon on 4 February. * (1949) – incorporated into

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

as a

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

on 31 March. * (1956) – independence granted on 1 January (was a condominium with ) * (''as '') (1957) – independence granted on 6 March. *

State State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

s of and (1957) – joined on 31 August. * (1960) – became part of a unified on 1 July. * and the (1960) – independence granted to Cyprus as a republic on 16 August (but retaining the

Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia Akrotiri and Dhekelia, officially the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia (SBA),, ''Periochés Kyríarchon Váseon Akrotiríou ke Dekélias''; tr, Ağrotur ve Dikelya İngiliz Egemen Üs Bölgeleri is a British Overseas Territory ...

); to Nigeria on 1 October. * and (1961) – independence granted to Sierra Leone on 27 April; to Tanganyika on 9 December. *

British Cameroon British Cameroon or the British Cameroons was a British mandate territory in British West Africa, formed of the Northern Cameroons and Southern Cameroons. Today, the Northern Cameroons forms parts of the Borno, Adamawa and Taraba states of N ...

(1961) – southern part incorporated into on 1 October and northern part incorporated into on 31 may. *, and (1962) – independence granted to Jamaica on 6 August; to Trinidad and Tobago on 31 August; and to Uganda on 9 October. * States of (''as ''), , and (1963) – states formed with the Federation of Malaya on 16 September * and independence granted to Nigeria as

federal republic A federal republic is a federation of states with a republican form of government. At its core, the literal meaning of the word republic when used to reference a form of government means: "a country that is governed by elected representatives ...

on 1 October; Kenya on 12 December. * (''as ''),

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, and

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

(1964) – independence granted to Malawi on 6 July; Malta on 21 September; Zambia as a republic on 24 October. * (1965) – independence granted on 18 February. * (''as ''), (''as ''), (''as

Basutoland Basutoland was a British Crown colony that existed from 1884 to 1966 in present-day Lesotho. Though the Basotho (then known as Basuto) and their territory had been under British control starting in 1868 (and ruled by Cape Colony from 1871), th ...

''), and (1966) – independence granted to Guyana on 26 May; Botswana on 30 September; Lesotho on 4 October; Barbados on 30 November. *State of (1967) – joined on 30 November. * and (1968) – independence granted to Mauritius on 12 March; to Swaziland on 6 September. * (1970) – independence granted on 10 October. * (1973) – independence granted on 10 July. *, , , and (1978) – independence granted to Seychelles on 29 June; to Solomon Islands on 7 July; to Tuvalu on 1 October; to Dominica as a republic on 3 November. *, , and (1979) – independence granted to Saint Lucia on 22 February; to Kiribati on 12 July; to Saint VIncent and the Grenadines on 27 October. * (''as '') and (''as '') (1980) – independence to Zimbabwe as a republic granted on 17 April; to Vanuatu on 1 July. * and (1981) – independence granted to Belize on 21 September; to Antigua and Barbuda on 1 November. * (1983) – independence granted on 19 September. Anguilla remains a British overseas territory. * (1997) – returned to the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

as a Special Administrative Region on 1 July as per the

Sino-British Joint Declaration The Sino-British Joint Declaration is a treaty between the governments of the United Kingdom and China signed in 1984 setting the conditions in which Hong Kong was transferred to Chinese control and for the governance of the territory after ...

Termination of personal union or other connection with the United Kingdom's monarchy

* (1949) – dominion status ended by unilateral legislative act on 18 April and left

the Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the ...

. * (1950) – dominion status ended by

constitutional amendment A constitutional amendment is a modification of the constitution of a polity, organization or other type of entity. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly altering the text. Conversely, t ...

on 26 January. * (1956) – dominion status ended with new constitution on 23 March. * (1960) –

Commonwealth realm A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state in the Commonwealth of Nations whose monarch and head of state is shared among the other realms. Each realm functions as an independent state, equal with the other realms and nations of the Commonwealt ...

status ended by referendum on 1 July. * (1961) – dominion status ended by referendum on 31 May and left the Commonwealth. * (1962) –

status ended on 9 December. * (1963) –

status ended by

Constitution of Uganda The Constitution of Uganda is the supreme law of Uganda. The fourth and current constitution was promulgated on 8 October 1995. It sanctions a republican form of government with a powerful President. First constitution (1962–1966) The first co ...

constitutional amendment on 9 October. * (1964) –

status ended with new constitution on 12 December. * and the (1966) –

status ended by Nigeria via

on 24 May; Malawi via new constitution on 6 July. * and (1970) –

statuses ended by Guyana via

effective 17 March; The Gambia via referendum on 14 April. * (1971) –

status ended on 19 April. * (1972) – dominion status ended on 22 May; renamed

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. * (1974) –

status ended on 13 December. * (1976) –

status ended on 1 March. * (1992) –

status ended on 12 March. * (2021) –

status ended by

on 30 November.

Other changes

* (1982) – severed legal ties with Britain, but retained

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

. * and (1986) – severed legal ties (see:

Australia Act 1986 The Australia Act 1986 is the short title of each of a pair of separate but related pieces of legislation: one an Act of Parliament, Act of the Commonwealth (i.e. federal) Parliament of Australia, the other an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of ...

and

Constitution Act 1986 The Constitution Act 1986 is an Act of the New Zealand Parliament that forms a major part of the constitution of New Zealand. It lays down the framework defining fundamental political principles of governance, and establishes the powers of the ...

) with Britain, but both (see:

Monarchy of Australia The monarchy of Australia is Australia's form of government embodied by the Australian sovereign and head of state. The Australian monarchy is a constitutional monarchy, modelled on the Westminster system of parliamentary government, while i ...

and

Monarchy of New Zealand The monarchy of New Zealand is the constitutional system of government in which a hereditary monarch is the sovereign and head of state of New Zealand. The current monarch, King Charles III, ascended the throne following the death of his mot ...

) individually retained

as head of state. * (1987) – post-coup end of dominion status accepted on 15 October. Elizabeth II remained traditional (though unofficial)

Paramount Chief A paramount chief is the English-language designation for the highest-level political leader in a regional or local polity or country administered politically with a chief-based system. This term is used occasionally in anthropological and arch ...

until 2012, when the informal links with the British monarchy have been terminated. * (2003) – court of final appeal transferred from the

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 Augus ...

to the

Supreme Court of New Zealand The Supreme Court of New Zealand ( mi, Te Kōti Mana Nui, lit=Court of Great Mana) is the highest court and the court of last resort of New Zealand. It formally came into being on 1 January 2004 and sat for the first time on 1 July 2004. It re ...

, which was created in 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Changes In British Sovereignty Political history of the United Kingdom