A map showing all the countries that Britain has invaded over the years reveals there are only 22 countries that have not been touched by the UK’s military might.
Of the 193 countries in the world, Great Britain has conducted military campaigns of one sort or another in 171 of them. In fact, the UK has invaded more countries than other nation in history.
It has fought in conflicts, or had some control over, nine-out-of-ten of the world’s current UN member states. This is according to historian Stuart Laycock, who wrote 2012’s ‘All the Countries We’ve Ever Invaded: And the Few We Never Got Round To’.
Laycock’s definition of an invasion included military presence, force, threat of force, negotiation, payment. It also included incursions by British pirates, privateers, or armed explorers.
Britain’s Empire began in the 1500s with trading posts in the Americas and Africa. By the 1800s, it had spread across Asia and Australasia.
By 1912, the British Empire ruled over 412 million people – which was 23 per cent of the global population at the time. It covered 24 per cent of the earth.
However, in terms of longevity, the British Empire doesn’t even make it into the top 10. Most agree the British Empire lasted for almost 400 years – fom the 16th century until the late 20th century.
However, the Roman Empire last for nearly 1,500 years – from 27 BCE to 1453 CE. It is widely considered to be the longer- lasting Empire.
Meanwhile, the ancient Egyptian civilization lasted for more than 3,000 years, from around 3100 BCE to 30 CE. However, it consisted of multiple different empires and was ruled by thirty-one different dynasties, which are classified into Old, Middle and New Kingdoms.
Several Empires built by European nations also lasted for longer than the British Empire. These include the Republic of Venice, The Holy Roman Empire and the Portuguese Empire.
Nonetheless, it could be argued that Britain’s Empire shaped the modern world as much any of the others have done. Many former colonies are now members of the Commonwealth, a collection of 15 nations with King Charles as head of state.
In the synopsis for his book, Laycock writes: “A lot of people are vaguely aware that a quarter of the globe was once pink, but that’s not even half the story. We’re a stroppy, dynamic, irrepressible nation and this is how we changed the world, often when it didn’t ask to be changed!”
Here is a full list of the 22 countries that have not been invaded by Britain:
- Andorra
- Belarus
- Bolivia
- Burundi
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Congo
- Guatemala
- Ivory Coast
- Kyrgyzstan
- Liechtenstein
- Luxembourg
- Mali
- Marshall Islands
- Monaco
- Mongolia
- Paraguay
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Sweden
- Tajikistan
- Uzbekistan
- Vatican City.