Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - Imperial Leftovers: The Remnants of the British Empire

Episode Date: August 3, 2020

At its peak, the British Empire covered 23% of the world’s population and 24% of the Earth’s landmass. By either measure, it was the largest empire in the history of the world. Since then…..well, let’s just say the Empire has seen better days. While the vast majority of the Empire is gone, there are still assorted crumbs of the empire that exist around the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At its peak, the British Empire covered 23% of the world's population and 24% of the Earth's landmass. By either measure, it was the largest empire in the history of the world. Since then, let's just say the empire has seen better days. While the vast majority of the empire is gone, there are still assorted crumbs of the empire that exist around the world. Find out more about Britain's imperial leftovers on this edition of Everything Everywhere Daily. What if your perceptions about the past were wrong? ThruLine is a podcast that takes you back in time to uncover the parts of the story that may have gone unnoticed. It effectively turned day into night.

And how it shaped the world now. Time travel with us every week on the ThruLine podcast from NPR. This episode is sponsored by Fluent in three months. Have you ever wanted to learn a foreign language and do so quickly? my friend Benny Lewis over at Fluent in Three Months might be able to help. Benny has spent over a decade language learning around the world. His techniques have helped tens of thousands of people learn the languages they want to learn quickly through both his online courses and his language hacking guides.

I've personally met Benny in many places all over the globe and have seen his language skills and action. He doesn't just talk the talk, he walks the walk when it comes to language learning. And I'm sure he'll be able to help you too. To sign up for his free Speak in a Week email course, just go to FluentIn3 Months.com or click on the link in the show notes. In its heyday, the British Empire was huge. 80 of the current 193 members of the United Nations were at one point or another part of the British Empire. Some of the largest nations on Earth were part of the empire. Canada, Australia, the United States, India, Pakistan, Burma, Sudan, Egypt, and South Africa are just to name some of the big ones.

In the 20th century, the empire started to unwind as various parts became independent. The biggest countries became independent first and then smaller countries joined suit over time. By the early 1980s, the last of their territories that wished to become independent did so. However, not every territory wanted to become independent. Many small islands didn't have the population or the economics to justify becoming independent. These bits of the empire are still around and make up the leftovers of what was once the largest empire on earth. earth. In this episode, I'm going to go through the bits of the empire that still remain and try to go over why they're still there. First is the Cayman Islands. With a population of 68,000 people,

this is by far the largest British territory in terms of population size. Located south of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica, the territory consists of three islands, Grand Cayman, Cayman, Caman, Caman, and Little Cayman. The islands are best known today for being a haven for offshore banking. For 100 years from 1863 to 1962, the islands were administered as part of Jamaica. After Jamaican independence, the islands reverted back to a territory of the United Kingdom. The subject of Cayman independence has come up, but there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of demand for it. Last year, the territory's premier and its opposition leader both agreed that the territory is not yet ready for independence. It should be noted that with a population of 68,000 people, the Cayman Islands would be one of the smallest nations in the world,

but not even close to being the smallest former British territory to become independent. Bermuda Located in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately on the same latitude as Charleston, South Carolina. Bermuda has a long history as a British colony. First established in 1609, it's the oldest British territory. The first Bermuda and brush with independence was actually in the 18th century, when the debate was whether or not to join the United States as the 14th independent colony. As with the Caymans, Bermuda has flirted with the idea of independence, but it's never taken a serious step towards it.

In 1995, the island had a referendum on the subject, and 73.6% of the voters rejected the idea. The debate has resurfaced recently with a ruling progressive labor party supporting independence. The Turks and Caicos If you notice a trend here with a lot of islands in the Caribbean, you're not wrong. Six of the largest remaining territories are all in the Caribbean. As with the Cayman Islands, the Turks and Caicos used to be run out of Jamaica. After Jamaican independence in 1962, they were reverted back to being a British territory. In 1965, the appointed governor of the Bahamas also oversaw the Turks and Caicos.

In the 1980s, moves towards independence were stopped by an anti-independence party, and in 2009, the British assumed direct control over the territory due to a corruption scandal. Unlike the other territories discussed here, the Turks and Caicos have had, had several different exit strategies other than full independence. One proposal would be joining the Canadian Federation. Either they could outright join as a territory like the Yukon, or they could just join one of the existing provinces. Nova Scotia has floated the idea, the primary benefit being that it wouldn't require a change to the Canadian Constitution. Another option that has been floated has been creating a federation with the Bahamas. Geographically, this makes

the most sense. However, polling has showed that the idea wasn't very popular and it was never aggressively pursued. Gibraltar. One of the better known British territories, it's the only one on this list which is not on an island. Physically connected to the European mainland via Spain, Gibraltar served as the base for the British Navy to control access to the Mediterranean Sea. Unlike other territories, independence is sort of out of the question for Gibraltar.

Spain has claimed Gibraltar as its territory ever since it was captured in 1704. The 1713 Treaty of Utrecht ensures that if Britain were to ever relinquished Gibraltar, Spain would have the right of first refusal. The position of the people of Gibraltar is that the Spanish position is irrelevant, and they point to the U.N. Charter, which grants everyone the right to self-determination. In a 2002 referendum, Gibraltar rejected a joint Spanish-British sovereignty proposal with 99% of the electorate voting against it. In 1967 referendum also had more than 99% of the population voting in favor of British sovereignty. One recent sticking point has been the UK leaving the European Union. In a 2016 referendum, the people of Gibraltar voted 96% in favor of staying in the EU. The British Virgin Islands.

The issues facing BVI is not dissimilar to the issues facing the other Caribbean territories, weighing independence versus the cost of being independent and the benefits of British citizenship. While the topic does come up, there hasn't been a movement as serious on BVI for for independence, as there has been in the previously mentioned territories. There hasn't been a referendum, nor has it been a major platform for any of the major parties. As late as 2019, a BVI envoy to the United Nations on the subject of decolonization said they weren't yet ready to make a decision. Anguilla I'm going through the list of territories in order of population. From BVI to Anguilla, there is a huge

drop in population. BVI has a population of approximately 34,000, but in Anguilla only has a population of 15,000. This is at a level where there are only two other UN member states smaller, Nauru and Tuvalu. Anguilla was joined with St. Kitts and Nevis briefly in a 1967 union, and they wanted no part of it. They staged a nonviolent rebellion and expelled the police from the island of St. Kitts. Known as the Anguillan Revolution, this is one of the few revolutions in world history that wasn't about independence, but rather wanting to revert back to being a territory.

After the revolution, they were a republic for about a month in 1969 before the British assumed control again. Today there has been some talk of independence, especially with the British wanting to exert more financial control over the island, but with a population so small it would be difficult, but not impossible to do it by themselves. The sovereign base areas of Akrotiri and Akelia This is the oddest remaining territory in the British system. The island of Cyprus became independent in 1960, yet the British insisted on keeping two small bits of the island for military bases. Today, the bases are used for signal intelligence and as an air base. The United States has also used the bases there for operations in the Middle East.

The areas have been a point of contention between the U.K. and Cyprus since 1960. There are no border controls between the areas, and there's no talk of independence, only giving the territory to Cyprus. Even though the British and Cypriots are adamant about their positions, relations between the two countries are cordial. There have been talks of giving back parts of the territory that are not actively used by the military, but nothing has come of it yet. St. Helena, Ascension, and Tristan Dacuna. We are now truly getting into the tiny bits of the empire. These three islands collectively are one territory, but each is located over a thousand miles from the other in the South Atlantic. St. Helena is the largest of the islands, and only in the last few years have they even had air access. When I visited in 2015, the airport hadn't been completed, and I had to take a five-day voyage there by ship each way.

St. Helena is best known as the final place of exile for Napoleon and where he eventually died. Tristan Nakuna is the world's most remote human settlement with a population of 264, and it's only accessible by ship. Ascension is the northernmost of the three islands and is the location of an airbase, a European space agency tracking station, and an American signal intelligence facility. There is absolutely no talk of independence for any of these islands, as they are all heavily economically dependent upon the U.K. Montserrat. The last of our British territories in the Caribbean, the recent history of the island is dominated by the 1995 eruption of a volcano that destroyed the island's capital of Plymouth. Over two-thirds of the island today is off limits, and over two-thirds of the population of the island left after the eruption. Most of the fleeing islanders went to nearby Antigua or to the UK itself.

The legacy of the eruption has made the island very dependent upon the UK, and there's no talk of independence. In fact, they asked the UN to remove themselves from a list of places to be decolonized. The Falkland Islands If you've heard of the Falklands, it's probably due to that war from the 1980s with Argentina. Here, too, the population at 3,300 people is so small that independence is for all practical purposes out of the question. The biggest political issue is that Argentina claims the island as its territory. In a 2013 referendum, the question of remaining as a British territory was put on the ballot. The result was 1,513 in favor and 3 against.

Culturally, the people there are very British and would absolutely reject any control by Argentina. One retired Argentine diplomat who recently visited the islands admitted that Argentina could never control the islands without the sport of the locals and that by 2033, the odds are better that they would be independent than be part of Argentina. Pitcairn, Henderson, Dulce, and Onio Islands Not only is this the smallest territory in terms of population, but it is the smallest political unit of its type in the world. With the population of about 50 people,

all ancestors of the mutineers from the HMS bound, They reside on Pitcairn in the middle of the Pacific Ocean far from any other human settlement. This also happens to be the only British territory I haven't personally visited yet. While there are some cruise ships that stop, the only regular way to get there is via a cargo ship that travels from French Polynesia every few weeks. The British Indian Ocean Territory. Located in the Indian Ocean, this is a collection of islands which technically do not have a permanent human population. The reason for this is because they forcibly removed every single. everyone who lived there between 1969 and 1973. They were removed to create a joint U.S. military base

on the island of Diego Garcia, which is still occupied today. The nation of Mauritius claims the territory, and the people from the Chagos archipelago that were removed have been fighting a political battle for decades for their right to return. South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. South Georgia lies between South America and Africa, and it's best known for where Ernie Shackleton rescued his men. It also has no permanent human population save for a seasonal science research station. Like the Falcons, it is also claimed by Argentina and was actually the scene of a brief battle in April of 1982 where three Argentine soldiers were actually killed. It's actually an amazing place, and with a recent rat eradication program,

the population of seabirds has rebounded, and it is expected that within a few years, there could be over five million nesting seabirds on the island once more. Finally, the British Antarctic territory. This last territory has had its status put on hold due to the Antarctic Treaty. Nonetheless, the British still have a base in Port Lockroy on the Antarctica Peninsula, where the British claims overlap with the claims of Argentina and Chile. The UK will still issue stamps for the territory, and the southernmost post office in the world is still located in Port Lockroy. All of this is done so they can keep their territorial claims alive. I've actually sent a postcard from here, and it took the better part of a year to arrive.

So you see, what's left to the British Empire really isn't that much anymore. The remaining places are so small that they would have a difficult time declaring independence, and for most of them, they're probably more of an economic burden to the UK than anything else. However, even though there isn't much more than small islands anymore, in a very technical sense, the sun still doesn't set on the British Empire. Executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is James Mackle. Special thanks to everyone who supports the show over on Patreon. Please remember to leave a review over on Apple Podcasts.

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