BRITAIN'S LOST EMPIRE

Scotland voted in a referendum for independence. They voted not to be independent, but they could have become another of the many countries that have had the British rule throughout history. In this post, we show every country that has left the United Kingdom's rule in maps (taken from the British newspaper "The Guardian") of different times. Above, the oldest, below the most recent. All these countries now still belong to the Commonwealth.

Since the Act of Union in 1707 the United Kingdom has ruled vast extensions of land across the world, a lot of countries have since then left the UK's rule. Scotland could have become the last one to do so, but is hasn't.

Australia, Canada & New Zealand were independent  much before the 1980s, but until then they hadn't officially removed all their ties with the UK.