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212 Countries gained independence from U.K.

List of countries that have gained independence from the United Kingdom

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Below are lists of the countries and territories formerly ruled or administered by the United Kingdom or part of the British Empire, with their independence days. Some countries did not gain their independence on a single date, therefore the latest day of independence is shown with a break down of dates further down. A total of 65 countries have claimed their independence.

Colonies, Protectorates and Mandates[edit]

Country	Pre-independence name (if different)	Date	Year of independence or first stage	Notes
Afghanistan		19 August	1919	Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919
Antigua and Barbuda	Antigua, Leeward Islands	1 November	1981
Australia		11 December	1901	Australia Act 1986 and Statute of Westminster 1931 Papua New Guinea gained independence from Australia on 16 September 1975.
The Bahamas		10 July	1973
Bahrain		15 August	1971
Barbados		30 November	1966	The Queen signed the British House of Common's Barbados Independence Act 1966 thereby granting local political independence for Saint Andrew's Day.
Belize	British Honduras	21 September	1981	September Celebrations of Belize
Botswana	Bechuanaland	30 September	1966
Brunei		1 January	1984
Cameroon	took in Southern Cameroons	1 October	1961	The Southern Cameroons became part of Cameroon on 1 October 1961.
Canada		11 December	1931	British North America Act 1867, 1 July: Canada Day Statute of Westminster 1931 Constitution Act, 1982 Québec voted against independence from Canada in two referendums in 1980 and 1995.
Cyprus		16 August	1960	Cyprus Independence Day is commonly celebrated on 1 October.^[1]
Dominica	Dominica, Windward Islands	3 November	1978
Egypt		28 February	1922	True Egyptian independence only came in 1952; during the 1922–1952 period, the Egyptian rulers were forced by the UK to defer to British "advisers" in Cairo and the UK truly controlled Egypt's foreign policy and defense and at will stationed British troops on Egyptian territory.
Eswatini	Swaziland	6 September	1968	Gained independence as Swaziland. Renamed Eswatini in 2018.
Fiji		10 October	1970
The Gambia	Gambia	18 February	1965
Ghana	Gold Coast, Togoland	6 March	1957
Grenada	Grenada, Windward Islands	7 February	1974	Independence Day (Grenada)
Guyana	British Guiana	26 May	1966
India	British Raj	15 August	1947	Independence Day (India)
Iraq		3 October	1932
Israel	Mandatory Palestine	14 May	1948	Independence declared after League of Nations mandate ended, and reaffirmed by a UN resolution to divide Mandatory Palestine to a Jewish and an Arab states.
Jamaica		6 August	1962	Independence Day (6 August)
Jordan	Transjordan	25 May	1946
Kenya		12 December	1963
Kiribati	Gilbert and Ellice Islands	12 July	1979
Kuwait		19 June	1961
Lesotho	Basutoland	4 October	1966
Libya		24 December	1951	Libya had been under the rule of the Ottoman Empire since the middle of the sixteenth century. Following the Italo-Turkish war of 1912, Libya became an Italian colony. With their defeat in World War II, the Italians lost control of Libya. The country came under UN administration. Control was split between France and Britain, with France administering the province Fezzan while the British administered the provinces of Cyrenaica and Tripolitania. In 1949, the UN General Assembly declared that Libya should become an independent country by 1 January 1952. On 24 December 1951, Libya declared its independence from France and Britain becoming the United Kingdom of Libya, a constitutional and hereditary monarchy under King Idris.
Malawi	Nyasaland	6 July	1964
Malaysia	Four parts: Malaya, North Borneo, Singapore and Sarawak	31 August	1957	As the Federation of Malaya (Federation of Malaya Independence Act 1957). North Borneo (now Sabah), Sarawak and Singapore gained full independence and joined Malaysia on 16 September 1963 under the Malaysia Agreement (Malaysia Act 1963). Singapore gained independence from Malaysia on 9 August 1965.
Maldives		26 July	1965
Malta		21 September	1964	This occurred in spite of the 1956 Maltese United Kingdom integration referendum, but in accordance with 1964 Maltese constitutional referendum.
Mauritius		12 March	1968
Myanmar		4 January	1948	Gained independence as Burma. Renamed Myanmar in 1989, but still officially known by the United Kingdom government as Burma.
Nauru		31 January	1968	Independence from the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand on 31 January 1968.
New Zealand		11 December	1931	Dominion Day Samoa gained independence from New Zealand on 1 January 1962. New Zealand has responsibilities for two freely associated states: Cook Islands (from 4 August 1965) Niue (from 19 October 1974)
Nigeria	took in Northern Cameroons	1 October	1960
Oman
Pakistan	British India	14 August	1947	Partition of India
Palestine	Mandate Palestine	Israeli Military Occupation
Qatar	British Qatari Protectorate	3 September	1971
Saint Lucia	St Lucia, Windward Islands	22 February	1979
Saint Kitts and Nevis	St Kitts–Nevis and Anguilla, Leeward Islands	19 September	1983
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	St Vincent, Windward Islands	27 October	1979
Seychelles		29 June	1976
Sierra Leone		27 April	1961
Singapore		3 June	1959	Became self-governing on 3 June 1959, gained independence from Malaysia on the 9 August 1965.^[2]
Solomon Islands	British Solomon Islands	7 July	1978
South Africa		31 May	1961	1931 adoption of Statute of Westminster. Not a public holiday. Union of South Africa formed on 31 May 1910 and Republic declared on 31 May 1961 and left the British Commonwealth on the same day. South Africa later rejoined the British Commonwealth in 1994. Namibia gained independence from South Africa on 21 March 1990.
Somaliland	British Somaliland Protectorate	26 June	1960	with the Trust Territory of Somalia on 1 July 1960 to form the Somali Republic later broke away to form the autonomous region of Somaliland.
Sri Lanka	Ceylon	4 February	1948	Gained independence as the Dominion of Ceylon. Renamed Sri Lanka in 1972.
Sudan		1 January	1956	South Sudan gained independence from Sudan on 9 July 2011.
Tanzania	took in Tanganyika	9 December	1961	Tanganyika became independent on 9 December 1961. It joined with Zanzibar on 25 April 1964 to form Tanzania.
Tonga		4 June	1970
Trinidad and Tobago		31 August	1962
Tuvalu	Gilbert and Ellice Islands	1 October	1978
Uganda		9 October	1962
United Arab Emirates	Trucial States	2 December	1971	National Day (United Arab Emirates)
United States	Thirteen American Colonies	4 July	1776	Fourth of July. Declaration of Independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1776. Last major battle of the American Revolutionary War fought in 1781. British government recognized independence in 1783.
Vanuatu	New Hebrides	30 July	1980	Independence from United Kingdom and France in 1980
Yemen	Aden Colony and Protectorate	30 November	1967	South Yemen 1967
Zambia	Northern Rhodesia	24 October	1964
Zimbabwe	Southern Rhodesia	18 April	1980	Southern Rhodesia declared independence from United Kingdom on 11 November 1965

Evolution of Dominions to independence[edit]

Country	Date of Dominion status	Date of adoption of the Statute of Westminster	Date of final relinquishment of British powers	Final event in question.	Other important dates
Australia	1 January 1901	9 October 1942 (effective from 1939)	3 March 1986	Australia Act 1986
Canada	1 July 1867	11 December 1931	17 April 1982	Canada Act 1982
Ireland	6 December 1922	11 December 1931	18 April 1949	Republic of Ireland Act and Ireland Act 1949	The 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic and 1919 Irish Declaration of Independence were never recognised by the UK but given symbolic priority by post-1922 Irish leaders. From the 1932 Irish election, successive governments unilaterally amended the state's status: the Constitution (Removal of Oath) Act on 3 May 1933 implicitly abrogated the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty; the 27th amendment and External Relations Act, both on 12 December 1936, attenuated the role of the monarchy; the enactment of the Constitution on 29 December 1937 established the office of President; the Republic of Ireland Act came into force on 18 April 1949 with Ireland formally leaving the British Commonwealth. Related UK statutes included the Éire (Confirmation of Agreements) Act 1938 and the Ireland Act 1949.
Dominion of Newfoundland	26 September 1907	—	17 April 1982	Canada Act 1982	Newfoundland voted to join Canada in 1948 in a 52-48 vote; this became effective on 31 March 1949.
South Africa	31 May 1910	11 December 1931	21 May 1961	South African Constitution of 1961
New Zealand	26 September 1907	25 November 1947	13 December 1986	Constitution Act 1986	Declaration of Independence of New Zealand 1835, Treaty of Waitangi 1840

Former British Crown Colonies that became part of another British Crown Colony then later restored previous status[edit]

Country	Date	Year	Notes
Anguilla	July	1971	Anguilla declared independence from St Kitts and Nevis in 1967, following the Anguillan Revolution; in favour of returning to British authority in 1971 with full British Crown Colony status (renamed in 2002 as British Overseas Territory status) returning in 1980.

Territories formerly administered by the British Colonial Service that have gained independence[edit]

Country	Pre-Independence name (if different)	Date	Year of Independence
Antigua and Barbuda	Antigua, Leeward Islands	1 November	1981
The Bahamas		10 July	1973
Barbados		30 November	1966
Botswana	Bechuanaland	30 September	1966
Cameroon	Northern Cameroons became part of Nigeria, 1 June 1961; Southern Cameroons became part of Cameroon, 1 October 1961	1 October	1961
Cyprus		16 August	1960
Dominica	Dominica, Windward Islands	3 November	1978
Eswatini	Swaziland	6 September	1968
The Gambia	Gambia	18 February	1965
Ghana	Gold Coast	6 March	1957
Grenada	Grenada, Windward Islands	7 February	1974
Guyana	British Guiana	26 May	1966
Hong Kong	became Special Administrative Region of China	1 July	1997
Jamaica		6 August	1962
Kenya		12 December	1963
Kiribati	Gilbert and Ellice Islands	12 July	1979
Lesotho	Basutoland	4 October	1966
Malawi	Nyasaland	6 July	1964
Malaysia	Four parts: Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore	31 August	1957
Maldives		26 July	1965
Nigeria		1 October	1960
Israel		14 May	1948
Saint Lucia	St Lucia, Windward Islands	22 February	1979
Saint Kitts and Nevis	St Kitts–Nevis and Anguilla, Leeward Islands	19 September	1983
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	St Vincent, Windward Islands	27 October	1979
Seychelles		29 June	1976
Sierra Leone		27 April	1961
Somalia	British Somaliland Protectorate became part of Somalia	26 June	1960
Sri Lanka	Ceylon	4 February	1948
Tanzania	Tanganyika became independent on 9 December 1961. It joined with Zanzibar on 25 April 1964 to form Tanzania.	9 December	1961
Trinidad and Tobago		31 August	1962
Tuvalu	Gilbert and Ellice Islands	1 October	1978
Uganda		9 October	1962
Vanuatu	New Hebrides	30 July	1980
Yemen	Aden Colony and Protectorate, became South Yemen 1967, then part of Yemen 1990	30 November	1967
Zambia	Northern Rhodesia	24 October	1964

British Overseas Territories independence/sovereignty referendums[edit]

Country	Date	Year	Notes
Bermuda	16 August	1995	Bermudians voted against independence for the territory in a 1995 referendum by 73.6% to 25.7%.
Gibraltar	7 November	2002	Gibraltar held a referendum on whether or not to share sovereignty with Spain. They rejected the proposal by 98.48% to 1.02% in favour of remaining solely a British overseas territory.
Falkland Islands	11 March	2013	Falkland Islanders voted in favour of remaining a British overseas territory by 99.8% to 0.2%.

Territories which did not vote to terminate British rule yet were relinquished[edit]

Country	Date	Year	Notes
Hong Kong	30 June	1997	In 1984 the British government signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration with China and agreed to turn over Hong Kong and its dependencies in 1997. It was never put forward to the people of the territory to decide in the form of a referendum, and neither was it ever agreed by an elected legislature. British rule ended on 30 June 1997, with China taking over at midnight, 1 July 1997.

Countries of the United Kingdom that have voted against independence[edit]

Country	Date	Year	Notes
Northern Ireland	8 March	1973	In the 1973 Northern Ireland sovereignty referendum, voters in Northern Ireland were asked to decide if they wanted to remain in the United Kingdom or to leave and join with the Republic of Ireland. They voted in favour of the United Kingdom by 98.9% to 1.1%, although Irish Nationalists boycotted the vote.
Scotland	18 September	2014	In the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, 55.3% of voters who qualified as residents of Scotland, chose 'No' to the question: 'Should Scotland be an independent country?' 44.7% of voters chose 'Yes'. In March 2017, preliminary negotiations to begin to prepare an agreement to run a second referendum were proposed by the Scottish Parliament but were rejected out of hand by the Prime Minister. The proposal of preliminary negotiations was triggered by the Brexit vote, which saw a majority of voters in England and Wales vote to leave the EU while a majority in Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to remain.