The British Empire took its name from the British Isles because it was created not only by the English but also by the Irish, Scots, and Welsh, as well as by civilians and servicemen from other constituent countries of the empire. Some of the empire's overseas colonies, or crown colonies, were populated largely by settlers of European origin and their descendants. These predominantly white settler colonies, such as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, were allowed significant self-government in the nineteenth century and recognized as dominions in the early twentieth century.
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GEOGRAPHIC NOMENCLATURE / A9 7
The white dominions became members of the Commonwealth of Nations, also called the Commonwealth, the British Commonwealth, and "the Old Commonwealth" at different times, an association of sovereign states under the symbolic leadership of the British monarch.
Other overseas colonies of the empire had mostly indigenous populations (or, in the Caribbean, the descendants of imported slaves, indentured servants, and others). These colonies were granted political independence after World War II, later than the dominions, and have often been referred to since as postcolonial nations. In South and Southeast Asia, India and Pakistan gained independence in 1947, followed by other countries including Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon), Burma (now Myanmar), Malaya (now Malaysia), and Singapore. In West and East Africa, the Gold Coast was decolonized as Ghana in 1957, Nigeria in 1960, Sierra Leone in 1961, Uganda in 1962, Kenya in 1963, and so forth, while in southern Africa, the white minority government of South Africa was already independent in 1931, though majority rule did not come until 1994. In the Caribbean, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago won independence in 1962, followed by Barbados in 1966, and other islands of the British West Indies in the 1970s and '80s. Other regions with nations emerging out of British colonial rule included Central America (British Honduras, now Belize), South America (British Guiana, now Guyana), the Pacific islands (Fiji), and Europe (Cyprus, Malta). After decolonization, many of these nations chose to remain within a newly conceived Commonwealth and are sometimes referred to as "New Commonwealth" countries. Some nations, such as Ireland, Pakistan, and South Africa, withdrew from the Commonwealth, though South Africa and Pakistan eventually rejoined, and others, such as Burma (Myanmar), gained independence outside the Commonwealth. Britain's last major overseas colony, Hong Kong, was returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997, but while Britain retains only a handful of dependent territories, such as Bermuda and Montserrat, the scope of the Commonwealth remains vast, with 30 percent of the world's population.
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Britisk Money
One of the most dramatic changes to the system of British money came in 1971. In the system previously in place, the pound consisted of 20 shillings, each containing 12 pence, making 240 pence to the pound. Since 1971, British money has been calculated on the decimal system, with 100 pence to the pound. Britons' experience of paper money did not change very drastically: as before, 5- and 10-pound notes constitute the majority of bills passing through their hands (in addition, 20- and 50pound notes have been added). But the shift necessitated a whole new way of thinking about and exchanging coins and marked the demise of the shilling, one of the fundamental units of British monetary history. Many other coins, still frequently encountered in literature, had already passed. These include the groat, worth 4 pence (the word "groat" is often used to signify a trifling sum); the angel (which depicted the archangel Michael triumphing over a dragon), valued at 10 shillings; the mark, worth in its day two-thirds of a pound or 13 shillings 4 pence; and the sovereign, a gold coin initially worth 22 shillings 6 pence, later valued at 1 pound, last circulated in 1932. One prominent older coin, the guinea, was worth a pound and a shilling; though it has not been minted since 1813, a very few quality items or prestige awards (like the purse in a horse race) may still be quoted in guineas. (The table below includes some other well-known, obsolete coins.) Colloquially, a pound was (and is) called a quid; a shilling a bob; sixpence, a tanner; a copper could refer to a penny, a half-penny, or a farthing ('A penny).
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