The British Empire which grew from tentative trading ventures in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries into the largest empire in recorded history, was shaped by maritime expansion, commercial ambition, military conflict, and evolving political ideologies that guided Britain’s relations with territories across the globe; its early phases centered on establishing footholds in the Americas, West Africa, and South Asia through chartered companies such as the Virginia Company and the Ea

British Commonwealth Countries and Capitals / Commonwealth Games Participating countries, World Map