Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/596

* BRITISH EMPIBE. 520 BRITISH MUSEUM. BUITIBH PoSSEeSIONS P08BES8IO.V Area Sq. Miles Population EUROPE AND MBOITER- RASEAS United Kiiindom ot (ireat Britain and Ireland 121.000 220 75 m 117 3.584 1.800.0O0 2.394 1.500 34.000 75 5 20 1.3K0 700 300 25.300 115 30 30,000 30 326 285 3.000.000 90.000 104.600 7.600 1 est. est. est. est. est. eat. est. est. est. est. est. est. est. est. est. est. est. est. est. est. est. 41.454.724 (1901) 54 75S " Channel Islands 95.841 27.460 " 183,679 (1900) 237,02^ (1901) !94.360.000 ■■ ASIA AND INDIAN OCEAN Amlaiiiau and Nicobarls- 24.500 •• Straits Settleiuente (Singa- pore, Penang, Malacca. 572.360 •• Protected Malay States... 676.138 " 41.222 " 12.000 •• 370. 4U0 '• Rodrigues lelaud, Sey- chelles aud Amiraute Islands. Oil Island, etc., 3.570.990 " 3D.0O0 ■' 5.8iJ3 (1891) 176,000 (1901) 297,212 •• District near Hong Kong.. Wel-Hai-Wei AUBTBALABIA Commonwealth ol Austra- 100,000 •• 125,000 " 3,767,443 •• New Guinea (part) and Islee 350,000 ■' 772,719 •• 117,870 •• Western Pacific Islands, in eluding theTonga group, part of the Solomon Is- lands.Giibert. Ellice. part ol Mew Hebrides. Union. Cook and Monahiki Is lands.andsmallergroupt AMERICA The Dominion of Canada 3.050,000 42.0tl0 120.000 lOO.O(X) 7.562 W 6.460 700 600 4.400 166 1,754 292.000 111,000 30.000 6,338,883 " 216,615 " 3,6:n " 294.943 (1900) 36.998 • ' 17.535 (1901) 53.735 •■ 127.434 ■■ 166.472 (1900) Jamaica, Turks and Calcot 750.454 (1901) 195.0(J0 (1900) Trinidad and Tobago AFRICA 272,000 •• 2.350.000 (1901) 250.000 •• jijatal 929.970 (1900) Bechuanaland Protecto- 200.000 ■• 68.000 48.000 119.000 Orange River Colony 207.503 (1890) 1,094,150 (1898) Rhodesia — British South 470,128 (1901) British Central Africa Pro 42.000 i.ooo 500.000 40.000 30.000 4.000 30,000 35 47 60 7,600 900.000 " East Africa Protectorate. Zanzibar and Peraba Nigeria. Northern and 2,500.000 (1900) 200.(W0 (1901) 30.000.000 " 1.500.(HIO " 1.500.IX) •• 90.404 " 100.000 " SOUTH ATLANTIC 430 " St Helena 9.8,50 " C4 (1897) Falkland iBl'dH and South 2.043 (1901) included under the term British Empire, it would by no means be entirely wrong to regard it as sucli, if it be considered that the British Govern- ment exercises much greater inlluence upon Kgyptian ail'airs than upon the all'airs of such members of the empire as Australia or Canada. The territories under British rule or control embrace about 11,000,000 square miles, or one- fifth of the land surface of the globe, an area exceeding that of 'the Russian Empire by more than 2.000,000 square miles. The ]>opulation of the British Empire is, in round numbers, 400,- 000,000. or about one-fourth of the total popula- tion of the globe. BRITISH GUIANA. See Gviaxa. BRITISH GUM. A name given commercially to dextrin i i|.v. i. BRITISH HONDURAS. A Crown colony of Great Britain in Central America (Map: Cen- tral America, C 2). It is boundea b}- Guatemala on the south and west, Mexico on the northwest, and the Caribbean Sea on the east, and covers an area of 75(>2 scpiare miles. The coast is, a& a rule, low and swampy, and a large part of " the interior is covered with forests yielding large quantities of mahogany and logwood. The cli- mate is liot and moist, and is very unhcalthful for Europeans. The principal agricultural i)rod- iicts include colTee, bananas, and eocoanuts. The exports consist mainly of w-oods, rubber, fruit, and sugar. The anntial value of exports and imports is $l,.S00,O0O and $1,200,000. re- spectively. About 50 per cent, of the commerce is with Groat Britain. The revenue is derived chietly from taxes, duties, and sale and letting of Crown lands. The revenue very seldom cover* the expenditures, thercby necessitating a grant from the home (iovcrnmcnt. The budget at pres- ent ap])ropriates .■i;200.000, and the pulilic debt amounted at the end of lltOO to $l(i0,104. There are .50 schools in the colony, almost all of them denominational and sujiported by the tJovern- ment. The colony is administered by a Governor, and has an executive council, consisting of 3 ollicial and 2 umillieial members, and a legis- lative council, consisting of .'5 ollicial and i> unolbcial members, all appointed by the sover- eign. United States gold currency was adopted as a legal tender in lSi)4. Population, in 1891, 31,471, of which only 400 were whites, the rest being negroes, niiilattoes, and Indians; in 1901, estimated at :i7.:iOO. The capital, Belize, is a busy poit, with an extensive ship])ing and a pop- ulaiion of aliout 9000. The colony was tirst set- tled at the beginning of th<' Kighteenth Century by the Scotch adventurer Wallis, from whom it is supposed to have received its original name of Belize (Balize). Spain made numerous attempts to expel the early British settlers from the colony, and it was not until 1783 that a treaty was con- cluded recognizing the sovereignty of Great Brit- ain. From 18G2 to 1884 the colony was admin- istered as a dependency of Jamaica. In 1884 it was created a separate colony. BRITISH INDIA. . term used to designate the districts of India under direct British admin- istration, in contradistinction to the whole ter- ritory, inclusive of the native States under Brit- ish ]M'otection. Sec IxiMA. BRITISH MUSE'UM. An important na- tional institution in London. By the will of