List of countries that have gained independence from the United Kingdom

This is a list of 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.

Territories excluding Dominions

Country	Date	Year of Independence
Afghanistan	August 19	1919	Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919 The treaty granted complete independence from Britain; although Afghanistan was never a part of the British Empire.
Antigua and Barbuda	1 November	1982
Australia	1 January	1901	Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900  Papua New Guinea gained independence from Australia on 16 September 1975.
The Bahamas	10 July	1973
Bahrain	15 August	1971
Barbados	30 November	1966	Barbados Independence Act 1966
Belize	22 September	1981	September Celebrations of Belize
Botswana	30 September	1966
Brunei	1 January	1984
Canada	1 July	1867	British North America Act 1867
Cyprus	1 October	1960	16 August 1960, but Cyprus Independence Day is commonly celebrated on 1 October.[1]
Dominica	3 November	1978
Egypt	28 February	1922
Fiji	10 October	1970
The Gambia	18 February	1965
Ghana	6 March	1957
Grenada	7 February	1974	Independence Day (Grenada)
Guyana	26 May	1966
India	15 August	1947	Independence Day (India)
Israel	14 May	1948	Yom Ha'atzmaut
Iraq	3 October	1932
Jamaica	6 August	1962	Independence Day (August 6)
Jordan	25 May	1946
Kenya	12 December	1963
Kiribati	12 July	1979
Kuwait	25 February	1961
Lesotho	4 October	1966
Malawi	6 July	1964
Malaysia	31 August	1957	Hari Merdeka  Singapore gained independence from Malaysia on 9 August 1965.
Maldives	26 July	1965
Malta	21 September	1964
Mauritius	12 March	1968
Myanmar	4 January	1948
Nauru	31 January	1968	Independence from the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand on 31 January 1968.
New Zealand	26 September	1907	Dominion Day New Zealand has responsibilities for two freely associated states:  Cook Islands (from 4 August 1965)  Niue (from 19 October 1974)
Nigeria	1 October	1960
Pakistan	14 August	1947	Independence Day (Pakistan)  Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan in 1971 (recognized in 1974).
Qatar	3 September	1971	Qatar National Day
Saint Lucia	22 February	1979
Saint Kitts and Nevis	19 September	1983
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	27 October	1979
Seychelles	29 June	1976
Sierra Leone	27 April	1961
Solomon Islands	7 July	1978
South Africa	11 December	1910	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.  Namibia gained independence from South Africa on 21 March 1990.
Sri Lanka	4 February	1948	4 February 1948, Sri Lanka had their independence. After nearly 150 years of the UK ruling the country. Gained independence as the Dominion of Ceylon
Sudan	1 January	1956	South Sudan gained independence from Sudan on 9 July 2011.
Swaziland	6 September	1968
Tanzania	9 December	1961
Tonga	4 June	1970
Trinidad and Tobago	31 August	1962
Tuvalu	1 October	1978
Uganda	9 October	1962
United Arab Emirates	2 December	1971	National Day (United Arab Emirates)
United States	3 September	1783	Fourth of July. Declaration of Independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1776. Independence achieved de facto 1781, and de jure 1783.
Vanuatu	30 July	1980	Independence from United Kingdom and France in 1980
Yemen	30 November	1967	South Yemen 1967
Zambia	24 October	1964
Zimbabwe	18 April	1980

Evolution of Dominions to Independence

Country	Date of Dominion Status	Date of adoption of the Statute of Westminster	Date of final relinquish 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	Canada Day
Ireland	6 December 1922	11 December 1931			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 Eire (Confirmation of Agreements) Act 1938 and the Ireland Act 1949.
Dominion of Newfoundland	26 September 1907	—	31 March 1949	Newfoundland referendums, 1948	Newfoundland Act, 1949. Newfoundland voted to join Canada in 1948 in a 52-48 vote.
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

Country	Date	Year	Notes
Anguilla	July	1971	Although not the result of a vote; Anguilla declared independence from St Kitts and Nevis in 1969, following a 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.

British Overseas Territories that have voted against another independent country sharing sovereignty over the territory with the British Crown

Country	Date	Year	Notes
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.

British Overseas Territories that have voted to retain their British Overseas Territory status

Country	Date	Year	Notes
Falkland Islands	11 March	2013	Falkland islanders voted in favour of remaining a British overseas territory by 99.8% to 0.2%.

British Overseas Territories that have voted not to be an independent country

Country	Date	Year	Notes
Bermuda	16 August	1995	Bermudans voted against independence for the territory in a 1995 referendum by 73.6% to 25.7%.

Countries or province forming part of the United Kingdom that have voted to remain part of the United Kingdom

Country	Date	Year	Notes
Northern Ireland	8 March	1973	In the Northern Ireland sovereignty referendum, 1973, 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 Republicans boycotted the vote.

Countries forming part of the United Kingdom that have voted not to be an independent country

Country	Date	Year	Notes
Scotland	18 September	2014	In the Scottish independence referendum, 2014, 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'. There was not an option for the 'United Kingdom' on the ballot paper, unlike the Northern Ireland sovereignty referendum, 1973. Scotland's constitutional status thus remained unchanged.

Countries which did not vote to terminate British rule yet were relinquished to another sovereign power

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 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.

Map

See also

• Self-determination
• Commonwealth of Nations
• Foreign relations of the United Kingdom
• Foreign and Commonwealth Office
• Special Committee on Decolonization

References

1. "United Nations Member States". Un.org. Retrieved 4 November 2008.