Demographics of the British Empire

By 1913, the British Empire held sway over 412 million people, 23% of the world population at the time.

Population

Territorial population distribution of the British Empire (1925)

 British India (70.9986%)
 British Africa (10.6836%)
 United Kingdom (10.5308%)
 Other colonies (1.1037%)

The following table gives the population of the British Empire and its territories, in several different time periods. The most populous territory in the empire was British India, which included what are now Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Territories 1814 1881 1901 1913 1925
United Kingdom 16,456,303 34,884,848 41,458,721 45,649,000 47,307,000
British India 40,058,408 253,896,330 294,361,056 303,700,000 318,942,000
British Africa 128,977 1,526,110 43,000,000 52,000,000 47,993,000
Other Asian colonies 2,009,005 3,347,770 5,638,944 26,300,000 13,373,000
British North America 486,146 4,522,145 5,600,000 18,000,000 9,047,000
Australasia and Pacific 434,882 2,837,081 5,486,000 7,603,000
European dependencies 180,300 359,403 650,000 656,000
British West Indies 732,171 1,216,409 2,012,655 1,600,000 2,012,000
Total British Empire 61,157,433 305,512,568 400,000,000 447,249,000 449,223,000

Ethnicity

The empire's population was classified into white people, also referred to as Europeans, and non-white people, variously referred to as persons of color, negros and natives. The largest ethnic grouping in the empire was Indians (including what are now Pakistanis and Bangladeshis), who were classified into 118 groups on the basis of language which were amalgamated into seven "principle groups". The following table gives the population figures for white people and non-white people, in the empire and its territories, in 1814 and 1901.

Territories 1814 1901
White people Non-white people White people Non-white people
United Kingdom and home dependencies 16,636,606 ? 41,608,791 ?
British India 25,246 40,033,162 169,677 294,191,379
British Africa 20,678 108,299 1,000,000 33,499,329
Other Asian colonies 61,059 1,947,946 ? 5,144,954
British North America 486,146 ? 5,500,000 100,000
Australasia and Pacific 35,829 399,053 4,662,000 824,000
British West Indies 64,994 667,177 100,000 1,912,655
Total British Empire 18,001,796 43,155,637 53,040,468 335,672,317

Religion

The British authorities were primarily Protestant Christians throughout the history of the Empire.

Religion in the British Empire (1901)
Territory Percent
Hinduism
52.4%
Islam
23.7%
Christianity
14.6%
Buddhism
3%
Paganism and others
6.3%
Population distribution of religions in the British Empire (1901)

The following table gives the population figures for the religions in the British Empire in 1901. The most populous religion in the empire was Hinduism, followed by Islam.

Religion Population % of total population
Hinduism 208,000,000 52.4
Islam 94,000,000 23.7
Christianity 58,000,000 14.6
Buddhism 12,000,000 3
Paganism and others 25,000,000 6.3
Total British Empire 397,000,000 100

See also


This page was last updated at 2023-12-11 08:31 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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