The Disintegration of the British Empire Quiz

The British surrender after the Battle of Yorktown occurred on October 19, 1781, but the formal end to the war didn't take place until September 3, 1783, nearly two years later, when the Treaty of Paris was ratified.

Canadian independence was established in 1867 by the British North America Act. Canada originally consisted of four provinces (Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick), but later it had grown to a total of ten provinces and three territories.

Australia achieved independence from Britain on January 1, 1901, under a new constitution which remained relatively unchanged throughout the 20th century.

Following the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921), Britain recognized Irish independence, with the provision that the northern six counties could opt to remain a part of the United Kingdom. This arrangement was finalized in 1922 when Northern Ireland chose to remain with the U.K., while the South became the independent nation of Ireland.

Following the end of World War One, Britain was granted a mandate by the League of Nations to rule Iraq. After twelve stormy years, Britain granted independence to the new nation of "The Kingdom of Iraq" in 1932.

Following decades of non-violent resistance to British rule, led by Mahatma Gandhi, India finally obtained its independence with the Indian Independence Act of 1947, which established India and Pakistan as separate sovereign countries.

Ghana obtained its independence from Britain with the passage of the Ghana Independence Act of 1957.

Kenya became a British Protectorate in 1920. Following the Mau Mau Rebellion of the 1950s, Kenya was granted independence in 1963.

Formerly known as British Honduras, Belize was granted full independence on September 21, 1981. This was Britain's last continental possession in the Americas; however, Britain retained control of seven island territories in the Americas: Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, the Falkland Islands, Montserrat, and the Turks and Caicos.

The United Kingdom obtained control of Hong Kong under the 1842 Treaty of Nanking, following its defeat of China in the First Opium War. A 99-year lease was signed in 1898; when the lease expired in 1997, control of Hong Kong was peacefully turned over to China.